Analytic Blog Post- March

I chose this picture to do a narrative analysis on. Without any prior knowledge about this image, it is clear that these men are working as shoe shiners. The name of the image is “Hard Work in Hong Kong” so viewers know where the image was taken. An ideograph that can be taken away from the photo is, as the image title says, hard work, or dedication or humility. At first glance, I thought the shoe shiners were young boys but after looking deeper in the picture, these are grown men and it can be assumed that this is their primary job, shining shoes for men in Hong Kong. There is a class difference here seen in the way the people in the image are dressed. The men getting their shoes shined are in suits and carry fancy shopping bags and work bags. They are literally (and possibly figuratively) looking down on the shoe shiners. The actual narrative is more emotional from the standpoint of the shoe shiners. They work tirelessly, hunched over, presumably all day shining these men’s shoes, day after day. Since these aren’t young boys, viewers can assume that these men have families that they are working for and that shows the dedication they have for their family. Though it isn’t exactly clear when this image was taken, it seems fairly modern due to the way the men in suits are dressed and the shopping bags they’re carrying are not from long ago. As the image is in black and white, it adds a level of emotion and drama to the image that evokes a sympathy for the shoe shiners. It’s a raw, spontaneous moment caught in their everyday life.