Thursday, September 13, 2018

Honors English 11 Narrative Blog


Brian Thompson
Mr. Blair
Honors English 2
9/13/2018
Robert Frank Photo Essay

            “Hey Carlos, who’s that?”

            “Who’s who? You’re gonna have to be a little more specific than that. I swear Paul sometimes you are the worst at pointing things out.”

            Paul Gestured over to the man with the camera, and, the moment they were looking, the lens fluttered, and a picture was taken. Paul was confused. Who was he? Why did he take that picture? Did he even order anything? Why? He looked around, confused.

            “Who do you think he took a picture of?”

            “Dunno, who cares man, I’m just waiting on my drink. Which, of course, isn’t HERE.”

            Carlos slammed his hand on the table, exclaiming “WAITRESS, WHATS THE HOLDUP?”
The waitress simply responded with “I’m sorry sir, we’re backed up pretty far since its Friday, its going to be a little while.”

             Paul Glanced around, not caring about his friend’s outburst, still thinking about that man with the camera. The Drugstore was crowded since everyone was just getting off work. His mind began chasing its tail in circles. What’s his reason? Is someone here a criminal? Am I the criminal? I haven’t done anything wrong, have I? He continued to ponder as the man walked out, looking at his camera. Paul glanced at it. A simple camera, by the looks of it, nothing police-like about it at all. Or was he undercover? Did he find who he was looking for? Who could be in trouble?

             Paul looked up at the Waitresses, hurrying around, and noticed something about them. All of them were African American. He brushed over this fact and boarded this train of paranoia once more, with a one-way ticket to his imagination. Did the Waitress do something? No, she couldn’t have, right? What was it that caused him to take the picture?

           Carlos said “Oh! Now I recognize that guy you're talking about! He’s a photographer by the name of Robert Frank! Apparently, he just takes pictures of random places, all with some kind of black and white contrast to them. Pretty boring if you ask m- finally!”

           The waitress Arrived with both their drinks, obviously trying her best not to set off Carlos again. She rushed back into the mess behind the counter, the black workers serving the white customers. Paul chuckled; “contrast to black and white huh” he says as he sips his orange whip.

“Ironic.”


Image result for Robert Frank Black and white images

1 comment:

Myrtle Blog - (Bren) said...

This was really really good! I think the author's purpose was to show how racism was in every aspect of life a few years ago... even in the simplest of places like a malt shop. The symbolism and ties of meaning between the colors of Frank's photos and the colors of the characters skin was a really interesting way to resolve the story. Great job!!! :)