Sale or Lease

For this image to be an effective social/political statement it would need to have more to it. The way it is, the message is not clear. What is this refering to? Are you refering to the huge amount flags sold and flown, or are you refering to something else? If I saw this posted on a building, today, I would assume the business sold and rented flags. As times change so do the meanings of images like this. This might just be considered a piece of Americana these days. People everywhere seem to be selling flags.

If this were posted in the eighties or before 9/11 the impact might ruffle a few feathers, and had a much stronger meaning.

I find this image too literal. Words in photographs are often distracting. And here, it's just a bad joke. Look at Robert Frank's "The Americans" for influence into this type of imagery.

Well, in all ways the message seems to be confused or non existant. I just happen to be by the garage with the sign and the flag painted under it and clicked the shutter. Me, myself don't know if it supposed to mean something apart from having the obvious composition, that's why I asked if you saw any meaning in it.
My first copy of Lenswork that I picked from a newstand, had a photographer whose name I miss, that travelled the US photographing flags and most where just that, snapshots of flags. Apart from being shots that a nationalist would put in his living room, there were no more.
In any case, atleast I am certain now that the image was an interesting snap at the
time but not sucessfull in the end.

Well, this one can sure be taken anyway anyone wants to interpret it. With the verbatim face-value image, one could make a social-political interpretation. With the knowledge of typical circumstances here in the USA, I would say the Sale sign was up long before the flag was painted on the side and the two are not connected save for being on the same building. Whoever painted the flag got the number of stars right but they are not arranged correctly.

arigram,
personally, upon seeing this image i immediatley associate it with the majority of politicians in our country whose greatest motivations seem to be pundits, lobbyists and their own personal gain. however, i think just about every american would see something different in your image. the success of this image is really up to you. did you intend to convey a specific message or leave the meaning up to the viewer? if the former was your aim(always a dangerous and difficult goal in this medium) i would say it failed. if the later was your goal you've definatley accomplished it. doc

The story of the photo is this:
After the 9/11 events, I was astonished of how the country filled with flags on houses, cars, bumper sickers and of nationalistic messages everwhere. I though that maybe they could make a good journalistic photostory and if I was lucky I could get an image that was more. Well, this one I thought it was more. But I did not try to create a message myself, it was purely a document, save for the compositional choice.
That is why I asked to see if the image has a meaning to someone.

One a last note, I find it very amusing that this is by far my most popular photograph. I guess it attracts all the americans in APUG!