Domestic Composition:
A Reconstructive Pictorial Project
BY MARISSA SABBATH
The very concept of a visual culture must acknowledge that vision frames our
experience, and this vision is a mode of cultural expression as influential as natural language.
Early pictorial representations of the South both constructed and continue to aid a close
configuration of epistemic claims and a skewed ethical stance on the subjects portrayed. The act
of pictorial representation through photography is often analyzed as an element of history, and
an aesthetic example of technology. The act of picturing undoubtedly shapes society, and
though approached from many theoretical positions, perhaps some theory is neglected. In
approaching the myriad of theories of photography, perhaps scholars ought to remember
instances in photographic history that were exploitative. Considering an account of
photography as an intrusive presence, at least at some point in a society, aids in the
understanding of that society’s development and current state of being. Many scholars consider
these notions and theoretical effects of picturing on subjects and society. This paper will seek to
assert that Natasha Trethewey’s main goal in Domestic Work is to reconstruct a once historical
artifice into a vision of the self, and of the South, that is aesthetically accurate. It will also seek to
show that through an examination of the psycho-philosophical components of the visualization
of the self and the historical development of photography in the South, the epistemic and ethical
necessity for a revisionary project will emerge.
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The process of visualization inherently implicates the practice of a deconstruction of the
ontological self, for delving into the social roles of “self” and “other” and the subjugation that
ensues Lacanian theory is paramount. Jacques Lacan offers a progressive explanation of the
development of selfhood and how it is guided by “othering”. Using Lacan’s concepts of
“misrecognition” and the interrelated “gaze”, it becomes clear the self does not emerge from
within, but is a product of dialectical interaction occurring externally. An understanding of the
notions of Lacan’s theory will better prepare the reader for the reconstruction seen in Domestic
Work. By grasping the self as being both a subject “gazing” and an object of “gaze”
simultaneously, one can better comprehend the tension displayed in Trethewey’s work, and the
revisionary approach she takes to correct a vast misuse of the “gaze” and refocus the power of
the self.
Lacan’s Mirror Stage sets up a projected image of the self as the “ideal-I”. He describes
this as the “imaginary” or the part occurring outside of the frame of self. The certainty of the
subjective is unattainable once aware of the self as a subject and an object. Through the formal
process of self-separation, the “other” emerges. The subject, now internally alienated, must
employ the language of “otherness” to interact with a multitude of subjects. This “other” is
elaborated on within a social and linguistic framework aiding in the seeing of the “ideal-I” or
the imaginary self. This stage in Lacanian theory creates the division between the entire self we
see in the mirror, and the fragmented self we realize when we are identified as an object. 1
The duality of the fragmented self and the “ideal-I” forms a gap of uncertainty in being
both a subject and an object. The fractured identity seeks unification, only now perceivable in
Jacques Lacan. Ecrits: the First Complete Edition in English. Bruce Fink, trans. (New York: W.W. Norton &,
2006), 76-79.
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relation to the “other”. The perception of the self depends wholly on what images we use to fill
the void between subject and object. 2 For Lacan, this means the self sustains its sense of
autonomy through ongoing “misrecognition”, housed in the subjective existence as depending
on relation to “others”, and the symbolic systems of language. According to Lacan, the
boundaries set up and employed by the imaginary “ideal-I” constitute the perpetual threat to
the vulnerable conception of the self. Lacan says, “the ideal-I is precipitated in a primordial
form, prior to being objectified in the dialectic of identification with the other”. 3 Furthermore,
the presentation of the references to the external have a formative influence on the development
of the “ideal-I”. This suggests that the self does not emerge out of the self sui generis, but rather
is a product of dialectical interaction of the subject and the “other”. Perpetuated by the
relational aspect of language with the external, the subject and the “other” of the South take on
particular roles and attributes through the developing practice of photography.
History of the practice and use of photography in the American South epitomizes this
deconstruction of the self as outlined by Lacan. Because of its destructive projections,
photography frames southern culture in the negative practice of subjugation of the “other”.
