This horizontally-oriented photo depicts the subject lying on a bed with his head resting in his hands, arms forming triangles on either side of him. Lighting is provided by a soft light to the subject’s left/viewer’s right, forming a soft shadow on the wall from the subject and his pillows. It is the only thing in the photograph that is not symmetrical, but because of its softness does not detract from the image. The skin tone of his arms and face are the only elements of color in the photograph, the rest is monotone. He is looking up onto photographs that are affixed to an off-white or grey wall. The first group of photographs are arranged to spell out the word 'live', and include images of people. Above those photographs is either a series of photos that form a panorama, or one panoramic skyline. It appears to include London and possibly other European cities. One end of the panorama is bracketed by a Ferris wheel (world's fair?), the other by and undetermined, fading cityscape.
Technically, this photograph works well. It features three horizontal lines: the top is formed by the panorama, the middle by the word ‘live’, the bottom by the subject and the pillows he is resting on. Further, the subject on the pillow first grabs the attention of the viewer’s eye because his is the only color in the photograph, and because his solid black shirt is the only solid positive object. His gaze takes the readers eye up to the next horizontal line, the letters in the word take the viewers eye to the top line. I found myself easily traveling from top to bottom as I sought more detail.
The photos seems to tell a story about what is important to the subject. Since this is a self-portrait, the viewer (at least this one) assumes that this is the subject's bed, and thus the photos above him would be of close friends or family. The word indicates a philosophy, and the photos forming the word indicate what is important to him, while the top line is one definition of living – traveling to the world’s great cities.
Okay. I thought that since the prompt was Self-Portrait, we had to be in the shot. I was not sure if I could have taken a picture of just my wall, that's how I interpreted it.
Good, effective photograph.
ReplyDeleteThis horizontally-oriented photo depicts the subject lying on a bed with his head resting in his hands, arms forming triangles on either side of him. Lighting is provided by a soft light to the subject’s left/viewer’s right, forming a soft shadow on the wall from the subject and his pillows. It is the only thing in the photograph that is not symmetrical, but because of its softness does not detract from the image. The skin tone of his arms and face are the only elements of color in the photograph, the rest is monotone. He is looking up onto photographs that are affixed to an off-white or grey wall. The first group of photographs are arranged to spell out the word 'live', and include images of people. Above those photographs is either a series of photos that form a panorama, or one panoramic skyline. It appears to include London and possibly other European cities. One end of the panorama is bracketed by a Ferris wheel (world's fair?), the other by and undetermined, fading cityscape.
Technically, this photograph works well. It features three horizontal lines: the top is formed by the panorama, the middle by the word ‘live’, the bottom by the subject and the pillows he is resting on. Further, the subject on the pillow first grabs the attention of the viewer’s eye because his is the only color in the photograph, and because his solid black shirt is the only solid positive object. His gaze takes the readers eye up to the next horizontal line, the letters in the word take the viewers eye to the top line. I found myself easily traveling from top to bottom as I sought more detail.
The photos seems to tell a story about what is important to the subject. Since this is a self-portrait, the viewer (at least this one) assumes that this is the subject's bed, and thus the photos above him would be of close friends or family. The word indicates a philosophy, and the photos forming the word indicate what is important to him, while the top line is one definition of living – traveling to the world’s great cities.
I really like the story within the story told through the pictures on the wall. The figure on the bed is a bit cliché, and takes away from the built in narrative you have going in the text/subtext of the images.
ReplyDeleteOkay. I thought that since the prompt was Self-Portrait, we had to be in the shot. I was not sure if I could have taken a picture of just my wall, that's how I interpreted it.
ReplyDeleteYou are in the shots on the wall. I like the idea. It needs a bit more work.
ReplyDelete