The photograph I decided to analyze was Andre Kertesz’s Wandering Violinist, taken in Abony, Hungary (1921). I was immediately drawn to the photograph because of the story within the scene; everything from the positioning of the people to their clothing and expressions adds to the story created in the viewer’s imagination. In addition, the very gritty, urban feeling of the photograph reminds me of the work of the muckrakers, who strived to show the art world the darkness behind the glitz and glam of the big city. The main positive point, in my opinion, is the simplicity which allows the reader to look into a small portion of a man’s life without having to think about political agendas or any other ideas usually infused into photographs. Through many of the photographs I saw in the slideshow, but especially this one, I feel that Kertesz is really able to capture the timelessness of a scene; the never-ending, pure emotion behind simple moments of life.
The composition of the photo itself is aesthetically pleasing, following many of the basic rules of taking a good picture. Space is given for the people to “move” into- the baby has the winding road and a small section of the road is empty in from of the violinist and the small boy besides him. In addition, the directions in which all three of the people are looking are different. The baby is looking to its left; while it may seem as if he is looking at the violinist the positioning of his feet tells the viewer he is looking at something outside the shot, which can be said of the other two. This fact, along with the placement of two large figures on the left side of the photo as compared to the small figure on the right adds tension to the piece- The viewer’s eye is immediately drawn to the right. Kertesz also used the rule of thirds when planning out his photograph- the violinist and the young boy are located on the right of the picture with the arms slightly extended to the lower left. The starting point of the road and the buildings is in the upper right of the photo, balancing the variety of objects seen.
I plan on taking a photo with multiple focal points like The Wandering Violinist with not as much balance in order to add a sense of tension. One thing I’ll have to worry about is color because different colors add different visual weights. I don’t plan on taking a picture involving people though its is the citizens of NYC that really make it the unique place it is on the simple grounds that its always hard to take a good picture with something that’s constantly moving.