Repeated misrepresentation (misrecognition) of the South has lead to “knowledge” of race and
gender based solely on details gathered from images, which are historically often considered
coercive in nature. This sentiment is attributed to the picturing in the south because of the
power-laden staging. In order to interpret Trethewey’s project of reconstruction, revision, or
repossession fully, one must first have an understanding of the infrastructure of the particular
culture, built for the “other” by the main subjects of power and control. Subjugation and
2
3
Jacques Lacan. Ecrits: the First Complete Edition in English, 76-79.
Ibid, 76-79.
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oppression, even when mediated by the pictorial, temporarily hinders human agency, and
worse, is often purported justifiable for empowerment. This complex history carries much
weight for any human, and particularly any scholar concerned with epistemic and ethical
valuation of people. A holistic exploration of the aforementioned problems is a necessary
process for understanding the remedial benefits of Trethewey’s work.
To gain fluency in the discourse of historical photography, Ordering the Façade by
Katherine Henninger is a comprehensive guide. The introduction of this work provides an
extensive overview of the role of photography in the work of culture creation. As she explains,
photographs are used to naturalize a connection between the “real” and the artifice they
present. The ostensibly natural technology of vision is crucial in the shaping of culture. She
asserts the process of envisioning the South was strictly in the hands of the powerful. Thus the
notion of the use of photography as “objective” technology is unfounded. Henninger confirms
the conventional view of the South as a simulacrum framing it as “a place made rather than
sprung, visualized rather than seen”. 4 Undoubtedly, photography lay at the center of the making
of the visual culture south. Images were consciously created and reproduced to frame the
“other” in a particular way, to propagate the politics of the powerful.
Further, Henninger explains, though the South has always been an oral culture,
southern identity is more determined by the visual. She points out, “In a culture where visual
signs—the shape of a lip, a skin’s shade, external sex characteristics, the carriage of one’s body,
the condition of one’s clothing—determine “place”, surely the visual may be said to reign
Katherine Henninger. Ordering the Facade: Photography and Contemporary Southern Women's Writing. (Chapel
Hill: University of North Carolina, 2007), 180.
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supreme”. 5 The vision of the South is unarguably under the control of those in power. In this
white-washed construction of the South, the voices of the “other” are forced into a frame of
silent subordination. Henninger asks, “If the ‘master narrative’ of the South is exploded to
include its historically silenced others, what specifically Southern remains?” 6 In Henninger’s
approach to ethics of representation, she employs a system, not of negation, but of revision. The
debate surrounding power is developed in her analysis of modern female authors who use the
pictorial in their work as a means of reconstructing visions of the self, the ‘other’ and the South.
In this analysis, Henninger shows how each creates textual photographs or
photographers in their work as a way to answer questions of objectification, and to “[revise] the
cultural vision that would still silence them”. 7 Trethewey is of this same school, especially in her
use of poetry as a medium; she seems to inherently restore the oral tradition of the South, thus
the voice of its people. She is working to reclaim the humanity the “others” were denied through
the “gaze” of the whites who dominated the South. Henninger assigns the task of southern
females to highlight their own status as representations through this new wave of fictional
photography. She says, “southern culture must be understood as a field of competing
representations, an ongoing and, in the broadest sense of the word, political contest to define
who and what may represent the South”.6 Henninger asserts contemporary female southern
writers actively engage in this contest through textual representations of photographs.
According to her, this is all in response to a, “vast, inordinately complex, and often
Henninger, Ordering the Facade: Photography and Contemporary Southern Women's Writing, 16.
Ibid, 156.
7 Ibid, 24.
5
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contradictory representational legacy”. 8 Though not mentioned in Henninger’s book,
Trethewey deliberately engages with the oppressive visual legacies, which have disempowered
the “other” of the South. This work fully embodies the struggle to free the “other” from these
legacies by creating new, alternative visual images through text. The fictional photographs
employed in Trethewey’s work highlight her own status as representation, and expose the
cultural work of façade-building as the very foundation of her “real” basis of community.
