Portraying Innocence in times of war

An Analysis of Partners (The Teddy Bear Project) photo essay

In Katie Ryders article for The New Yorker A Piercing View of the Twentieth
Century, Through the Eyes of the Teddy Bear (2016), she explores the photo installation
Partners (The Teddy Bear Project) currently in exhibition at the New Museum in New
York. This series of more than 3,000 black and white photographs curated by Ydessa
Hendeles centers around images of the Teddy bear spanning the last century, since the
toys conception in 1903.
The work was first installed in Munich in 2003 at the Haus der Kunst, a monument of
the Third Reich originally built as a museum intended to showcase the Germans finest
art, which was primarily Nazi propaganda. In this space, the thesis clearly shifts from how
viewers might perceive it within the confines of a contemporary art museum in New York
City; within the historical home of Nazi propaganda, Hendeless images of soldiers,
mothers and children with Teddy bears are no longer sweet and nostalgic, they are a
commentary on what Ryder calls performed innocence, a fabricated illusion of peace
during a time of war. Through her images, Hendeles argues for the existence of a
parallel world, a fantasy in which innocence is portrayed at a mass scale despite the
mass violence of the time. Her selections of images use composition, light and the iconic
Teddy bear to effectively portray a sense of softness to a scene, even if the reality of the
time period is anything but. The following will analyze Hendeless photo essay in its use of
both form and content as well as evaluate its effectiveness as an essay in its ability to
portray her thesis.

Formal analysis
Ydessa Hendeless images employ multiple strategies used to convey an argument or
feeling, which can be described using Scott McClouds Understanding Comics (1994)
and National Geographics Complete Photography (2011).

Figure 1

Figure 2

PHOTO ESSAY ANALYSIS//NITSCHKE, ERICA

Figure 3

THE TEDDY BEAR AS AN ICON

In Understanding of Comics (1994), author Scott McCloud describes most images
as existing on a spectrum between the abstract and the realistic, and placement on this
spectrum determines the degree of audience engagement an image requires. The most
simplistic images force audience participation in order to create meaning in a way that
hyper-realistic renderings of an image cannot. Because the audience does not need to
project their own meaning or interpretation onto a realistic image in order to understand
it, the audience is less likely to engage with it in the same meaningful way. Hyper-realistic
renderings, therefore, serve the purpose of documenting or informing while more
simplistic icons like the use of two dots and a curved line to represent a smiling face
are used to portray concepts and to evoke an emotional response.
The simplistic, cartoon-like image of a Teddy bear can be considered similar to this
stick-figure representation of a face in this sense. The Teddy bear represents the abstract
it is a generic and simplified image of a face or a being that we can prescribe any
number of feelings or attributes to. Children often do this: a childs Teddy bear is given a
name, stories and personality traits. They are a being constructed entirely out of the
individual childs imagination and is therefore an extension of the child himself. Because
of this connection humans make with a Teddy bear, the presence of the toy in the image
impacts the audience in a way that the images could not without the bears presence.
The presence of the bear in an image portrays a sense of whimsy, innocence and
nostalgia that would not be read otherwise. In the images of children holding a bear,
viewers can project their own interpretation of the bears presence in the frame and in
the childs life. From this projection, the viewer can prescribe other attributes to the child
based on the way they know other children in their lives or recall their own childhood. The
Teddy bear is used as a tool to invite the audience members to engage with the image
and their subjects in this way. Even if the child in the image appears sad, like Figure 1, or is
holding a gun, in Figure 2, the interpretation can still be one of childlike wonder or
imagination. In Figure 1, a viewer might project attributes of their own children or children
they know, like to think My daughter/niece/neighbor makes the same grumpy or
disinterested face whenever her mother attempts to take her picture Without the bear,
the image might read simply as a documentation of the girls sadness.
Images of soldiers holding bears demonstrate a similar sense of joy, childishness or
softness. In Figure 3, a soldier lays in a bed with a Teddy bear nestled under his arm. The
bears presence allows the viewer to project a humanness and relatability to the subject,
whom they know nothing about. It invites sympathy for the character. Similar feelings can
be attributed to the image of a group of soldiers in uniform holding a bear, Figure 4
they are playful and inviting. Comparable images of soldiers might only read as a
documentation of what soldiers do or symbolize, war or aggression.
A Teddy bear may also be interpreted as a stand-in when something is missing, a
symbol of something you cling to when experiencing loss, pain or longing. This reading of
the bear may lead to a very different interpretation of the images and their subjects.

PHOTO ESSAY ANALYSIS//NITSCHKE, ERICA

Regardless of how the presence of the Teddy bear impacts the audience member, the
icon still forces the audience member to project an emotion onto the image that would
not be available without the bear. This is only available through the iconic nature of the
bear. Because we project feelings onto the Teddy bear, we project it onto the subjects of
the image. It skews our perspective of who they are. Propaganda functions in the same
way, which is an important consideration within the context of Hendeless thesis and
original installation.

