This photograph called “Rome 135” was created by Aaron Siskind. It was taken in Rome in 1977. Siskind was born and raised in New York City. He had no professional training.
He started photographing in 1932 as an English teacher because he became interested in
it after receiving a camera as a gift from his father-in-law. He got started by participating in
projects meant to document life during the depression through the Photo League. The
Film and Photo League were devoted to improving social conditions with their pictures.
Siskind made some of his most well known and successful photographs for the League,
called “The Harlem Document.” Siskind was an abstract photographer. Many of his images
feature subjects that are not easily identifiable. Siskind also took formal and serious pictures,
such as his depression documentaries, along with poetic and conceptual images. He
worked on making photographs of graffiti, paint, and other materials, as well as natural
formations such as tree trunks. He documented ideas instead of events.
He started photographing in 1932 as an English teacher because he became interested in
it after receiving a camera as a gift from his father-in-law. He got started by participating in
projects meant to document life during the depression through the Photo League. The
Film and Photo League were devoted to improving social conditions with their pictures.
Siskind made some of his most well known and successful photographs for the League,
called “The Harlem Document.” Siskind was an abstract photographer. Many of his images
feature subjects that are not easily identifiable. Siskind also took formal and serious pictures,
such as his depression documentaries, along with poetic and conceptual images. He
worked on making photographs of graffiti, paint, and other materials, as well as natural
formations such as tree trunks. He documented ideas instead of events.
“Rome 135” is from Siskinds earlier work in Rome in the 1960’s when he explored
ancient statuary that had eroded with time. In the photo, the content includes five people walking on a
sidewalk with a wall in the background behind them, and shadows beneath and in front of them. Siskinds intentions
for this photograph was to “underscore the connection between living Romans, the transient markings
they make upon Rome’s walls and the inescapable shadow of time into which they are forever
walking” (Siskind 116). He communicates his ideas to his audience by using a slow shutter speed
allowing for the movement in the photo to be captured. The five people in the photo’s form is blurred
because they were walking when it was made. It is my interpretation that they are blurred to show
that they are fleeting and you can not clearly make out their faces already and soon they will be
completely gone and their impacts on Rome will be lost with them. They also seem to be walking
into a shadow that is on the sidewalk just like the explanation of the picture states they are forever
walking into the inescapable shadow of time.
ancient statuary that had eroded with time. In the photo, the content includes five people walking on a
sidewalk with a wall in the background behind them, and shadows beneath and in front of them. Siskinds intentions
for this photograph was to “underscore the connection between living Romans, the transient markings
they make upon Rome’s walls and the inescapable shadow of time into which they are forever
walking” (Siskind 116). He communicates his ideas to his audience by using a slow shutter speed
allowing for the movement in the photo to be captured. The five people in the photo’s form is blurred
because they were walking when it was made. It is my interpretation that they are blurred to show
that they are fleeting and you can not clearly make out their faces already and soon they will be
completely gone and their impacts on Rome will be lost with them. They also seem to be walking
into a shadow that is on the sidewalk just like the explanation of the picture states they are forever
walking into the inescapable shadow of time.
Course concepts were viewable in this work because the photographer, Siskind, used a
slow shutter speed when he made this picture to get his message across. We learned about how the
shutter speed works and what it does in class. Shutter speed is how long the shutter stays open
which allows certain amounts of light in. The higher the shutter speed, the less light gets in. To freeze
a moving image a faster shutter speed is used. To blur an image, like in “Rome 135” a slower shutter
speed is used.
slow shutter speed when he made this picture to get his message across. We learned about how the
shutter speed works and what it does in class. Shutter speed is how long the shutter stays open
which allows certain amounts of light in. The higher the shutter speed, the less light gets in. To freeze
a moving image a faster shutter speed is used. To blur an image, like in “Rome 135” a slower shutter
speed is used.
Works Cited
"Aaron Siskind | American Photographer." Encyclopedia Britannica, www.britannica.com/biography/Aaron-Siskind.
"Aaron Siskind | Center for Creative Photography." North America's Largest Collection of Fine Art Photographs | Center for Creative Photography, ccp.arizona.edu/artists/aaron-siskind.
"Aaron Siskind." International Center of Photography, 21 Apr. 2018, www.icp.org/browse/archive/constituents/aaron-siskind?all/all/all/all/0.
Siskind, Aaron, and James Rhem. Aaron Siskind. Phaidon, 2003.
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