Structure of the class:
- Clara’s presentation on the MGM logo
- Celine’s presentation on Alan Turing and the Bombe Machine
- Eslie’s presentation on an image of Laurent Gbagbo, Dominique Outtara, Nady Bamba, and President Alassane Ouattara.
- Class discussion on panopticism, as well as Marc Granger’s Algerie (1960)
Clara’s presentation on the MGM logo:
I first presented a brief history of MGM, also known as Metro Goldwyn Mayer Studios, which was founded in 1924 by Marcus Loew. It is an American cooperation that was once the largest, most profitable motion picture studio, reaching its peak in the 1930s and 1940s. With the studio producing great successes like The Wizard of Oz (1939) and Gone with the Wind (1939), its logo is one that appeals to many people’s childhoods.
The MGM logo features a lion. This has been part of the logo since the company was founded in 1924. The infamous roar was added a few years later in 1928, when sound films became popular. The company’s ad executive, Howard Dietz, said he used a lion to pay tribute to the athletic team he played for at Columbia University, The Lions. Metro Goldwyn Mayer ruled Hollywood in the mid 1900s, and its logo reflected this. Many considered the lion to be a truth to advertisement, portraying MGM as the top of Hollywood, since lions often symbolize the king of the jungle.
I discussed the scandal associated with a photoshopped photograph that was posted in 2015 on Facebook with the caption “my whole childhood is fucked up”, claiming that MGM was abusing animals for the making of their logo. The lion appears to be strapped to the table and sedated, surrounded by a black cardboard cutout with a mirrored MGM logo.
Because of the backwards writing, as well as how well known the original MGM logo of the lion roar was, the photograph allows us to assume that the lion is being mistreated for the filming of the famous roar. During the reign of MGM, creating a CGI lion would not have been possible, therefore contributing to the image being believable. The image furthermore seems credible because of the lack of protection of animals in the film industry. It was not always regularized. A ban of cruelty to animals was mandated in 1939 in Hollywood, however this rule was often defied, especially in the 1950s and 1960s, as investigators were only allowed to monitor filming with the permission of producers and directors. The abuse of animals in the film industry has also continued in the 21st century, with films like The Hobbit or The Life of Pi from the 2000s putting animals in danger.
The image of the strapped lion turned out to be real, but was a photograph taken of a lion in Tel Aviv undergoing a medical procedure in 2005. A two year old lion from a zoo was having trouble walking, so a veterinary neurologist decided to do a full neurological exam. The lion is pictured in the image undergoing a CAT scan. He was suffering from damage to the posterior portion of his cranium and underwent a 6 hour operation. The operation went well and he was reunited with his sister in the zoo.
I showed images of the real behind the scenes of the filming of the MGM logo. Throughout the years, several trained lions were used to film the MGM logo. The lions stood in front of camera men on crates without any restraints. While the process may still raise some ethical questions, it is not nearly as severe as the photoshopped image suggested.
Class Discussion:
- People want to believe tragedy
- Anyone that takes enough time to look at the image, or has any background in the medical field, would understand that it is not real. However, since the image was posted on Facebook, the fast pace of consumption can contribute towards the way the image is perceived.
- The image was posted to Facebook at a time where animal mistreatment was being heavily discussed.
- Some members of the class were reminded of Schiaparelli’s collection featuring a lionhead. The collection was seen as scandalous as it could be perceived as portraying the lion as if it were a human trophy.
Celine‘s presentation on Alan Turing and the Bombe Machine.
Celine’s presentation discussed Alan Turing and the Bombe Machine, which he developed in 1939. This electro-mechanical device was used by the British during World War 2 to decipher German enigma-machine encoded messages.
The chosen image is a black and white photograph featuring Alan Turing next to the Bombe Machine. Celine presented overall information on the Bombe machine, and also compared it to the 2014 movie adaptation: The Imitation Game. Although the film makes the visual functioning of the bombe machine breaking down the Enigma code clear through blinking and turning the wheels, the audience is left unclear as to how the machine works. The film also leaves out certain historical details and portrays Alan Turing as the inventor of the machine, when he actually only reimaged and reconstructed it.
Class Discussion:
- The black and white image is a basic illustration coming from an article
- It is a posed image. Alan Turing is not working on the machine, instead he is simply standing next to it. This shows that the image is meant for the camera. It has very specific intentions. It looks like a very official photograph. There is also no level of intimacy.
