Classic and Contemporary Poetry: Explained

"Three Photographs: 2. Cabbage Vendor," by Natasha Trethewey, extends the examination of photography's often fraught relationship with its subjects, while further interrogating issues of race, representation, and power dynamics. Unlike the first poem in the series, this piece allows the subject to voice her perspective, offering a counter-narrative to the photographer's potentially objectifying gaze.

From the beginning, the poem wrestles with the concept of 'natural,' a term loaded with both racial and cultural implications. When the photographer tells the cabbage vendor that he wants to capture her in her "natural" state, he inadvertently raises questions about who gets to define this term. For him, 'natural' is capturing a woman selling cabbages-freezing her in a role that, whether he realizes it or not, perpetuates stereotypes of racial and social class.

The cabbage vendor, however, has her own idea of what constitutes 'natural.' She considers her labor of tending her garden and pulling cabbages from the earth to be more authentic than the image the photographer aims to immortalize. "Tearing these cabbages / from earth, hearing them scream / at the break, my fingers / brown as dirt--that's natural," she states, undermining the photographer's simplistic notion. Her hands "brown as dirt" serve as a profound metaphor, linking her to the earth in a cycle of life, labor, and sustenance that defies being reduced to a single frame.

Furthermore, she observes that "Nothing natural last / forever," hinting at the perishable nature of her cabbages, of life, and even of memory itself. In contrast, the photograph-an 'unnatural' preservation of a moment-pretends at a kind of false eternity. "But he will keep my picture," she muses, "unnatural like hoodoo love," drawing a comparison between the act of photography and the dark arts, both of which manipulate reality to achieve specific ends.

This poem's most powerful moment comes at the end, where the cabbage vendor considers her potential to "work a root of my own," to turn the photographer's gaze back onto himself. This thought reveals her awareness of the power dynamics at play, suggesting the possibility of agency and reclamation. She imagines making him see himself "like he be seeing me-/ distant and small-forever." It is a striking inversion, positioning her as more than just a passive subject.

"Three Photographs: 2. Cabbage Vendor" serves as a potent critique of the act of photographing and the implications of who controls the narrative. By granting the voice to the one being viewed, Trethewey forces us to confront the ethical complexities tied to the capturing and preservation of 'natural' moments. The poem gives agency back to the subject, allowing her not only to challenge the photographer's viewpoint but also to articulate her own vision of what is authentically 'natural.' It questions the nature of representation, the ethical implications of capturing someone's image, and the broader societal structures that often define individuals based on a single, reductive snapshot.

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