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This summer, a few grad students in CU created a club that would meet to play Poker. The facebook group now consists of 26 members out of which 50% are regulars. I was initiated into playing Poker on Friday, June 26th. I have never played poker in my life and always thought it was a shady type of game that involved a lot of money and perhaps some stripping (strip-poker). I know, I know..but see, I didn't know anything about Poker. I asked some friends to explain to me what it was about Poker that made some grad students (mostly male) get together in the CS department's grad lounge on warm Monday nights and play a game that went on until daybreak! So a couple of friends sat me down on Friday and taught me the game. After losing all my chips by the end of the game, I am glad I chanced upon it. My photo-essay is based on and includes pictures taken during the recent Poker night, Monday June 30th at 10 PM.
The Rhetoric
People told me many things about Poker. That it was a game of strategy and sometimes sheer luck. But I sensed that the game had to be much more than that for it to be considered a sport, and an expensive one at that, to be shown on ESPN. What I found was that Poker was a game of masculinity, competitiveness, and how bluffing and fake intimidation can transform your luck from a bad hand to a winning hand (of cards). This is of course an art that comes from playing a lot of Poker. An art where traits like bluffing and bravado is considered smooth, clever tactic. Calling it a masculine game isn’t meant to be sexist. It may well be played by women, but it definitely calls for masculinity. Light banter to serious mockery is used throughout the game that is intended to make other player waver in their decisions. A friend who’s good at poker said for a beginner to really learn the game, he/she must concentrate on observing the other players. “It was all about nervous ticks”, he said. But amidst the game and all the bluffing and strategy etc., what struck me most was the intensity of the game. Here there were grown men losing their mind over paper cards and were sweating over gathering as many chips as they could. Tempers would shoot; emotions would flare where there wasn’t even big money involved! This reminded me of the McCloud and Drucker readings, which explained how objects like chips and cards held a certain value and what it meant for each player. How a growing stack of colored chips increased confidence and affected one’s ego.
The Analysis
I have attempted to bring out the essence of the game through the pictures. Nothing could bring out the game better than the emotions expressed by the players caught on camera. A casual glance might not offer any striking or noticeable nuances in the pictures. However, if observed carefully then the pictures of the players progress from light-hearted camaraderie to intense competition. Keeping Berger’s “Ways of Seeing” in mind, I think that the pictures would mean different things to people who know poker and those who don’t. People who have played poker could supposedly identify with the game and relate to their own experiences, whereas those who have never played poker would identify with the pictures in a way that reminds their friends, hanging out with them, etc. Therefore, the use of text as captions to the pictures might aid a consistent observation or examination of the pictures by poker-players, non poker-players, or just anyone looking at them.
The Hindsight
The photo-essay is plainly a bunch of people playing poker. This is one of the drawbacks - that it is hardly abstract. Therefore, there is little room for varied interpretations. The difficulty in making the piece was in capturing the emotions as they happened. It required some experience in photographing people while they behaved naturally. Since I had none, it was extremely difficult to be quick and sharp while taking the pictures. Emotions of the players would change in a second. However, the breakthrough was that overall the mood and tone of the picture is quite noticeable. The game lasted eight hours (from 10 pm to 6 am the next day). Perhaps, I would have got better images and an even better photo-essay as the gradual decrease of players from 10 to 3 could be better observed over a long period of time. And of course, possession of a better camera to take the pictures couldn’t be all that bad either!
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