Figure 4

Figure 5

Figure 6

Word/PICTURE relationships
Hendeles relies primarily on photos in her exhibit. The complete installation
encompasses two rooms and includes 3,000 images presented on mat boards without
captions. The installation, however, does include actual glass-encased bears with short
biography-like descriptions, as seen in Figure 5 above. From these descriptions, a viewer
would learn that the bears belonged to former Nazi soldiers (Ryder 2016) or to Jewish
children who had their bears taken away when deported (van der Sande 2004). This
information combined with the many images of soldiers with their bears is enough to
convey these matters of violence and superficial innocence (Ryder 2016). Ryder,
through her interview and feature on Hendeless exhibit, give a better understanding of
the work and of the curators intent. Outside of the context of its original installation
between a self-portrait of Diane Arbus and sculpture of a kneeling boy with the face of
Hitler her thesis is more difficult to grasp.
Though very few words are included as part of the series, their presence is
important to the understanding of Hendeless thesis. Because of this, the words and
photos have an interdependent relationship according to McCloud, in which words and
pictures go hand in hand to convey an idea that neither could convey alone (p. 155).
Hendeless message could be interpreted very differently if the audience consumed only
the images or only the written description of the images original intent. Someone who
only reads an authors statement or another writing like Ryders would likely only develop
an understanding that Hendeles is commenting on war or specifically the Holocaust.
Someone who only sees the images without an understanding of their context will likely
PHOTO ESSAY ANALYSIS//NITSCHKE, ERICA

only see the innocence of the Teddy bear. The two must work together to present the
curators thesis of superficial or performed innocence.

LIGHT
Hendeles demonstrates a keen awareness of light in her selection of images. Many
of the images in the collection utilize soft light nondirectional and all encompassing,
using neither extreme bright whites nor dark shadows (National Geographic, 2011, p.
116). These images, like the one by August Sander described by Ryder, read like formal
portraits. The use of light adds a feeling or mood to pictures, along with personality (p.
115). The Sander image Young Bourgeois Mother, Figure 6 above, uses soft light, and in
doing so, lends a serene, peaceful quality to the image. Use of light should complement
human emotion (p. 115), and the images employing soft use of light reinforce the soft,
sweet image of the bear and invoke that feeling in the audience.
The images that do utilize hard light do so to create a focal point, as in Figure 7
below. In this image, the central light from above skews the faces of the two men by
washing out their foreheads and casting shadows on the rest of their faces. The bear,
however, is lit well and its image appears much softer than the dramatic images of the
men. This one image perhaps most clearly depicts Hendeless thesis, even without the
war imagery, and as such will be discussed more for its composition. Its lighting, however,
illustrates two separate tones the soft, warm interpretation of the bear contrasted with
the harsh, dramatic and somewhat skewed representation of the men.

COMPOSITION
Hendeles also utilizes differences in composition to impact audience interpretation
of her images. In many of the images, the bear is a complement to the central figure of
the image. Yet its presence in the frame is almost always substantial. In some images, like
Figure 8 below, the bear serves as a mirror to the subject of the image. In others, like in
Figures 1, 2, and 3 above, the bear is a quiet companion an essential part of the
character but by no means the focus of the image.
Figure 7 below is perhaps one of the most interesting images included in the
collection. In it, two men sit opposite each other engaged in a game of chess. The men
are leaning into the table and appear to be exasperated, as if it is a difficult game. A
Teddy bear is placed in the center of the frame on the table just behind the chessboard.
In the image, the bear is clearly the focal point its in the center, well lit and the table
edges create lines leading the viewer into where the bear sits. This image illustrates
Hendeles theme clearly. The men represent conflict, equating war with a game of chess.
The bear, in contrast, represents the performed innocence were meant to focus on
instead of conflict. The composition, in conjunction with the lighting of the photo, lead a
viewers eye away from the men and toward the bear, just in the way Hendeless work
claims propaganda does in times of war.

PHOTO ESSAY ANALYSIS//NITSCHKE, ERICA

Figure 7

Figure 8

CONTENT ANALYSIS
Purpose
The whimsy and playfulness of Hendeless photo essay is apparent when initially
observed, whether or not the viewer understands the context of their display. They
establish a sense of nostalgia and joy through their softness and through their sweet
subject. However, though these images also serve to entertain, when considered within
the bounds of the works original installation and the bulk of images of soldiers with Teddy
bears, the primary purpose of Hendeless work is to serve as a commentary on
propaganda and performed innocence. This critique is aimed at Nazi propaganda but
can be applied to the propaganda distributed by any governing body.

