My immediate reaction to this was ‘Oh it’s Margaret Thatcher, Milk Snatcher’! What is she doing seemingly on her own in an environment that looks like a wasteland or tip. I didn’t ‘feel’ anything. Although I do have preconceived ideas about ‘that woman’!
Of course she looks out of place in the image above. She could almost be in a funeral outfit. Even so she is not dressed appropriately for this terrain (even if we didn’t know who she is).
However this image on the left taken on the same day at the venue puts her ‘dress’ more appropriately into perspective. Whilst possibly it is all a publicity stunt she looks more business-like here which is supported by her clothing.
I suspect that she hadn’t arrived in the compact family car behind her, to be photographed thus. The absence of minders in this image suggests that she wished to be seen coping, in the rough bleak terrain, isolated. There are two people behind her in the distance, one walking across the flat of the parking area and one seems to be taking photographs of items in the tip. Other images of this event are suitably framed not to include these distractors. The hazy blur of the background building could be residential or industrial or even a mixture of both. In her smart black suit, she stands out against the grey derelict background. The monochrome is typical of images meant to be used, maybe for newsprint, as colour was only just becoming mainstream in daily newspapers.
I was interested enough to find out more about the image. Alamay provided a different image of the same visit by Margaret Thatcher on 12th September 1987.
Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher seen here at what remains of the Head Wrightson works in Thornaby, Middlesbrough The Prime Minister launched her inner-city offensive on Teesside with the promise of 1, 000 new jobs.
The Teesside Urban Development Corporation announced new jobs created by companies such as British Telecom, Northern Ocean Services, Nissan and others, as well as schemes that would lead eventually to the creation of the Tees Barrage, Teesside Park retail centre, and the regeneration of Hartlepool marina. Margaret Thatcher came to the region with a message of hope but she said she had no magic wand to rid the region of its problems. But as well as announcements of new ventures, there were also protests, and Mrs Thatcher left Teesside in no doubt that many of her policies remain unpopular in the North East. [Trinity Mirror / Mirrorpix / Alamy Stock Photo]
Five ‘take aways’ from a study of this image:
- Try not to take a single image on ‘face value’. There is usually a form of ‘contact print’ that the image may have been selected from that may give more detail of context or show images that do not serve the publisher’s purpose as well.
2. Be aware of the context of presentation in an image for bias, for example, think the Guardian or the Daily Mail.
3. A title, the editor’s or curator’s note can alter perceptions of what a photograph is about. Either with or without a photographer’s agreement. The words around an image are a form of perception manipulation.
4. Viewers bring their own biases, knowledge and interpretations to a photograph. Photographers, galleries and publishers copyright images to control how they are used and viewed.
5. Not all photographs have a ‘meaning’.
6. As a viewer be open to alternative views. Or do the other… feed your biases. Photojournalism is big business.
References:
(2001) ‘The truth about Thatcher Thatcher milk snatcher’, 1 January. Available at: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/in_depth/uk/2000/uk_confidential/1095121.stm (Accessed: 14 November 2024).
If she sought a monument: Six years ago Mrs Thatcher walked into a (1993) The Independent. Available at: https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/if-she-sought-a-monument-six-years-ago-mrs-thatcher-walked-into-a-wilderness-we-know-about-the-woman-what-happened-to-the-place-1512784.html (Accessed: 15 November 2024).
Limited, A. (no date) Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher …Stock Photo – Alamy. Available at: https://www.alamy.com/stock-photo-prime-minister-margaret-thatcher-seen-here-at-what-remains-of-the-84066321.html (Accessed: 14 November 2024).
Limited, A. (no date) Thatcher thornaby 1987 hi-res stock photography and images, Alamy. Available at: https://www.alamy.com/stock-photo/thatcher-thornaby-1987.html (Accessed: 15 November 2024).
Welford, J. (2017) What changed after Maggie Thatcher’s walk in the wilderness?, Teesside Live. Available at: http://www.gazettelive.co.uk/news/nostalgia/things-change-much-after-maggie-12847721 (Accessed: 15 November 2024).
blog page featured image from:
Historian, T.M. (2023) ‘Margaret Thatcher: “An Example to our Daughters” or the Feminine Face of Patriarchal Politics? By Catherine Hart’, Manchester Historian, 14 March. Available at: https://manchesterhistorian.com/2023/margaret-thatcher-an-example-to-our-daughters-or-the-feminine-face-of-patriarchal-politics-by-catherine-hart/ (Accessed: 18 November 2024).
