Blog One: His Afternoon Nap

By Sue Anna Joe

Upon looking at this picture, I automatically assume that it is a picture of a homeless man.

The denotative meaning of the photograph is indeed that - a man sleeping on some stairs in some nice area - all the buildings look clean. He seems isolated and alone - like he has no home. This is what the image connotes to me. The fact that the image is in black and white makes me feel that even more.

To me, this images supports the myth that all people you see sleeping in public places are homeless but challenges the myth that the only place you see homeless people is in the bad parts of the city.

The actual description of the photograph is this:

I went to the city today, Kuala Lumpur. I'm not a big fan of it though, it's just too busy, and too many people. Not that I don't like people, but it gives me such a headache to struggle through the crowd. However though, I just LOVE taking pictures there. The buildings,the scene, and especially the people. Huhu. Nways, this old man, was most probably waiting for someone, he was sleeping on the stairs of a bank, and in front of this bank was this very busy read with alotta people crossing it. He must've mean so tired, that the noise didn't bother him a bit.

I think that it is the black and whiteness of the photo and just how it's centered around the man sleeping that supports the ideology about homelessness. It is only after I read the description that I realized that just because someone is sleeping on some stairs doesn't mean they're homeless - they could just be very tired. It is also very interesting that although the description says it was very busy near this bank yet chose not to photograph the commotion - only the man sleeping on the stairs.