"Othering"

Huie, Wing Young. “Untitled.” Wing Young Huie, Wing Young Huie, Minneapolis, www.wingyounghuie.com

The above image is an untitled photograph by Wing Young Huie, an American photographer who became a full-time professional photographer in 1989.  Many of his works focus on communities and photographing the people within them.  In the photograph above, Wing Young Huie published this image (in a collection with other images) on August 23, 2013 in Minneapolis.  An interesting aspect to note about this particular image that I found on Huie's photography website is that there was very little information (if there was any information at all) regarding where this image was taken, if the image has a title, who the people are, etc.  Therefore, when looking at this photograph, I had to solely rely on my own interpretations of what I was seeing to determine the message that Huie was trying to convey.  In the image there are many men on their hands and knees in a prayer position.  However, in almost the center of the image and in the far left corner there are two men that are not kneeling on the ground, but their heads are still bowed in prayer.  The man in the center of the image appears to be in a wheelchair while the man on the far left side of the image appears to be sitting in a white plastic chair.  Upon further examination of the image you can see that this appears to be some sort of makeshift religious center-it is not decorated elaborately and there are not religious symbols on the walls.  Instead, there are signs that read, "Quiet Area" posted on a column in the center of the room.  I also noticed how in this room it appears to be solely men- there aren't any women praying in this image (at least from what I can tell because I don't see hair that would indicate a female).  Finally,  I also noticed how these people engaged in prayer are not wearing sophisticated or "nice" clothes.  Many of them are in sweatshirts and sweatpants or even jeans.  This also indicates that it must be cold wherever these men are praying or that this image was taken in the winter or colder months (although it was published in August).

In both The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood and this untitled photograph taken by Wing Young Huie, the concept of "othering" is presented.  This means that someone or something is being portrayed as different or possibly even "alien".  Both Huie and Atwood present this concept of "othering" through the use of image, layout/format, and color.  Within The Handmaid's Tale, Atwood incorporates a significant amount of imagery through her descriptions of Offred's living situation and Gilead, as well as what Offred and the other women in this society must wear.  As a Handmaid, Offred's body is almost completely concealed- she even has white wings that go around the sides of her face so that she will not be seen.  This also connects to Huie's photograph in that all of the men in prayer are covered.  Their faces cannot be clearly seen and their jackets/sweatshirts and pants cover their skin and even their feet are covered with socks.  Atwood has created the idea of "othering" through dressing the characters in the novel differently, but it is interesting to note that this is quite the opposite in Huie's photograph.  All of the men are dressed similarly and the idea of "othering" is created through how the men sitting in chairs look and are different from the other men on the floor praying.

Through layout/format of The Handmaid's Tale, Atwood develops the plot through Offred's first person point of view and throughout the entirety of the novel there are shifts between Offred's past and descriptions of her life before Gilead, and then descriptions of what is happening in current life.  This establishes Offred as an individual unique to the Gilead society because she still clings to her past life, while (as far as we can tell) the other characters in the novel have conformed to their new way of life and disregarded their past.  The format of the image helps to create "othering" due to the angle that the photo is taken from.  Since the image is taken from slightly below eye level, this places emphasis on the men in the room that are not on the ground in prayer.  If the image had been taken from above (at a different perspective) then the men in the chairs would not be so distinguishable.  Therefore, since we have insight into Offred's thoughts we can see that Atwood is developing her as an individual since she still clings to her past life.  Within the photograph, the idea of "othering" is presented through the perspective that the image is taken from- which emphasizes the men that are not on the ground.

Finally, women within The Handmaid's Tale are distinguishable due to the color that they are assigned to wear.  The Handmaid's must wear red while the Marthas, for example, must wear green.  Therefore, the way the society of Gilead is structured already creates "othering" due to the differences in the colors that the women must wear to signify their status/position.  However, it is interesting to note that in contrast to specific assigned colors presented in Atwood's novel, Huie has placed his photograph in black and white.  This creates a sense of unity within the image because even though the men in the chairs do not look exactly like the other men praying, they have been established as the same by appearing in the same color scheme.