Role of Photography in Shadow of a Doubt

A frequently recurring theme in “Shadow of a Doubt” is the photograph. Characters both observe photographs and engage in discussions about photography. I believe the film’s interest in photographs is part of its examination of the relationship between characters’ personal and private lives. Both Uncle Charlie and his sister attempt to control how and when they are photographed; they are both attempting to control how their private lives are viewed (or not viewed) by the public.

Through the discussion of photography, the film draws differences between modern life and life before the 20^th century. The first photographs to appear in the movie are of Uncle Charlie’s grandparents. When looking at these photographs, one of the characters says something along the lines of “things were simpler back then”. This observation draws a distinction between the modern characters and their grandparents: the modern characters believe that their lives are more complicated than those of previous generations.

The grandparents’ photographs are representative of an earlier way of life (probably the mid to late 1800's) when photographs were seen by fewer people, and were less revealing of their personal lives. Only a few pictures would be taken of one person during a lifetime, and because you had to sit still for photographs, most photographs (like those of their grandparents) were posed rather than pictures of daily life. Additionally, pictures from that time period were not usually seen on a large scale, but were instead mostly limited to the viewing of family and friends.

The modern characters live in a world in which photography is much more prevalent. More pictures can taken of individuals, and the photographs can be taken in a greater variety of places. Therefore, photographs have to potential to be much more revealing of their private lives than posed portraits. I believe it is for this reason that the characters attempt to control how many pictures are taken of them and where they are taken.

Throughout the film, Uncle Charlie displays an aversion to being photographed. He claims that there are no photographs of him, and he is obsessed with keeping it that way. When the two investigators do take a picture of him, he forces them to destroy it. Charlie clearly sees a record of his image as a serious threat. He does not say it outright, but I believe that Charlie’s fear of being photographed is part of his desire to keep his personal life completely secret from the public, especially the police. (However Charlie does not destroy the picture of himself as a child. This photograph is perhaps more like the picture of the grandparents; because it is a picture of Charlie as a kid, his life was presumably “simpler” and the picture wouldn’t reveal anything about his personal life that Charlie wouldn’t want people to know.)

The discussion of photography is also present in the mother’s story line. In contrast to the time of their grandparents, the modern characters live in a world where pictures can be shared on a mass scale with other people and complete strangers. The film represents this phenomenon in the mother’s experience with the detectives; while the mother believes she is participating in a newspaper article document the “average” American family, the detectives are trying to gather information about Uncle Charlie. Although there isn’t really a newspaper article, the mother’s interaction with the two men she believes are reporters is revealing of her relationship with photography and media.  When the reporters arrive at their home early, the mother is wary of allowing the reporters to see her and her home before she has arranged it look how she wants it to. She tells the men that she wishes they had called ahead of time because she had wanted to rearrange the living room. She wants to control what the public world can see about her private life; she wants to create a managed, public image of herself and her family. The mother's desire to represent her family as “average” by managing how their home is photographed to be shared publicly is related to Uncle Charlie’s desire to keep his private life of murder separate from his ordinary private life. Both characters understand the power of photography in shaping the public’s image of their private lives, and both want to have control over it.