202. Today in 1920s Turkey: 30 July 1928 (The Challenges of Child Photography)
Türkçe:
Fotoğrafa Hazırlık
Anne: Haydi, kafir yumurcak, bir parça gül, yoksa tokadı atacağım!..
English:
Preparing for the Photograph
Mother: C’mon you bratty little heathen, just one smile, or else I’ll give you a slap!
Comments:
Small children are notoriously difficult to photograph. Today the problem is less pronounced with the infinite “takes” made possible with digital photography. However, a century ago, finite amounts of film were necessary for taking pictures in addition to the time and resources needed to develop each picture. As such, one only had so many chances to take a beautiful picture and if the photograph turned out to be less than perfect, people had to either settle for the inferior pose or repeat the entire process of producing a new set of photos, which would add to its cost.
Here, the cartoonist Ramiz draws our attention to the precarious nature of the child as an uncooperative photographic subject. The tiny but tearful tot is wearing an adorable sailor’s shirt while seated on a small stool. His mother, as identified in the text, hovers over him, appearing frustrated as the photographer in the background gestures for the child to look at the camera. The text below the cartoon reveals the difficult situation the child is in, as his mother is threatening to punish him if he does not smile for the camera. Of course, the humor lies in the child’s dilemma: how can he stop crying when the threat of violence looms so large? Likewise, the cartoon also highlights the absurdity of the desperate woman’s threat and its obviously counter-productive results.
Ramiz presents us with a scene familiar to commercial photographers. Perhaps this one was based on a humorous anecdote he heard from his friend or something he witnessed as an innocent bystander. Either way, he presents an amusing vignette of the “behind the scenes” chaos preceding the posed and orderly photograph. Generously, he leaves it to the reader to imagine the resulting picture generated by the futile efforts of the two adults.
Cartoons and other materials about photography and how people engage with or utilize it abounded in the 1920s press. The pages of these journals included advertisements for cameras as well as stories about the profession from photographers themselves and even photograph sharing competitions. Cartoons about photography or photographs have also been the subject of previous Today in 1920s Turkey posts. For these essays, see:
#130: Photography and Opportunistic Pursuits
