Understanding Liberalization Through Photographs: An Analysis of Brasserie Lipp, (Paris, 1969) by Henri Carter Brienson, Essay Example

I chose this picture from among the other pictures because it reflects the simplicity of life in the year 1969 in a suburb of Paris. The picture shows the side of people’s daily lives such as sitting in cafes and just passing the time. Defining how the changes in Paris in the 1960s occurs and how much liberalization has affects the view of the society from then on is presented in the chosen photograph.

The picture is focused upon a young woman in the right side of picture foreground. She was sitting at a café in Paris focused on reading newspaper with her sad face covered with a tufts of her hair. She is dressed in a white skinny short overall dress. In a distant background, sitting a bit far from the younger woman is an older woman in her traditional 60’s dress that is far more conservative. She is reading a news paper and is looking questionably towards the direction of the younger woman. What reactions could she be having in mind during the time? Does her look display the overall condition of the society? The facial expression of the older woman specifically reflects general social reaction through these questions, setting the differences between the older and the young woman characters on the point of their clothing specifically sends out a clear meaning of separation of the generations and the culture that they belong to. Classic as the presentation of the older woman is, her presence in the background of the main character creates an illusion of questions. A distinctive conditioning on how the older generation tries to despise the ways of the younger generation as they are indeed different from that of their ways and their life style.

In addition we can observe the existence of man wearing a black jacket with white shirt and sunglasses. Although not clear in features in consideration with the two women, his presence adds in to the balance of the elements of the photograph. Added into the image is the shadow of other individuals who are seated in the café presented in the window shield as a reflection. Also adding in meaning and depth of focus to the two women, these images simply bring about the audiences’ eyes towards the main characters of the scene.

The newspaper set in front of the women presented a sense of seriousness, something specifically different when it comes to the process by which both individuals view the society. Seemingly, holding her newspaper up and which appears to be caring so much as to what she was reading about, the older woman is observed to have a more serious consideration over the matters happening around her. While on the other end, the younger woman, shown to just have left her newspaper on the table, not holding it and simply looking at it with her hands far from lifting the paper provides a distinction on how likely less interested she was on what was on the news or the section she was focused upon. The way the women hold the newspaper also created a distinctive difference between them; perhaps showing a then-and-now effect.

As for the way they were seated, they were seated in a long chair; the older woman was seated up straight way while the younger one was slouching and somewhat normal. This shows another aspect of being serious about life. A considerable distinction on how these women conducted themselves presents how the generation they belong to perceive the serious matters of life. Relatively, older generations tend to be more concerned, due to their experience in life while the younger ones are more carefree. With the introduction of liberalization in Paris that time, that particular distinction between generations even grew farther.

The blunt use of black and white hue in the image specifically increases the value of the message in a way that the hues help the eyes of the audiences be directed into a specific direction that conveys the primary actor or the focal point of photograph. Why use women as the primary presentation of the society in Paris back in the late 60s? The idea behind this is supported by the fact that the change on how women conduct themselves upon the introduction of liberalization was more profoundly obvious than that of how men handled the changes. Paris, being the capital of the world’s fashion industry, was at its boosting peak season during the time when women finally accepted the principles of liberalization to define their being. With such matter in concern, women became more open to different clothes, short ones, revealing sets of outfits that specifically enhanced their figure. Adorning themselves with clothes and shoes that the market offers, the younger women of Paris seemed to be more different from those who despise the principles of “uncontrolled freedom” that their outfits and their characteristics often present to the public.

Overall, the photograph shows a distinction on how generations differ from each other especially in the course of accepting new cultures that define the modern society. It could be analyzed that somehow, it is the capacity of the image to portray changes in terms of the elements used that makes this photograph strong and meaningful. The hues and depth of color contribute highly to pointing out a definite course of identification on what focal point the image hopes to portray. With collaborative use of the elements along with the color hues and depth, the outcome becomes strongly definite in conditioning the mind of the audience towards understanding the idea of generation gap and the impact of liberalization on the said social issue.