The Real Thing

by

Henry James

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Photography Symbol Analysis

Photography Symbol Icon

Photography in “The Real Thing” represents the act of documenting reality, and how doing so is not creating art. In photography, a photo is an exact image of the real-life subject. Art, on the other hand, interprets reality to inspire a feeling. To Henry James, these two are opposites. To demonstrate this difference, James connects Major Monarch and Mrs. Monarch with photography, and uses it to explain why they are incompatible subjects for art.

When the artist asks the beautiful Monarchs if they have any similar experience to modeling, they tell him that they have been photographed many times. In fact, photographers “were always after [them]” to do take their pictures. As he works with the Monarchs as models, though, the artist quickly realizes that what made them such attractive photographic subjects is exactly what makes them unsuitable for the creation of art. As the artist draws the Monarchs, he realizes that, try as he might, each drawing “looked like a photograph or a copy of a photograph.” They are too stiff, always look the same, and cannot suggest anything but who they are. This is fine for a photograph, especially as the story takes place during the time in history when people had to sit motionless in order to have their picture taken, but this inflexibility and rigidity is bad for art and makes the artist’s illustrations look flat and lifeless. The artist needs variety, expression, and models who can suggest other “types,” or characters.

The artist’s working-class models of Oronte and Miss Churm don’t actually look like any of the “types” for which they model. No one would photograph them to try to represent an aristocrat, for instance. But their real appearance doesn’t matter in the artist’s studio. What matters is the “feeling” or idea that they capture for the artist; from that point, the “alchemy of art” can transform Oronte and Miss Churm into whatever “types” the artist needs. In short, with Oronte or Miss Churm as models, the artist can interpret (as opposed to document) what he sees to create feeling in his art. In this way, “the real thing could be so much less precious than the unreal.” 

Photography Quotes in The Real Thing

The The Real Thing quotes below all refer to the symbol of Photography. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
Reality, Artifice, and Art Theme Icon
).
Part 3 Quotes

But after a few times I began to find her too insurmountably stiff; do what I would with it my drawing looked like a photograph or a copy of a photograph. Her figure had no variety of expression—she herself had no sense of variety (…) I placed her in every conceivable position, but she managed to obliterate their differences. She was always a lady certainly, and into the bargain was always the same lady. She was the real thing, but was always the same thing.

Related Characters: The Artist (speaker), Mrs. Monarch
Related Symbols: Photography
Page Number: 44-45
Explanation and Analysis:
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Photography Symbol Timeline in The Real Thing

The timeline below shows where the symbol Photography appears in The Real Thing. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Part 1
Reality, Artifice, and Art Theme Icon
Class in England at the End of the 19th Century Theme Icon
Money, Identity, and Class Theme Icon
...have had any practice as models, to which the Monarchs explain that they have been photographed extensively. (full context)
Part 3
Reality, Artifice, and Art Theme Icon
Money, Identity, and Class Theme Icon
...while drawing Mrs. Monarch. He notes that she sits as though she is posing for photographs, which is to say, very stiffly. While this may do for photography, it’s a problematic... (full context)