TONE
Hendeless tone is primarily portrayed through use of light. The choice of black and
white images with soft sources of light inserts a sense of softness to the series. These are
sometimes contrasted with harder images with dramatic contrast, but always done to
emphasize a narrative.
The subject matter also establishes the tone of the collection. The Teddy bear
inserts a sweetness and nostalgia while images of soldiers and the stories of Nazi soldiers
and Jewish childrens Teddy bears create a stark contrast to this emotional appeal.
Overall, this mixed emotional manipulation leaves the viewer feeling eerie and the
images cold and distant when they first invoked feelings of joy.

Ethos
The sheer size of Hendeless collection of images speaks to the credibility of her
argument both as evidence of the connection between inanimate objects and their
collectors (the wider theme of The Keeper exhibit, which her photos were displayed as
a part of at the New Museum) and as a commentary on the disconnect between the
harsh reality of a time and the images we project of that period, and the illusion of

PHOTO ESSAY ANALYSIS//NITSCHKE, ERICA

innocence we produce in doing so. Hendeless exhibition at the New Museum and Haus
der Kunst, among other locations, as well as coverage in The New Yorker also lends her
photo essay ethos. To be prominently displayed at major American and German
museums means curators have designated her work, and by extension her argument, as
possessing value. This knowledge affects a viewers sense of her legitimacy as an artist
and as a source of information.

pathos
Partners (The Teddy Bear Project) most strongly employs the use of pathos to
effect viewers. The emotional appeal of the Teddy Bear can impact a viewer in different
ways provoke sympathy, longing, joyfulness or whimsy. Regardless of the individual
viewers interpretation, the bear forces an engaged, emotional response. It causes the
viewer to participate and project his or her own feelings and experiences onto the
image.
In addition, many of the human subjects in the images portray a strong emotion.
Some, like in Figure 1 above, are sad, disinterested or lonely. Others, like Figure 4, convey
joy and playfulness. These expressions guide the viewer on how to interpret the bears
significance to the individual subject or might act as a sharp contrast to the symbol we
recognize the Teddy bear for.
This emotional impact becomes even more important as the viewer begins to
understand the intent of the series. Because the audience has invested emotionally into
the images, the thesis impacts them in a way that feels more personal.

EVALUATION
The above analyzed Hendeless photo essay in its use of both form and content.
Her selections of images use composition and light to effectively portray an innocence
and softness to a scene, even if the reality of the time period is anything but. Her choice
of the Teddy bear, an iconic image, as a subject matter encourages audience members
to project their own feelings and experiences onto the bear and by extension the bears
human partner. Overall, Hendeles is successful because her careful selection of images
contrasted with their context can manipulate the viewers emotions in a way that leads
to a different understanding of the Holocaust and Nazi Germany as well as war and
propaganda altogether.
However, outside of the context of the exhibits initial installation within the Haus
der Kunst, some of Hendeless original meaning is lost. Because of the sparse use of words
in what should be a collection with an interdependent word-picture relationship, a
viewer could easily consume the extent of the images and see it exclusively as a
commentary on collecting or on the relationship between people and their stuffed
animals as the New Museum seemed to do by included the work in its exhibit The
Keeper. A stronger word-picture relationship, in which the collection includes a strong

PHOTO ESSAY ANALYSIS//NITSCHKE, ERICA

artist statement, and within a powerful setting like the Haus der Kunst, or an American
equivalent The Holocaust Museum would serve the collection well.

PHOTO ESSAY ANALYSIS//NITSCHKE, ERICA

Works cited
McCloud, Scott. (1994). Understanding Comics: The Invisible Art. New York:
HarperPerennial.
National Geographic. (2011). Complete Photography. Washington DC: National
Geographic.
New Exhibitions Museum. (2016). The Keeper: 07/20/16-10/02/16. Retrieved from:
http://www.newmuseum.org/exhibitions/view/the-keeper
Ryder, Katie. (2016, September 18). A piercing view of the twentieth century, through the
eyes of the teddy bear. The New Yorker. Retrieved from:
http://www.newyorker.com/culture/photo-booth/a-piercing-view-of-thetwentieth-century-through-the-eyes-of-the-teddy-bear
Sander, August. (1926). Young Bourgeois Mother (Junge Mutter, brgerlich). J. Paul Getty
Museum. Retrieved from:
http://www.getty.edu/art/collection/objects/34283/august-sander-youngbourgeois-mother-junge-mutter-burgerlich-german-1926/

van der Sande, Brigitte. (2004, September 30). Partners: Ydessa Hendeless
Holocaust Memorial. Open! Platform for Art, Culture & the Public Domain.
Retrieved from: https://www.onlineopen.org/partners

PHOTO ESSAY ANALYSIS//NITSCHKE, ERICA