An interpretation of Willy Ronis' "Engine Driver"

In "describing" photographs we are on pretty safe ground. At worst we can be accused of seeing too little, or too much irrelevant, information. What we have seen can be verified objectively and, as matters of fact, should be beyond dispute. Moving on to interpretation we are in more dangerous territory.

Our interpretation is based on our observations, but is personal and potentially much more subjective. Different people may arrive at the same interpretations, but often they will differ, and if they agree in general they will probably give more weight and relevance to different ideas and claims. First of all I don't think interpretation is a search for the ultimate truth about an image. This is impossible of course, but shouldn't be our goal. Our goal should be to enrich our appreciation of the image for ourselves, and possible for others if we are doing it for an audience. It should be a guide, it should ask as many questions as it answers.

So what about an interpretation of Willy Ronis "Engine Driver"? "Whaddya mean!" I hear someone say - "it's a picture of a train driver for heavens sake. What is there to interpret?". I mention this because there is often an assumption that interpretation means looking for coded messages and symbolism, and decoding them. Often images are produced which obviously beg such an investigation. How about images that appear documentary and naturalistic. Are they just a mirror held up to reality. "Nothing could be further from the truth because photographs are partial and are inflected" ¹ In saying this Terry Barrett means that every image brings with it decisions and choices consciously or subconsciously employed by the photographer. What did the photographer intend when he made this photograph? Why did he make it in this way and not another? These are the questions we ask when attempting to understand or interpret a photograph.

In this image for example there is a lot to learn and reflect on if we address the above two questions. First of all it is clear that the subject, as opposed to the subject matter, is a portrait of a train driver, in tandem with his train. Creating an image like this can be purely documentary, or it can be aimed at capturing character and perhaps aspects of the subject which cannot be portrayed by physical representation alone. The first point I'd like to make is that Ronis could have chosen to take this photograph from several different angles. To take one simple alternative, he could have placed himself at the front of the train, with the driver still leaning out his cab, but at the distant end of the perspective. We would still have the dramatic diagonal composition, but the engine would be the dominant motif, and the driver secondary. In the current photograph we are left in no doubt that the driver is the dominant subject. To reinforce that we see that the driver is shown full height because the angle allows this - the effect would have been less if we just saw the upper part of the driver leaning out of the can. We establish the driver as the dominant motif, but he also dominates the viewer by way of the low viewpoint. Brought together all of these elements conspire to add character to the portrait, that of power and dominance. This no doubt is why young kids want to be train drivers, and worship train drivers. At least in the age that this photo was taken. However the driver is by no means a hero type figure. He scowls, he is grimy and burly. His great paw of a hand is slung casually over the side of the locomotive. He is in charge of this machine, no doubt. All of this is brought about by the careful and, I think, intentional selection of viewpoint, and placing of the subject.

On first looking at the image, I feel that the character of the driver is what strikes us. He is not ambivalent. We immediately have a reaction, even a judgement, about his character. This influences the entire character and atmosphere of the image. I'm sure Ronis could have asked him to smile, to discard the cigar, to lean benevolently out of the cab instead of the pose chosen which is arrogant, self assured, at the same time discourages us from approaching. This also highlights the relationship between the driver and his companion in the subject, the locomotive. For me it suggests a romantic image of the men who drive trains, the same image of the cowboy and his horse perhaps. However it is not sentimental - it is romantic in the true sense of the word.

Several motifs work quite nicely to evoke the role of an engine driver, or at least our perception. The secondary impression, after the character of the driver, is the evocation of heat, and machinery and work and sweat. This is brought about by the details we noticed earlier. The cigar is a nice echo of the hot, smoky footplate. The grime and the goggles suggest work, hard work. The strong light - we can feel the heat of the sun- reinforces the feeling. Now these features are not props, they are all part of the scene, but going back to our earlier observations, Ronis could have taken the photograph in any number of ways which would have more or less emphasised these points. I believe the motifs are consciously orchestrated to produce the effect that we see, and thus the photographers intent passes dirfectly to us via the medium of the image.

Did Ronis mean to portray the work of an engine driver as a tough life, a rewarding life, a dangerous life, an exciting life? I don't know. He just portrays it, and it's up to us to decide, but he has certainly strongly characterised it, and I think by closely observing the image and thinking about how and why he did it this way, we arrive at the power and subtlety of the composition, and this informs our final impression. It may not differ much from our first impression, but maybe now we understand our first impression, and appreciate and enjoy the image and its context more as a result. Indeed in the best photographs there is no final impression - every time we come back to them they reveal themselves anew.

References

1) "Criticizing Photographs" Terry Barrett, 4th Edition McGraw Hill p43