20200426-Reading Photographs

Not having many magazines or newspapers around the house was quite a challenge in itself. I’ve not brought a paper or magazine for sometimes now. See date in the top right of Fujifilm advert above.

They aren’t something I’ll buy anymore. They have more adverts than articles at times and your paying for pages of adverts a more than articles on something you are interested in.

The above advert for me has been pretty successful since buying Fujifilm camera and lenses in recent years from being mainly a Nikon user.

The Studium = The main picture of the camera and lenses

The Punctum = £175 Cashback

Rule of thirds
Language with Brand on the camera and lenses reads left to right.
The brand is in the top left corner.
The massive claim of cashback on the top third.
Use of CAPITAL LETTERS (carry more for less).
Three cameras but four lenses.
Majority of the cameras and lenses are the black variants on a subtle blue background.
Simple colours that do not confuse the eye or let you wander through the advert.

”Photography for me is not looking, it’s feeling. If you can’t feel what you’re looking at, then you’re never going to get others to feel anything when they look at your pictures” Don McCullin, Sleeping With Ghosts: A Life’s Work in Photography

Bibliography

Short, M. (2011). Context And Narrative (pp. 120–141). A&C Black

20200423-Project 2 Reading Pictures-Diane Airbus

https://www.moca.org/collection/work/a-young-brooklyn-family-going-for-a-sunday-outing-nyc

From reading the article I found it harsh how the family has been describe by Liz Jobey. She doesn’t know them however she feels the the need to almost belittle them from the tone of writing.

I find the image has an strange feel to it. Not how the family has been set up but by how the Diane Airbus has composed the picture. The wife and child staring into oblivion and the father into what maybe the camera. The other child is said to be retarded which I feel from a personal perspective fairly instructive into a family that may have had a hard time prior to this.

Throughout the essay Jobey talks about them as they are nothing more than below her. I find that comes acroos in an annoying manner. I do not even know her and I myself are making a judgment on her writing about a picture and not the picture itself.

How you interpret a picture is true that first impressions count and don’t judge a book by its cover. Slightly off key with how Jobey has took to understanding this image.

Have they been forced to look unhappy or is this a case of they didn’t want the picture taken in the first place. It has that juxtaposition feel to it in a way of happiness meets sadness.

rule of thirds,reading images

Even though the critque on this image has been harsh from Jobey, the picture itself is pretty well composed when looking with the rule of thirds. The main subject as the women has a sense of drama with how she is lite, the DoP and sharpness of her compared to how he looks where he is probably set back slighty to her. personally I find this image has sense of the unknown within it. A hidden sense of beauty to it. Had this been in colour im not sure that youd be able to show it any better. The era of the clothes would have been dark colours, where only the whites and leapod print would have been able to give any punch.

Bibliography

(n.d.). A Young Brooklyn Family Going For A Sunday Outing, N.Y.C. Retrieved April 23, 2020e, from https://www.moca.org/collection/work/a-young-brooklyn-family-going-for-a-sunday-outing-nyc [assessed 230420]

20200423-Language of Photography-Ex Elliot Erwitt Dogs

Having looked through some of his portfolio of his Dogs series some for me stand out for the same reasons like this one.
Nearly all his pictures are from a point of view from the dog’s eyes almost like he’s taking portraits of them.
They are compositionally correct with the rule of thirds this image in particular. The giant dog on the left third, the human boots in the centre and smaller dog on the right hand third.
The depth of field shows that a shallow DoF has been used to isolate the main subject and blur out the background. Minimising any distractions.
Three subjects evenly spread across the composition fills the frame had it been two I doubt this would have been a user.
It has a sense of wealth to it: the large dog and small dog together and the owner in the middle. More than likely taken in the Central Park area where some may say is quite an affluent area. The smaller dog is wearing a jumper and hat, probably as is the owner.
The PoV from ground level makes the image with how it has been cropped just above the knee and body of the larger dog.

The image initially shows a sense of fun as do other images within the series. I see him as a dog lover. It also give you a chance to guess what the other breed of dog is and how the woman looks.