Trethewey’s “Three Photographs” clearly utilize Lacanian notions of the “other” and of
the “gaze” as a framework for the remembering and reconstruction of the visionary South. In
this tripartite piece, Trethewey offers commentary on three photographs from three different
perspectives. The photographs are noted to be by Clifton Johnson, a photojournalist who
captured images of the American South in the early 1900s. 9 The first poem, “Daybook April
1901” is clearly the perspective of Johnson, a white photographer, “gazing” his way through the
South: “What luck to find them here!/Through my lens, I watch them/strain against motion,
hold still”.8 The speaker then continues his language of “othering”: “they make such good
subjects./Always easy to pose,”. 10 Fortunate in his “discovery” of his black subjects, Johnson
chooses the frame of his image, and poses his subjects to be ideal representations of the South
according to his own objectives for relational “knowing”.
The second poem, “Cabbage Vendor” is the perspective of a black worker, the “other”
clearly violated by the onlooker’s “gaze” and his ostensible entitlement to capture the “natural”
of the vendor’s quotidian. This poem is a reflection on the real work the speaker puts into
Henninger, Ordering the Facade: Photography and Contemporary Southern Women's Writing, 8-9.
Kirstin Kay. "Northerner in a Southern Country." Clifton Johnson Collection. 2010. Web.
10 Natasha D. Trethewey, and Rita Dove. “Daybook April 1901”. Domestic Work: Poems. (Saint Paul, MN:
Graywolf, 2000).
8
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simply living autonomously. Johnson is set on his desire “to make a picture hold/this moment,
forever”. 11 The vendor notably respects the finitude of the natural, and sees the encapsulation of
a self as aberrant: “But he will keep my picture,/unnatural like hoodoo love”. 12 The speaker
continues to explain his desire to turn the camera on the gazer, “and make him see himself/like
he be seeing me”. 13 Trethewey makes the “other” the speaker of the poem, and with undeniable
agency, the vendor is now heard in her project of reconstruction.
Lastly, Trethewey offers a perspective of her own in the third poem, “Wash Women”.
She describes what she sees. Framed by the white background of a gallery space for public
investigation: “The eyes of eight women/I don’t know/stare out from this photograph/saying
remember.” 14 This haunting imagery is something Trethewey must “remember” for a true
reconstruction of the South. As Henninger might argue, Trethewey’s main goal is not to negate
mythical imagery of the existing historical scope, nor is it to form a detached toleration of these
myths. Rather her goal is to reconstruct the scope of the self and how it stands in mutual and
consensual relation to other selves depicted in these images. As she continues the poem,
Trethewey reframes the historical with her imaginative rhetoric. She guides the reader through
the creation of her newly revised world with inspiring illuminations as she describes a picture
of what she envisions. Trethewey puts movement back into the picture, freeing the subjects
from the captivity of the still frame: ”They walk the road toward home,/a week’s worth of takein laundry/balanced on their heads”. 15 Trethewey closes this poem with commentary on the
Trethewey, “Cabbage Vendor”. Domestic Work: Poems
Ibid
13 Ibid
14 Trethewey, “Wash Women”. Domestic Work: Poems
15 Ibid
11
12
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“gaze” and its historical lack of mutual benefit. “Gazing” by the powerful was used to
investigate the “other” while photography materialized the judgments of gazers. Here the
product of gazing is restructured by Trethewey to include not only her own visual material, but
also the judgment of the “others”.
Traditionally, the process of investigation is driven by the desire of intimate
understanding. In the investigation of other people, the same expectation follows. Historically,
investigation of the “other” is made possible in the array of images captured and exhibited by
the powerful, thus it is not a consensual practice. By putting the “others” of the South on
display, the powerful entitled the public to this coercive intimacy. While whites gaze into
“blackness” in publications and galleries in comfort, they rarely frame themselves for
investigation. Intimacy, when not mutually extended, is a process of intrusive investigation.
Trethewey creates a stark juxtaposition of the stigmatized black-and-white photography and
the colorful textual imagery of her work, not solely for contrastive purposes, but also as a
blueprint for her reconstruction.
