Blog #2 - Picture Composition Analysis
Assignment…
Pick out two professional photographs from the NY Times photojournalism blog “The Lens” and complete a picture composition analysis for both pictures. 1-2 pages (~300 words, 12pt font double spaced) in paragraph form.
Photo #1: from “Punk Music, Bronx Style” shot by Roy Baizan Link
Image description from webpage…
“Jehiel Winters of the rhythm punk band Winter Wolf performed at the Carl Sage Inn, an underground music venue in the Hunts Point section of the South Bronx. 2017.”
The focal point of this photo is most definitely Jehiel himself, as well as his bass guitar. With his figure as the focal point in the foreground, positioned very close to the lens of the camera, the background appears as being further back from his body. This is making the photo read very three-dimensionally, and adds almost an effect of having layers to each part of the foreground and background.
There seems to be a lot of angles and lines in this photo, specifically horizontal ones. One very prominent example of this is the horizontal beams that make up the ceiling. These horizontal lines, even though broken visually in the middle by Jehiel’s head, create multiple lines through the background that when broken create contrast. The neck of the bass as well as the angle of the microphone and its stand roughly create a 90 degree angle, but from the perspective of the shot it almost gives a radial effect within that angle with the vertex of the angle and center point from which the radiating effect is stemming from being the body of Jehiel’s bass. The shadow behind Jehiel adds to this radiating effect by adding another layer of his figure within that 90 degree angle radial contained by the angle’s arms (the microphone and bass neck) and X and Y points (the top of Jehiel’s head and the headstock of the bass).
Even though this photo was shot with a shutter speed that was able to capture it with no motion blur, you can still tell that Jehiel is in motion. His intense facial expression, hand position on the neck of the bass, leg posture, etcetera, give this away. I particularly focused on the protruding vein on his neck, indicating that he was probably singing loudly or screaming in this moment. There are more protruding veins on his arms that also set off a signal in my eyes and mind that he was in the middle of playing his bass as well: the way his muscles would have been moving to hold his guitar would cause the veins to appear this way. His thumb seems to be ready to pluck one of the 4 strings and his hand poised to move to the next set of frets on the neck.
Photo #2: from “The Week in Pictures: May 5, 2017” shot by Hilary Swift Link
Image description from webpage…
“Bill Snape dressed in a polar bear costume to take part in protesting President Trump’s rollback of climate change rules and regulations on Saturday in Washington.”
This photo features a slew of vertical lines: Bill in his polar bear costume, the other figures in the foreground and background, the trees (specifically the one in the front to the left of the photo), and a few lampposts. These vertical lines are met with a few horizontal ones, such as the horizon line and the top of a building in the background.
Something notable in this photo is the young boy hiding behind a tree in the foreground. He’s blurred out of focus, but still creates emphasis and toys with the depth. It almost offers a change of perspective as if this photo was taken from the boy’s point of view. The addition of having the boy in this photo tells a story in a way, as he sort of looks fearful of Bill in his polar bear costume, pointing to both the fear of losing our Earth to the dangers of climate change, but also towards the cowardly behaviors of many of the people in power when they are faced on the front lines by people who have passion for what they want to change, like the people at this protest.
This photo was taken in 2017 at the Washington march of a large protest for climate change called the Peoples Climate March. The protests were focused around President Trump rolling back President Barack Obama’s Clean Power Plan, including things like eliminating climate change research and prevention measures and cutting down the Environmental Protection Agency’s budget, as well as other things such as changing vehicle emission regulations, and allowing for drilling, logging, and mining on protected lands. Based on this, because not much commentary on it was provided, I'm guessing that Bill’s polar bear costume was to comment on the global warming aspect of climate change and how it affects our North and South poles.