The photo that I have chosen to analyse is André Kertész’s Montmarte shot in 1927. I was drawn to this photo in part because of its brightness. At first glance this scene is calming as the open landscape invites the viewers in. Kertész follows the rule of thirds in this photograph. The long set of steps takes up two-thirds while the pavilion below takes up only one. This placement causes a shift in perspective and elongates the steps making them the main focus of the photograph.

I enjoyed how the shadows spanned the scene and added to the simplistic composition of the photo. The small figure in the top left corner of the scene gives the photo movement. The placement of the figure towards the frame provoked thoughts of urgency for me. It seems almost as if they are running and will proceed to run up this long set of steps. I thought it was interesting how André focused on the location as the subject and left the person as a small blip in the larger story.

I think Kertész’s photograph somewhat helped me to formulate my ideas for framing my photo. I would like to focus my photo on something calming; a landscape during the sunrise perhaps. Using the rule of thirds, I hope to create an interesting sense of perception. Because I will be in a car all morning I think that I will be able to capture an intriguing shot. I am not sure how I will incorporate movement into my shot yet but I would prefer to have it be more subtle and not the main focus of my work. I enjoyed looking through the photographs online and while I did enjoy this one more than the others, I believe that a lot of them have aspects that I could utilize in my piece.

Montmartre 1927

-Eli McClain