Friday, September 12, 2008

Chiaroscuro-Week 3




The first thing I notice about this photo is the dress the subject is wearing. It is very dark in contrast with the clothes on the racks in the background. I also notice the pouty expression on the woman's face and how she is being playful. I wonder why she is wearing what she is wearing. She is obviously a fun-loving person. The picture makes me wonder more about her personality.


Here is a black and white photo taken at an angle that shows a woman in sunglasses pouting for the camera. She seems to be modeling a long, flowing, but simple dress. The dress she is wearing is a deep black in contrast with the ligher gray and white background. The background shows that she is in some kind of store. There is a sign showing something is for sale for only 99 cents. There are racks of clothes and blankets around her, most noticeably a pair of pants and some sheets. The background gets smaller and less focused towards the back of the store where the photo forms a point.


I like the composition of this photo because it has an interesting angle and the subject is off-center a little bit, creating interest. There is some good variation of values in the photo, the strongest value being the black of the dress. It has an interesting perspective creating a vanishing point in the background. The focal point is clearly the woman in the dress. There are some interesting lines in this piece, many of them creating the texture of the clothes on the racks, as well as the texture of the woman's hair. The lines up close are very clear and get blurry as your eyes move to the vanishing point.


This photo tells a story of a fun day shopping with a friend. The woman in the picture is enjoying modeling for the camera. Her expression shows confidence with a little bit of mystery. I would name this photo "Confidence".


Albrecht Durer's drawings are very detailed and his use of line varies from hardly noticeable to very bold. I would say that the lines in this photo are very similar but our perspectives are quite different. The perspective of this photo is very angled with a vanishing point and Durer's were upfront. Also he used more detail in his drawings than I have in the photo.