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Kirk Welsh

SWC 100

July 11, 2009

Disaster Through a Snapshot

The Bush administration was a long, hard eight-year span. Throughout these tough 2920

days, there havebeen numerous unforgettable times in history. The Northeast Blackout of 2003,

the September 11 Attacks, and the flood of New Orleans in 2005 are just a fewof the disasters.

As a result, citizens of this country have suffered from a recession, asthe economy seems to get

worse and worse. Although many argue that the economy will begin to pick up after a while,

others still feel that there is no hope. These pessimists believe that the country is in its largest

deficit ever and that there is no hope ofgetting out. Even though these two sides have numerous

arguments to support their beliefs, it is agreeable that the Bush administration has not made the

situation any better. In addition, President Bush and his colleagues have simply dug the hole

deeper each term. Bush’s period as president ended on January 20, 2009; he passed the torch to

the 44th U.S. President Barack Obama to create change and put the country back on track. Just

before the conclusion of his presidency, photographer Alec Soth captured memories of the last

days of the 43rd President.

Alec Soth, a renowned photographer, was born, in 1969, in Minneapolis, Minnesota. In

order to take his pictures, Soth uses folklore, photographs that hint a story, to capture

moments. His well-known works have been all across the country in galleries, books,

museums, and collections. He has also written two books, Sleeping by the Mississippi and

Niagara. Although he has written books, Alec Soth’s occupation is not an author. He is a

professional photographer that has taken pictures for The New York Times Magazine and

Fortune, just to name a few.

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(Wikipedia)

Entitled, “Last Days of W,” his collage of photographs include objects and scenery that

symbolized events that took place during the eight-year reign of Bush. In these thirty-eight

panoramas, there lies a message that the photographer is trying to stress to the audience. These

topics of discussion range from a message about the soldiers in Iraq (Josh, Joelton, Tennessee) to

a message about the extinction of fossil fuels (picture #37 Wall, South Dakota). There are a

myriad of ways to analyze each photo; therefore, the way each picture is scrutinized depends on

the different viewers’ train of thoughts.

While looking through the photos, two pictures stuck out the most. One of these two was the

picture taken in Detroit, MI of the two abandoned buildings. These abandoned buildings were

once Hotel Eddystone and the Salvation Army Shelter (formerly Park Avenue Hotel). Located

near downtown Detroit on Park Avenue off Grand Boulevard, these two buildings are historical

to architecture. Designed and constructed back in the early 1920s by architect Lew Tuller, they

served on the list of National Register of Historic Places. These elegant hotels ran smooth

business until the Great Depression that started in 1929. The Depression caused many places of

business to go bankrupt and the two hotels were a part of the many caught up in the wrath. Right

after the start of World War II, the hotels were officially abandoned. A few years back in 2005,

the governor of Michigan, Jennifer Granholm, proposed a plan to convert the abandoned hotels

into The Carlton Condos.

In the picture, the background is gloomy and it seems to be the middle of winter. There is

cold scenery with snow on the ground and bare trees, which hence that the month is more than

likely December. Some of the windows of the hotel are busted out while some are boarded up,

showing the viewer that the buildingsare desert. A pile of garbage alongside the Eddystone Hotel

and additional gutter lookingbuildings in the background sets the mood of the picture.
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Everything in the picture shows that the atmosphere is dark and depressing. This picture and the

times of Bush being in office are deeply related.

First, the hotels were a booming business when they were first built back in the 1920s, similar

to the economy and thereputation of George Bush and the Bush family at the beginning of his

term. Soon after, the Great Depression, similar to the recession of today, occurred and caused the

business to go into its first stages of bankruptcy. Then, the World War II started, wiping out the

hotel’s business completely. Likewise, the War in Iraq wiped out the economy. The photographer

made a clear comparison between the history of the two buildings and the economy during

Bush’s time in office. Dull colors such as, black, white, dark blue, and brown were the center of

attention to show the significance of the photo.

The other picture that struck attention was the portrait captured in Walker, Minnesota. The

skull of a dead animal, seeming to be a bull, hangs from a wall. Multicolored beads hang from

the horns of the bull, along with two pairsof fluffy dice. One pair of the fluffy dice is black with

white dots and the other pair ispink with black dots on them. A deep train of thought runs

through the mind and this picture has to be analyzed closely. The bull in the picture represents

George Bush. Bush is from the state of Texas; and Texas is thought of as a state known for its

beef cattle, the bull. The dice hanging from the horns of the bull symbolizes a gamble. Notice

that both pair of dice is set onthe number eight. Concurrently, President Bush was in office for

eight years. The message for this portrait was that there was a gamble for putting Bush in office

for these eight years. The mardi gra beads denotethe Flood of New Orleans. New Orleans is

known for its wild parties, parades, southern soul food, and mardi gra beads. During Bush’s

second term, the flood of New Orleans occurred in 2005 and claimed to be one of the worst

disasters the country has ever witnessed. This flood served as a reason why putting Bush back in
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office was a risk. The way Alec Soth deposited all of these different backgrounds into this one

photo shows the creativity he possesses.

The two snapshots are very much alike but there are alsodifferences between the two. First,

the picture taken in Detroit was shot around shadowy, murky surroundings, and does not have

any type of bright color; contrastingly, the bull picture contained vivid colors and was enclosed

with light on the entities. Next, the picture of Detroit taken outside, captured the natural

background of a city, but the other photo is a collage of many different objects to show

symbolization. Finally, the focus ofpicture one is brief history about a building relating to Bush.

Picture two takes items and relates them to significant times during the presidential term.

The great photographer Alec Soth photographs the “Last Days of W.” In the collection of

pictures, Soth transmits messages through significant pieces of article. The two pictures

discussed in this article, the picture taken in Detroit, MI and in Walker, Minnesota, were

unitedtogether in many ways. They both had a deep message hidden, which related to the

ghastly side of the Bush administration. In addition, through its detail and color, these two

pictures unrevealed history of the country. Soth’s snapshots are cavernous and require an

intelligent train of thought. Therefore, Alec Soth is an infamous photographer of our current

history; and there is no secret as to why. “Last Days of W” is an addition to his successful talent

and actually makes people across the globe wonder. “Is former- President Bush the blame for the

status of the economy?” “Can the 44th President Barack Obama get the country out of this

setback?” It will never be known until a few years down the road. However, it is evident that

the pictures Alec Soth captured in this album propose these questions in the mind.