Page 56 Activity 2

So I went to http://www.loc.gov/rr/print and I looked through a lot of pictures.  I choose different collections; looked under different topics but they were all boring.  I looked at photos on Japanese Americans at Manzanar camp; I thought we could work them in to our discussions about the holocaust while reading Anne Frank.  Those were just what appeared to be school pictures.  Then I looked at some celebrity photos but they were just the title not the actual picture available for viewing.   Actually I found one I like, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. with Sammy Davis Jr. but it would not allow me to enlarge it our to download it. 

Ok here is where I decided to look at Facebook, find some pictures taken by my friends and critique them.  These two particular friends are amateur photographers, one of them does professional as well. 

The first picture is the little boy on the slide. 

·        Line: The curvy lines of the slide, “guide the viewing eye through the composition.”

·        Shape: The slide and the little boy are both examples of organic shape, “Organic forms are more natural, as found in nature.” Even though a slide is a man-made object the shape and feel of this one flows like a river. 

·        Texture: While this is a picture that you can not feel I believe it has texture because on how well it was taken.  You can see (feel) the curves, bumps and lumps on this slide. 

·        Value: Many different tones are throughout the Yellow of this picture, there are parts that are lit up in the sun, parts that are straight shots of yellow and parts that are paler in the shadows. 

·        Focal Point: Max is clearly the focal point of this picture, “perhaps the curve of the line in the layout leads to the focal point.” Your eyes are drawn to him.  But actually the reason I love this picture so much is because of the look of pure joy in his face, as if riding this slide was the best thing ever. 

·        Contrast: as mentioned before in value the use of light and shadows keeps this photo interesting.  The fact that the slide bright yellow and the subject is dressed in black and grey provides contrast and therefore makes the picture more interesting as well. 

·        Unity: All parts of this picture work together. They “have visual links or relationships to one another.”

PS My kid is too cute and that’s why I love this picture!

The second picture is the shoe on the beach.

·        Line: There is a natural line in this photo caused by the horizon and then again where the beach meets the water.  They are continuous lines, and they do guide the eye but the question is, where?

·        Shape: The shapes and lines, for that matter, in this picture are organic because they are formed by nature. 

·        Texture: the element of texture screams out in this picture, you can “feel” the rough sand and the tattered shoe.

·        Focal Point: I think this picture has two which is what Golombisky and Hagen warn about, but it works here.  While for some viewers the shoe appears to be the focal point, my eye is also drawn up and over the water to the right.  I can tie this in with Balance.  Because the background picture is off balance, the right side seems bigger; it actually balances out the entire picture by providing counter-weight against the shoe. Which also ties in Perspective, the shoe seems bigger than the ocean on one side. 

·        Unity: At first glance these things do not work together.  I think they do! This picture has me creating stories in my head, a dog and his owner playing fetch on the beach and they forgot Rover’s favorite stolen shoe.  A homeless guy who didn’t pack everything when he made himself scarce for the day.  Or did a seagull scavenging through the garbage pick it up and drop it?  The possibilities are endless and that’s what makes it fun!

            On a completely different note, there is an “ad” on page 52 for a candy shop named Mahatma Candy, that name is so clever that I don’t care what the ad looks like I would shop there.  In Brick, there is a new yogurt company called Daddy Yo’s and for the same catchy name I will try it out. 

Stacy