Girl with fruit shoe and butterflies

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Irving Penn, 1946

The image above originally titled ‘Girl with Fruit, Shoe and Butterflies’ contains just as titled, a black and white photo of a young girl, butterflies, a sunflower, a dragonfly, one heeled shoe, a fruit and one hand of a glove. To descriptively describe this image, I would say the young girl appears to be sat down behind a table on which the items mentioned are placed on. The girl is positioned on the right side of the photo has on a pearl necklace and a plain long-sleeved round neck sweater with all her hair tied neatly to the back of her head neatly. She has a butterfly on her left shoulder and another next to her neck on her left side and lastly what appears to be a sunflower placed in front of her chest. The fruit in the photo which I will describe as a melon is sliced in half with its centre showing, it is positioned in the centre on the photo with two butterflies on either side of the melon. The shoe is a black heeled pump positioned on the left side of the photo with a butterfly placed on it. The glove in the photo is incoming from the left side reaching across the girl to the melon in the middle.

The picture is well positioned, and the components of the photo relate well to each other in order to relay the message of the photo to the viewer, from first glance of the photo I believe the message of the photo can instantly be received by the viewer. The feminine components seemed to be positioned in a lightly structured manner, however because of how each well each item in the photo work well together in relaying the message I would say they could be placed anywhere in the photo and I predict the viewer will still receive the message of the photo. The picture is definitely telling a story with each item especially with the expression on the girls face which is why I say the positioning of the of the items do not exactly matter in the telling of the story, however the position of the glove to the melon is one that seems to be telling a story with the actual story of the entire photo. Although I’ve mentioned that the positioning does not matter too much in this photo it could still be argued that each item is positioned where it is for specific reason. For example the melon which I have said to resemble female genitalia at the centre of the photo which I have described as one that depicts ‘femininity’.

To further analyse the Irving Penn image I would say that not only does the photo transpire femininity but what the photo actually depicts is a young girl coming of age and being forced into woman hood and her reaction to this which seems unwanted. The pearls to me is a key component of this photo in the portrayal of woman hood. “As white gems, pearls remain popular gifts for brides. (It’s even said pearls can keep newlywed brides from crying)”. The expression on the young girl face shows sadness and unwillingness, she seems unhappy like she is being forced to do something. I believe she is being told she has to be a woman now, the shoes and the pearls are materials of a woman and not a young girl. The glove reaching for the fruit which I believe represents her female genitalia which I believe is a symbol for femininity is interesting in the fact that its reaching across her as if its ready to be taken without her permission or consent, this I believe possibly represents her virginity being taken from her without her readiness or consent which could also explain the look of sadness on her face.

In summary this is a sad photo telling a story of young girl being forced to do something she is unwilling to do. The direct look into the camera is almost asking the viewer for help with her ‘sad’ eyes. I believe Irving Penn was trying to portray the message of young girls having to give up their childhood and become what and do what a woman was meant to do back in 1946. I think the picture is very direct and straight to the point and sends a very powerful message to the viewer.