Milk

Jeff Wall began his career in the 1960s creating documentaries. These allowed him to express everyday life through both text and words. This idea did not last long and he moved on to just dealing with photography. Wall was inspired by advertisements using a special lighting, and decided to portray everyday life through this medium.

Jeff Wall’s art, Milk, shows a man sitting on the sidewalk with an exploding container of milk. He is off centered to the right, and the left of the picture shows a window with blinds behind bushes. The colors are very vibrant, and although the background is mostly neutral, each shade pops out because they are placed directly next to a contrasting color.

This picture shows a lot of movement. Not only does this show the obvious movement of the milk exploding, but also the movement of the blinds. That was put there to even out and balance the picture more. Also, part of Wall's intent was to show that the shape of the milk is ordinary yet not describable. As we look at this picture, most people would say that the white blob is milk. Yet why would do many people say that when we do not have a specific shape set in our minds of milk exploding. The man's body is very tense. You can see especially when you look at his arm and see his tightened muscles. This shows a lack of movement on his part, and contrasts with the object he is holding in his hand.

After looking at this picture for a very long time, all of the art techniques that Wall used stand out and the picture is definitely unique and creative. However, it is hard to find a "meaning" within it. I began to research Jeff Wall more to see if maybe it had some sort of significance to his life or a past experience. Instead I found a quote: "I don't have a hugely interpretive view of what I do. In fact, I'm trying not to have. ... If I had to choose, I'd say that I think the quality of the work is more important than its meaning. Because if it's good enough, it will be meaningful, somehow." After reading this, I realized that even Wall did not have a specific reasoning or meaning behind this picture. His stylistic interpretation of this man on the sidewalk is purely showing a fairly ordinary action. Yet his contrasts with motion and indescribable shapes make his photograph intriguing.