Gezicht op de haven van Gorleston before 1900

Alfred William Yallop made this black and white photograph of the harbor of Gorleston. Consider the way in which the image creates meaning through visual codes. Notice the large number of ships. The ships suggest a thriving economy based on trade and fishing. Perhaps the image was intended to celebrate Gorleston’s economic success, or perhaps it was intended to comment on the social structures of the time, such as the gap between wealthy ship owners and poor sailors. It is difficult to know without more context. To understand the image better, we need to know the date of its creation. Once we have the date, we might search for the image in local historical society archives, or in local newspapers, to see how it was received at the time. Without that information, we can only speculate about its purpose.