Anja Jensen’s “Devozione”
Anja Jensen’s photograph “Devozione” depicits two men on a yacht, one tying the other’s legs. The man being tied up appears to lie unconscious. The binding of the man’s legs gives off a sexual sado/masochistic air, since he is lying passively and doesn’t appear to be struggling. The ages of the two men are also immediately noticable: the one tying the other up is younger, and the one being tied up is older. Are we to interpret this photograph as youth overpowering the eldrerly? Two gay men caught in a moment of dominant/submissive passion? The older man’s hand ever so slightly appears to be reaching for his crotch – is he enjoying this scene? Or perhaps the scene is more sinister: the younger man is preparing to murder the older man; the lighting used in the scene – a spotlight effect on the young man tying the older man’s legs, would suggest visual capture by the police or someone else.
The title gives us little concrete clues as to the meaning of the photograph. “Devozione”, meaning “devotion” in Italian, could mean several things: is the young man somehow devoted to taking care of the older man? Even the choice of an Italian word for the title is appropriately mysterious, since the background appears to be on the Mediterranian – known for it’s oppulent visitors. Perhaps the younger man is attmepting to kill the older, and persumably wealthier, man. It is obviously nighttime in the photograph – the time for romance or sexual encounters, which lends credibility to the interpretation of a sexual relationship. However, as Kathleen Edwards states in Acting Out: Melodrama in Contemporary Photography, “the photograph’s illusory involvement with the photographer/spectator allows the viewer to project him- or herself into the scene in any chosen role.” Are our interpretations of images the sum of our experiences?
My immediate reaction to the photograph was that the younger man was tying up and murdering the older man in order to take his money, since they are obviously rich enough to cruise about the Mediterranian on their yacht. But where did this immediate reaction come from? Edwards describes the advent of film technology and film stills as having a profound effect on still photography. The stills from motion pictures offered the same thing as traditional still photography, but with the added twist of acted melodrama in facial expressions and scenery. Indeed, “Devozione” gives us the same melodrama, reminding me of scenes from television shows and films in which the scenario of a younger person wooing and taking advantage of an older person’s generosity and/or naivety is often played out.
Posted by: by Cynthia McCoy