Vânzător de usturoi în 1930 (Piaţa
Mare)
Garlic Salesman in 1930 (The Grand Market)
The photo grasps a garlic salesman. Yet, there are
certain elements within this image suggesting that
this is not a generic salesman, but a specific type
of garlic salesman.
The character has not been photographed in the
specifically designed space, the so called «garlic
market ». He is not a haberdasher (no one has ever
traded garlic on the street, only at the market).
Therefore, we find ourselves somewhere in the
vicinity of the market, maybe at the very market
place, but not in the specially designed area (which
dates back to 1928, as proven by the content of
another photo).
This is the small local garlic salesman, who can
only do retail trading, as it is shown by the
limited quantity of garlic (in obvious contrast to
the heaps from the market) that he carries himself,
helped by a stick (a rudimentary tool that was used,
as we saw, by the funnel salesman). He avoids the
specially designed spaces because he cannot face the
challenge. Besides, he is an old man, who cannot
adjust to the «fashion » of the market of the ‘30s.
He does not even wear an apron.
Similarly to the saloop salesman case, the photo was
negotiated, since the two persons look straight to
the camera.
No one of them is smiling, but while the saloop
salesman props the weight of his body only on one
foot, displaying a relaxed attitude, the old garlic
salesman shows a pretty much rigid air : his legs
close one to another, a hand hanging along his body,
the other leaning on the garlic stick, his eyes
looking distrustfully.
