Month: October 2015 (Page 3 of 6)

I chose the photo, “The White Horse” by André Kertész. The photo caught my eye due to the aesthetically pleasing nature of the image. In the lower left hand corner, the titular white horse is positioned behind a solid wall. In the remaining space of the photo is a tree which heavilty obscures a woman walking her pet. However, the pet and the woman have their shadows stretching far out from beneath the tree’s foliage. It is a fairly pedestrian image if you were to look at them all as separate elements; to put these all into the same image, however, just seems very striking to me.
With regards to the composition of the photo, I believe that it is very structurally strong. It follows the rule of thirds, as the horse, the woman with her animal, and their shadows are all well placed off center. The white horse is in the lower left thrid of the photo and, as the photo was framed, the eye is drawn diagonally up and to the right. There is adequate space left for the woman and her pet walking on a path through the picture, and there is even more space available for the eye catching shadows they cast to stretch out as well.
I plan on taking my photo with a solid understanding of the rule of thirds. To simply center the subject of a photo is dull and not particularly the most aesthetically pleasing way to take a photo. If the subject of my photo is in motion, I would make sure to position it in either the upper or lower thirds of the frame. There would be enough negative space ahead of them for there to be a visual path for them to follow. If the subject is not in motion, I would ensure that it would be positioned nicely off-center and in a more diagonal manner if possible, rather than dead center and perfectly horizontal or vertical.

Mary Yanez

Two women sit next to each other clad in fashionable garments, decorated with jewelry, and surrounded by wine glasses. They are the subjects of a photograph taken by Lisette Model at a 1940’s Fashion Show in Hotel Pierre New York.

The image caught my eye for several reasons. One reason was simply the expense and the class that is implied in the photograph. In the photograph, Model captures several objects that are literally shining. The woman on the right wears a thick watch or bracelet on her exposed wrist and three strings of pearls hang on her neck. Both women wear rings that are subtle reminders of the notion of the upper class that is implied through the rest of the image. The wine glasses, too, capture and reflect the light, illuminating both the room and the photograph. Even the eyes of the subjects sparkle like they are gems themselves. Together, all of these elements give light and life to the image, removing it from dullness.

Also, the photograph is very appealing to the eye because of its manipulation of the rule of thirds. In all four of the focal points of the “tic tac toe” board, there is an object that is important to the image. The top right point focuses on the face of the woman on the right. Her eyes, as followed by the viewer, lead to the woman on the left, who is the focus of the top left focal point. Below her is a wine glass, the focus of the lower left point, which is directed at by the hand of the first woman, which becomes the focus of the lower right. Each focal point holds something that, alone, are descriptive of the scene. The focus on the woman on the right emphasizes the human aspect of the picture, while the focus on her hand and the jewelry which adorn it, which emphasizes the materialistic aspect. The image seemingly shifts to the left as the subjects on the right point to that direction; the woman’s eyes lead to the woman on the left, and her hand points to the wine glass. The subjects on the lefts portray the same concepts as the right side. Additionally, the gaze of the woman on the left is directed at the camera, and therefore at the viewer, making the scene much more intimate and allowing the viewer to become engaged with her and the scene as a whole.

After reading about the rule of thirds, I expected to find one subject and emphasize it by placing it in one of the focal points of the tic tac toe board. However, after viewing Model’s photograph, I now realize there are more possibilities than that. I can look to include multiple subjects in my photograph, which, as long as they exist in different focal points, will create a longer-lasting interest in the image. Also, the interaction between subjects is something that is engaging of Model’s photograph, which is something I hope to use as well. The guidelines on the rule of thirds, as well as the photographs fromn the Masters of Photography website, were very informative and even more so inspirational.

I was drawn to this image by how confusing it was. It took me a moment to realize it was composed of several overlapping reflections, and I’m still not sure how many people there actually are. Complexity can be a powerful tool in visual art, forcing the viewer to examine every square inch of space closely to understand all the little details. However, it can backfire and have the opposite effect: overwhelming the viewer with so much complexity that they ignore the details of the image in an attempt to tune out the visual noise of an image. I think the complexity works out here because the array of reflections effectively combine multiple slightly different angles into one image, capturing the objects in greater depth.

Similar to the multiple reflections in Chicago, I’m interested in how multiple shadows from the same object intersect and form umbras and penumbras. It would be interesting to try to capture this in an image, but I’m not sure how to go about doing that. Shadows are obviously dependent on the angle of lighting, so I would have to plan a shot based off the sun’s position in the sky and by extension the time of day. The photography websites mentioned using the rule of thirds to create point-counterpoint pairs, so perhaps I could make a point-counterpoint pair out of an object and its shadow.

I chose André Kertész’s photo “Wandering Violinist” (1921) to analyze because I was drawn to the way the child in the background was staring at the man and older child in the foreground. At first glance my eyes were drawn to the violinist’s concentrated pose and expression. His expression made me wonder what song he was playing and what he was thinking of as he played it. Then my eyes were drawn to the older child who stood next to him gazing into the distance. He seemed relatively well dressed so his lack of shoes surprised me. Even as I was looking at the violinist and the child next to him, the younger child was always in the corner of my eye. He is not as in focus as the other two, and is shockingly alone, without any parent or guardian. The way he stares at the other two made me wonder about his situation. Maybe he is related to the others, or maybe he is an orphan. As a whole, the photo also gave me a sense of being in an older time and place, conveyed through the scenery and clothes .This makes sense as the photo was taken in Abony, Hungary in 1921.

This photo is compositionally strong. The Rule of Thirds was used and the younger child appears where there would be a vertical line in the middle left of the frame. The man and older child take up the whole right side, also where a vertical line would appear, and have a feeling of being in motion because of the room in front of them. Likewise, the space in front of the younger child gives him space to move. There is a horizon line close to the upper imaginary horizontal line, which gives emphasis to the three people on the bottom part of the road. However, the horizon line seems to run through the younger child’s head and parts of the man and older child, slightly detracting from the focus.

I plan to frame my shots by using the Rule of Thirds, and maybe also try to use a counterpoint. Instead of having halves in my photo, thirds will make the composition more interesting. Placing my subjects on the imaginary lines will also help to draw the focus to them. Another detail to keep in mind is the spacing in front of the subjects and how much of them I want to show to focus on. I will need to give the subject enough room and place it correctly so that it does not appear too static. These details will help me take an interesting, well-composed photo.