As I looked through various photographers’ photos, I kept getting drawn to the ones with scenes from New York City. That is, until I came across this image, Gordon Parks’ “Ingrid Bergman at Stromboli” (1949). Though I can’t quite place what it is exactly about this photograph that’s so striking to me, I think it’s probably the differing gazes of the picture’s subjects. On the one hand, you have Ingrid looking toward the lower left hand corner, but on the other hand, you have the three women looking at/watching Ingrid as though they’re judging her. I find this dynamic really interesting. It adds a layer of tension and also reminds the viewer that the people in these pictures have a story too. This picture makes you wonder what the women are thinking and also what Ingrid is thinking. Are they reacting positively or negatively to her? How does she feel about the attention? She seems aware of their gaze and is either bothered by it or is nonchalant about it, depending on how you interpret her facial expression. When I first looked at the photo, it seemed as though they were judging her, and she’s trying to act as though it doesn’t bother her. I could relate to that feeling, and so it made me wonder more about her. (As it turns out, Ingrid Bergman was a famous actress, which likely changes the tone of the picture.)
Compositionally, the photo is pretty strong. The photographer made us of the Rule of Thirds, with Ingrid at the bottom right point and the three women at the top left point. Given the two different focal points, the photo also makes use of counterpoint. It’s clear Ingrid is closer to the camera than the other three women, but they occupy roughly the same amount of space in the photograph. In addition, the photographer made sure to leave space in front of the women walking so that they have a space to “walk” over. There are, however, some lines passing through some of the heads in the picture. For instance, the line of the shadow hits Ingrid’s head, although it’s more at an angle so it isn’t very prominent and is only at the top of her head, so it doesn’t imply a line or draw much attention. There are also lines going through the heads of the three women, but these are not very obvious either, especially since the three women are more in the background rather than the foreground.
For my picture, I’ll definitely be looking to utilize the Rule of Thirds. I’d also like to try having multiple focuses so perhaps I’ll take a shot at counterpoint, but it’ll depend on what I ultimately decide to photograph. The other photograph I was thinking of using for this post was actually the one Ariella chose, and I really liked that photographer’s use of reflection/glass, so if I can, I think I’d like to get a shot similar to that.
Jessica Sun
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