To Kill A Mockingbird: Photo Analysis

Store with false front. Vicinity of Selma, Alabama

• Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division Washington, DC 20540 http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/pp.print

     When I first look at this photograph, I see a ramshackle building that is very run down. I see a lone gas pump, that doesn't look like it's been used in a while. I see just a few people standing around, but for the most part, it's vacant and empty. This building seems to be standing in the middle of a field with other farmhouses in the background. There are a couple of trees, and the ground mainly consists of dry, tufts of grass in disarray. There's a bunch of litter/trash around the porch of this building, and it doesn't look like anybody has worried about keeping this area in order. From all of this, I can infer that this may be a small place where people meet to possibly hang out, and relax. It may be a convenience store, and a place where people can come to get gas, and little things they may need (food, water, cigarettes, etc.). Though, it doesn't really look like anyone's buying anything. It's right in the middle of fields and a few other farmhouses, so it's most likely a common area for this area of land. Though, because there are very few people around, we can assume that it's pretty tired and vacant. It's not very crowded, or busy. With all of the trash also, it looks like it hasn't been well taken care of. After, looking at this photo, I am wondering, Who took this picture? What importance did they see in taking this photograph? Is this building actually something along the lines of a convenience store? I ask this because there's really nothing to prove that it is one, I am simply assuming. Also, why is it in the middle of fields and other houses? I would think it would be a little but more separated. I am wondering as well if it was common for buildings like the one pictured to be vacant and tired. You would think more people would be there to get necessities and such, or to just get a break from work. One final thing I would want to know would be, is this considered a common area for the residents of this area? I mean, you would think because it looks like it's a place where people could go to get gas, food, water, etc. and chill out, out of the hot sun. Though, it doesn't look like many people are there to get these things and or take a break and relax. That's what I could see from this photo, what I can infer, and what I'm still wondering

     I believe this could be Maycomb County, Alabama because they describe the town square in the novel, very similarly to how this picture appears. In the book it says, "People moved slowly then. They ambled across the square, shuffled in and out of the stores around it. A day was twenty-four hours long but seemed longer. There was no hurry, for there was nowhere to go, nothing to buy and no money to buy it with, nothing to see outside the boundaries of Maycomb County." This small description sounds like it could be describing something similar to the photograph above. The building looks like it could be a shop or store in a small town square in the middle of Maycomb County. The people around look like they are in no hurry to go anywhere, and though are near the shop, aren't buying anything. Also, the book says that outside of the town square, there was really nowhere else to go, which is what it seems like in this photo. Outside the shop, there are only fields and a couple houses, there really doesn't seem like there's anything or anywhere else to go where people could possibly enjoy themselves or simply go just to hang out. The photo just looks like it could be the slow moving town square described in To Kill A Mockingbird. It's in a central area where I would assume most town squares are, there are few people walking around and don't seem to be in a hurry or buying anything, just like the book describes the people in the town square and the town square itself.