Blown Away

This photograph seemed very interesting to me for multiple reasons. The first is I can tell it is a windy day without even looking at the title of the photograph by just looking at the black umbrella on the wall. This umbrella is without an owner and is bent up in the shape of a taco. It not only infers that it is bad weather, rainy, and windy, but it also lets us know that someone lost their umbrella and is probably having a really bad day. The person with the red umbrella makes this photo even more interesting because you can only see the person's feet underneath the umbrella. Since the shoes are high heels, I can tell it is a woman who is struggling to fight the wind so her umbrella does not turn inside out. However, her umbrella seems strong enough to handle the wind since the shape of the umbrella is not distorted. Also, the color red on the umbrella not only stands out in the photograph, but it really makes the statement that it is strong enough to uphold any type of weather and that it is not weak, like the black umbrella. I like how the photographer captures this moment and it is kind of funny to know that someone's umbrella took off without them. I also like how the photographer did not capture the person's face and that the main subjects are objects (umbrellas). The lighting for the photograph is also really surprising because normally on a rainy or dismal day, the sun is not out to provide light for a picture. However, this photographer must have taken the picture with a high quality camera that captures subjects rain or shine. The plain background also makes the red umbrella stick out in the photograph and really captures the moment.

I chose this picture because of its symbolism of spring. Now that the weather is getting nicer, things are starting to bloom and I think that this picture represents this very well. I like how the photographer captures the flowers at a lower level as if you were laying on the ground looking at these flowers. The angle is also interesting because it focuses on three flowers in the center, while the other flowers and grass are blurred out to focus the audience's attention. I also like the color in this photo because purple and white are definitely representing the spring season and it gives the photo a lively feel to it. In addition to the colors and spring like theme, the position of the grass and flowers were also interesting to me. This is because at first glance, this photo can look like a painting due to the way the grass is positioned around each flower. I also feel as though this could be on front of a postcard when someone goes away on vacation.The photographer also used side lighting that really illuminated the flowers, bringing a peaceful touch to the photo. Side lighting on the one flower on the left also casts a shadow of what looks like another petal of another flower near by. This gives me an idea of the location of the picture (garden,back yard, baseball field, open field, etc.). Overall, this photo gives me a sense of calmness when looking at it and the focus on the three flowers with the use of the sun and grass around it makes it even more inviting to look at.

Spring is Finally Here !

Leggo Man

This photo is from a collection of different lego creations from Life magazine. Out of all of the photos in this collection I found this one pretty interesting because it was the most simple out of all the amazing photographs of the other creations. This lego man is what the classic legos looked like and I like how the creation in this photograph doesn't have to look too fancy or complicated to put together to make an impression on someone looking at the photo. The saying on the lego man's shirt and his size bring a message to the viewers that just because someone is small and may not seem real does not mean that it does not have a lesser meaning or is less significant. Also, the lego man's left hand in the photo seems to be framing the lady in the distance walking on the beach toward the ocean. The edges of the lego man's hand looks as if the person could be picked up at any moment by the lego man. This follows up with the analysis of the size of the lego man and his saying on his shirt. The facial expression on the lego seems angry and his stance makes a dominant statement to the audience. I thought that this was interesting considering most of the faces in legos are happy and that the stance of a lego (in general) is less dominant because legos are smaller than us. So the roles are reversed in this photo and it kind of makes me think that if legos were real would they think we stomped around beaches with angry faces trying to let smaller things know we are dominant and not to mess with us? In addition, the photographer places a beach as the background to bring out the wonderful creation of this lego. However, I think that the reason behind this has something to do with his saying on his shirt questioning reality. I think that the photographer did a good job capturing the center of this photograph (the lego man) and the colors on the lego man are the only colors that actually stand out in this photo. From some of the readings in class, I am beginning to wonder if this is an example of a photo that is placed into a frame of another photo.

"The Kids in the Lids" in LIFE magazine

There were multiple things in this photo that I found very interesting. The first was color. I like the fact that even though the whole photo is in color that the only colors I see are the red and white on the hats. The stone background is an off white-ish color and is just that , a background. Although, the colors of the student's and adult's shirts are seen in this photograph, it was not a focus of color for me when I looked at this photo. Another quality in this photo that has caught my attention are the symbols on the outside detailing the steps and how they look as though they are connected with kids and adults on the steps. The connection I got was that the kids on the steps are facing in a downward position and the people detailed on the outside of the steps are facing in an upward position. Most of the decorations seem to be of young faces, which can also be connected to the young faces of the kids we see in the photo. I also liked the details in this photo. You can tell that this was a school trip and from the caption you know where and why they are on this trip. But, more importantly, the details of the name tags and adult supervision of a large number of kids, implies more than ever that this was a planned event for a special occasion for younger kids in elementary school. The fact that the special occasion was for Read Across America and that this photo was taken at the D.C. library also seems interesting because normally you read books or get books to read from a library. The photographer could have taken the photo of the kids in their Dr. Seuss hats when they got off of the bus, but instead the photographer took the photo outside of the library, which represents the event they came to celebrate very well.