A picture is worth a thousand words

Author: Dr Matt Long and Dr Amy Cortvriend, Loughborough University

In articulating the importance of the visual in ethnographic inquiry, Hebdige (1979) drew attention to what he framed as 'hidden messages' which are not immediately apparent but may permeate our subconscious minds. Given the increasingly visual nature of late modernity, the interrogation of such messages is relevant.

During the Black Lives Matter protests in 2020, a protest at Parliament Square was orchestrated by far-right groups. Nearby, amidst scenes of violence, a defining image was captured: cradling in his arms an injured white male far-right protestor, was Black athletics coach, Patrick Hutchinson. The image of Hutchinson 'rescuing' the concussed man by carrying him over his shoulder and ‘saving’ him from an inevitable beating, saw him being given plaudits for his 'heroic' and 'reconciliatory' act. From that moment, Hutchinson became an 'accidental hero'.

The recent far-right riots and anti-racist (counter) protests may well continue as the future of multi-cultural Britain continues to be contested, yet we may have already witnessed the defining image of the summer. This time our ‘accidental hero’ is 'Pat'.

Described by the right-wing Daily Mail as a 'defiant Scouse pensioner', the 71-year-old grandmother from Toxteth was part of the counter-protest against a planned racist demonstration outside the Abdullah Quilliam Mosque in Liverpool on the evening of Friday 2nd August. On a grey piece of cardboard were the felt-tipped words 'Nans Against Nazis', the likes of which have come to define the growing community resistance to this summer's riots.

The instantaneous nature of social media which creates 'accidental heroes' was articulated by Ferrell et al. (2015) as offering a 'panoptic gaze for digital citizenry': our heroes achieve instant celebrity status. The depiction of Pat has become what the pioneering photographer Henri Cartier-Bresson (1952) would have referred to as 'the decisive image' which quickly went viral.

Ferrell et al. (2015) would have us interrogate the picture of Pat, rather than to merely accept her mediated appearance at 'face value'. In recent years, visual ethnography has been a growing methodology. A critical analysis beyond the face value of Pat's image reveals three narratives:

Narrative one: a humble hero

Known simply as 'Pat' from Toxteth is a woman who is now both famous and anonymous. We neither know nor need to know her surname and, in her image, she is both conspicuous yet inconspicuous at the very same time.

Narrative two: the familial

Grey-haired and bespectacled Pat is presented as familiar. She could be your, or my, Nan and is in fact 'everyone's Nan'. She remains a stranger to us, yet we feel we could know her as 'our Pat'. As an ageing female, she appears to pose no threat and her appearance on the streets could evoke in the viewer a feeling of concern for her vulnerability.

She is the antithesis of the alpha-masculinity on display with groups of testosterone-fuelled males so visible during the summer riots.

Narrative three: simplicity

Pat is reported as providing a 'simple three-word response' to the violent racists. She is presented as being the voice of reason calling for calm in the midst of a storm.

Her Black Lives Matter hoodie, with its number of humanistic affirmations, is somewhat overlooked by the media in favour of presenting her as a 'good hearted soul'. Pat's long history of anti-racist campaigning is buried deep within news stories in favour of protecting the simplicity of her image.

A critical analysis of the imagery of the resistance to the racist riots allows us to begin to unpick some of the contested narratives of multicultural Britain. It is well worth dusting down your copy of Hebdige’s 45-year-old classic and using his work to understand 'the meaning of style'.

---

References

1. Cartier-Bresson, H. (1952) The Decisive Moment. New York. Simon and Schuster.
2. Christie, O. (2024) Nans Against Nazis. Defiant Scouse pensioner, 71, takes to the frontline in Liverpool to protect mosque from ‘far right protestors’ amid another night of rioting in Britain. Daily Mail. 2nd August.
3. Evans, G. (2024) "Nans against Nazis:" Pensioner issues defiant three word response to far right thugs. Indy 100. August 3rd.
4. Ferrell, J., Hayward, K. and Young, J. (2015) Cultural Criminology. An Invitation. London. Sage.  
5. Hebdige, D. (1979). Subculture: The Meaning of Style. London: Routledge