As Henninger says “fictional photographs expose the cultural work of façade-building
as the very real basis of community identity”. 16 Southern subjectivity is reliant on visual
rhetoric. Though the pictorial view is based primarily in the illusory, we cannot completely
dismiss the historical, cultural functions of the photograph. It is important to note that although
scholars have adequately been able to construct the history of photography as a medium and as
a product, we must also work to fix our focus on the connection to a history of picturing in the
context of relational language. The syllogism employed in any discourse—metaphorical,
16
Henninger, Ordering the Facade: Photography and Contemporary Southern Women's Writing, 8.
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pictorial, or conceptual—becomes the product of social “knowledge”, which appropriates
judgment. In the awareness of historical alienation, the importance of mutual recognition
unfolds. At this juncture, it is clear a catharsis of the past pictorial vision should not occur.
Instead of attempting to eliminate the “other” it must be sublated into the self, meaning the
“other” must be internalized and protected by the self.
The remembering and revision of race representation will allow action to precede
essence. The expropriation of damaged visual agency is key to the reconstruction of the self and
the “other” in the South. By isolating alienation itself, Trethewey is able to capture the fleeting
moments, both relating to and adding to the conception of self and the “other”, and even the self
as the “other”. Any of Trethewey’s speakers are simultaneously the subject of the “gaze” and
the one gazing. This alone offers an explication of the tension found throughout her work. This
tension is routed in the main goal of the mutual assimilation and sustaining of multiple parts
into one entity. Though Trethewey captures private instances, this work is equally about the
interpersonal. Her project is just as interested in the development of the self in relation to others
as the development of the self in relation to the “ideal-I”.
Domestic Work both displays and requires a keen understanding of the psychophilosophical concepts of the subject and the object, and concept of “other”, which inevitably
follows. Trethewey’s project is explained and supported by Lacanian theory of the development
of self, and by Henninger’s revisionary stance. Here Trethewey is not stopped at a
reconstruction of the self, but must reconstruct an entire culture of selves. In the introduction to
Domestic Work, Rita Dove explains that the poet’s challenge is “to bear witness and give a face to
the legions of nameless men and women…helping to turn the American Dreamscape into
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reality.” 17 Essentially, her task is to “imagine” or construct a revised reality; and to establish an
integral structure that is accurate in terms of the cultural, historical, and personal.
By using imagery to appropriate a dwelling in the aperture of the South, Trethewey
accomplishes a reconstruction of the self. By using the “Polaroid Instant” Trethewey delivers
textual imagery, which she, as “other” and as subject, is constructing. 18 By adjusting society’s
aperture, Trethewey guides the light for an illumination of a conceptual place, and in doing so,
helps to clarify the actuality of that place—the South. Trethewey’s firm grasp on the cultural and
historical implications of photography in the South is obvious in her reconstruction of the
pictorial. The reader, or viewer, of Trethewey’s work should be clear on the historical context in
order to see past the artifice of the old-south and to fully grasp the aesthetic of her revisedsouth.
Ultimately, Trethewey accomplishes an illustration of unity through multiplicity by
invoking strong images with a subtle tone. These instances are relatable to anyone who is ever
seen as a self or an oppressed “other”, a subject or an object, or one who is gazed upon or one
who gazes. Just as Lacan invokes the picture or the “frame” to exemplify the empirical
foundation for psychoanalytic epistemology, Trethewey invokes the photograph to illustrate
ontological realism. She invokes photographic images to capture what it means to be. Just as
Henninger is concerned with the history inevitably formed by the capturing of images,
Trethewey also displays an attentive connectedness to the history of the pictorial. All of these
hypotheses mutually support one another, starting with the notions of the “other”, leading to
the historical implications of capturing an image, and ending in the labor of Trethewey’s project
17
18
Trethewey, Domestic Work: Poems, xi.
Ibid, xii.
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to revise. These are all concerned with one main theme: the tensions that arise from the instant
of being faced with another subject. An undeniable dialectic arises at this moment, as a complex
relationship of self and “other” is formed. This work enacts fully the difficulty in reconciling
subject and object, and the configuration of a synthesis between the subjugated self, and the
subjective self in the South. Trethewey creates a pictorial space with candid physicality and
fluidity, where the oppositions of the past are used as tools for mutual recognition and
reciprocation for the present and for the future.
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