Turning a House into a Home

Spencer Tolson

Katherine Cowley

Writing 150 Honors: Writing and Rhetoric

2 November 2010

Turning a House into a Home

America is a land built upon foundations of hard work and the sacrifice many generations have made over the course of the nation’s history. It is a country proud of this history, which is filled with heroes and heroines that have changed many lives by their inspirational actions. Many of these heroes have arisen because an outside force required it of them so they and others could survive. They had to adapt to the situation. Great people can arise from the dust of catastrophe and hurt. The Great Depression, Pearl Harbor, and 9/11 are just a few examples of a crisis that produced heroes and in way that unified the American people behind a single banner. Throughout these catastrophes one powerful documenting technique has set itself apart from writing and reporting. That is, the power of photography. Photography had played a huge role in major events since the discovery of the camera. Mother of Seven, Rosenthal’s picture of the flag raising on Iwo Jima, and other pictures have had a change on the outcome of the crisis and influenced it for the better. However, a crisis has arisen in present that is hard to photograph. That is, the recession that America’s economy has suffered, and to some degree, still experiencing. Paul Reyes writes about this difficulty and the difference between the housing crisis and other crises. It is harder to capture images of a recession in where most of the heartbreak and anguish is happening in banks and on computer screens than it is to photograph homeless people on the street. However, there are opportunities for great inspirational photos for the attentive photographer. He focuses on one aspect that has shown some positive results in the photography section of reporting. It is that of the housing crisis. Paul Reyes is a writer for the New York Times. His means of getting his message across to the general public are about as good as it gets. His article speaks to such a large audience, printed for the entire nation through a prestigious paper. He does an excellent job of orienting the reader with how photographers have documented crisis in the past, such as the Great Depression, before going into his area of expertise. He cites historical examples of many photos and photographers that transformed photography into an art. He uses well known images and paints a vivid picture in the reader’s minds, a powerful picture that shows much more that what is on the paper. With that still fresh in the brain of the reader, he goes into the subject of his paper. That is, picturing the housing crisis.

The article then goes on to speak of how in times past, inspirational pictures have come from images of humans in an act of extreme bravery. This crisis is of a different nature. In this instance, inspirational pictures come from half completed houses and the empty ones. These pictures speak to the most basic nature of humanity. Ever since the beginning of time, home and safety have been a priority. In Maslow’s hierarchy of needs, home provides the first two needs: food and safety. Only then can the other needs and other levels be achieved. This need for a home base to recharge and regroup to go back in to the world is achieved with a house. The first thing a newlywed groom does is carry his bride over the threshold of their new home. Homes are associated with happiness and success. People put hundreds of thousands of dollars into homes, with features such as pools, king size beds, and walk in closets. In terms of financial spending, it is one of the most expensive investments that every person tries to make. In American society today, houses stand for much more than just a house. It represents family, security, a place of rest, and a place of relaxation. It almost goes against human nature to see an empty home. An empty shell of a home can mean so much more to a someone. Paul Reyes focuses on this. While this recession is not one of breadlines and gas lines, it is a recession that can speak just as powerfully as the Great Depression. Bare walls. Half finished homes- and dreams. This appeals to an emotional side of the reader. When thinking of what I want in my life, a house is near the top of the list. A house for my family, in which memories could be created and love can exist. I believe that this dream is a dream I share with many people my age, and even younger. I see the pictures and read the article and worry what is to become of me and my future family. This is what Paul Reyes is trying to do. His audience is the common American trying to make a living and a better place for himself, and the New York Times is well suited to carry it to every one of us. His tone is one of somberness, but of beauty. His purpose in writing is to find something beyond the empty homes, the holes in the wall, and the scratches on the table. Every person has a story, and every house has had a person. His article suggests that this theme of things being half completed impacts the reader more than a picture where everything seems to be explained. The viewer’s mind is left to wonder who walked through the doors of a foreclosed house. What kids played in the yard. How many memories that were made in that very room? Again, Paul Reyes is an excellent writer, in that he gets to the very heart of the reader. He talks of something that means so much to every reader of his article. They are forced to care. He forces the reader to understand that a house is so much more than a house.

He goes on and analyzes different photographer’s takes on the crisis. Some photographers focus on the house as a whole. Again, this can hit the reader in a way nothing else could. When first turning the corner of the street where my house is, my little sister exclaims with excitement. The image of our house is burnt into her mind as a place of refuge. As I went home this weekend, I could close my eyes and imagine the simple outline of my house and be content, knowing I would soon be home. Some photographers focus on little things in the house. The example is given in the article of an empty room with a lone lamp standing in the corner, or a plastic hanger lying on the carpet. These forgotten homes speak of forgotten dreams, rudely awakened by the harsh reality of the housing crisis. We are all just one bad stroke of luck away from being homeless. Paul Reyes’s article makes this reality become alive to me. The sequence of pictures is also very important too. Showing a shot of the outside of a house does not clue the reader into what is inside, while shots of the inside do not show the true framework of the house. Some shots are even arranged and set up to be the way the photographer wants. Whatever the case, all try to influence the viewer just as any movie or book would.

This crisis is tragic. As a college student, this article speaks to me in a way it could not to a child, or to a retired man. I am about to go into the professional world where I want to be successful. Success can be defined many different ways. For me, part of success is providing a decent home for my family to live together in. A place where they can feel safe and sound, and know there is love there. Obviously a house is essential to this plan.