- We trust the information the image presents us with, with Alan Turing as the developer of the Bombe Machine, as it looks like, and is, an archival image
- A comparison was drawn between the sheer size of computers in the 1940s, which took up whole rooms, and computers now, which are much smaller in size and have larger capacities.
Eslie’s Presentation on an image of Laurent Gbagbo, Dominique Outtara, Nady Bamba, and President Alassane Ouattara:
Eslie’s presentation featured a discussion of modern day politics in Côte D’Ivoire, while drawing comparisons towards historical images in politics. The chosen image was of Laurent Gbagbo, Dominique Outtara, Nady Bamba, and President Alassane Ouattara.
The photograph was taken in 2022 and features the current president of Côte D’Ivoire, Alassane Ouattara, next to Nady Bamba, the wife of the former president. Laurent Gbagbo is situated next to Dominique Outtara, the wife of the current president. The former and current president have swapped wives, creating the feeling that they are accessories. An audience unaware of the figures’ political statuses would not know a swap has occurred. The two females are holding hands, making the photo extremely politically charged to all in Côte D’Ivoire because the two political leaders were rivals for so long. One president was more representative of the North, while the other was more representative of the South.
The image can be compared to one taken in the early 1980s, featuring the first president and first lady of Côte D’Ivoire. In 1983, the Houphouët-Boigny couple and the Reagan couple were photographed doing the same act as the photograph in 2020: they swapped wives. The 1983 swap appeared as a symbol of union and trust as well as affection, but also showcased the wives as accessories as they were being traded as objects. In both photographs, it is not the wives exchanging husbands, but the husbands exchanging wives because of the power dynamic.
Eslie also discussed the importance of Marie-Thérèse Houphouët-Boigny, who was the first lady of Côte D’Ivoire between 1962 and 1993. She was the second wife of the president, and the first ever first lady of Côte D’Ivoire. She was most famous for her fashion, following afro-modernism with influences from Paris and New York. She was nicknamed the black Jacky Kennedy, and was famously photographed by Andy Warhol. In the images shown of Marie-Thérèse Houphouët-Boigny and the president, she is always slightly behind her husband, or out of focus, showcasing her as an accessory.
Class Discussion:
- The image definitely appears as forced due to the awkward positions and smiles of all figures involved (referring to 2022 photograph).
- “The two men are not capable of holding hands and are doing the exchange through their wives.“Women have also historically been more likely to be pictured to appear as the empathetic ones, going to charity events and shaking the hands of many people.
- You wouldn‘t know that the wives have been switched out if not explicitly stated.
- The image showcases that the current president has a soft side.
- There is a facade of ownership in the photograph.
Class discussion on panopticism, as well as Marc Granger’s Algerie (1960)
Reference: “Spectacle as a metaphor of society” by Guy Debora. Published in the 1960s when TV was on the rise.
Discipline and Punish by Michel Foucault discussed how power asserts himself not only through prisons but also in other forms of society. Panopticism integrates itself into various places of society.
Class Discussion on panopticism:
- Several people drew connections between the plague and Covid-19
- Experiences from different countries discussed (the lockdown and tracking in Azerbaijan versus Austria).
- Panopticism is essentially self-created fear because there isn’t an actual guard looking down on you. It is simply the illusion that a guard could be there.
- Covid-19 made it visible to which extent technology can serve as surveillance, which is otherwise often an unknown factor. We can only speculate how much technology truly surveils us.
A continuation of panopticism: ID photos and how they can be used to control us:
In the mid 1900s, Marc Granger was sent to take ID photographs of the population in Algeria. These were forced images as the government wanted to keep track of all its citizens. Granger later published the ID photographs in his book, Algerie (1960).
The photographs are taken in different contexts (all against walls but not consistently), showcasing the violation of consent. The ID rules are being respected but not to the full extent, highlighting that the photographer was sent somewhere. The set-up does not mirror the western perception of ID photos against a white background in a booth.
The photographs are extremely touching through the strong resistance seen in the stares of the people. The intimacy of many have been violated. This can be seen in women having to remove their veils: some wear it around their shoulders and some have it pushed back around their neck.
Another class reference: he social dilemma documentary film
