- Finish up critque of assignment #1
- In class discussion of Class Blog topic
- (possible) In class PROJECTED critique for in process images)
- PHOTOSHOP: Creating Panoramas • working with cropping • Layers + rudimentary masks •
- see the link on the right under "Pages" Tech links and info (photoshop, printing, etc)
For October 28th:
- READ/ANSWER QUESTIONS: Class Blog discussion topicPRINT: One large scale (tiled) and 5 small scale images from Assignment #2
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| 6 | DISCUSSION TOPIC |
Go to this website and click on the section titled "New Orleans" to view Robert Polodori's images of the town post-hurricane Katrina. Respond to these questions:
1) How does the use of color effect the content and mood of these photographs?
1b) How do the titles inform the images?
2) Do they feel like documents of a natural event or of an event which was created by the photographer (i.e. pictures of a real occurrence or of something made up)? Why do the images feel this way to you?
3) Pick an image that you are drawn to and tell us why you feel it is successful or not successful as an image.
1 - The color in the photographs, although subtle change the mood of these photographs. amidst the chaos in which each photograph is in, the colors make the image pop and not seem as dull. although the images are about a tragic event, the tints and tones give it a happier mood.
ReplyDelete1B - The titles do not give much information about the photograph, they are just addresses of where these photographs were taken.
2 - I feel that some of the images are clearly staged. however, some of them could have been caused by a natural disaster. also the retouching and color correction of the photos make it feel staged.
3 - image: Bellaire Drive, New Orleans, September 2005.
I believe this image is the most successful due to the dynamic feel it contains.The tree drives the whole image, moving your eyes around the whole image. along with the tree, the electric post makes an X with the tree further guide your eyes to the upper right. After you traveled the image, you notice at the center the white boat shining center stage. the subtle tints and tones of red of the house, the bushes, and the cloth and the stripes on the boat give the image the touch of color it needs. all the colors balance well in this image, including the sky with the red house. the darkness of the bottom left with the light tints of blue on the top left also create a harmonious balance on the image. overall i believe this image is ver powerful, aesthetically and documentary.
1. The somewhat subdued natural colors bring these photos to life. The wallpapers were probably enhanced, but the empty rooms might hold colors true to life. The lighting is also natural, and together they create a calm atmosphere.
ReplyDelete1b. The titles help set the scene by indicating the subject matter and location. It would be tough to understand and analyze the images without the titles.
2. This set definitely feels like a real event, especially after Superstorm Sandy and all the photos that stemmed from the event. The destruction is familiar and rather than being melodramatic, it’s simply quiet. The photos are very matter-of-fact, perhaps because there are no people, and stripped of raw emotion. The images don't appear faked, they're more like a documentary of abandoned, miserable properties.
3. Image 2732 of Orleans Avenue is rather enticing because it has a calm before the storm look to it. I’m uncertain if the storm has or hasn’t hit yet, but the way the car is parked irregularly suggests the storm has passed. This image captures that empty, quiet mood very well. The bleak color palette and dark sky creates that ominous feeling that encompasses the storm.
1.
ReplyDeletea. The softer palette makes the photographs look lovely despite the fact that the locations are painfully damaged and, at least for some time, abandoned. Also, I see so many pastel colors in the homes, further softened by the dirt and water damage, that there’s a nostalgic quality to photographs; the one of the destroyed kitchen looks like it could have been taken in the 70s.
b. Most photographs have the street address as part their title. As bare bones as the titles are, it makes them feel quite real to me. New Orleans and the date put the work in its historical context.
2. I didn’t at all question the “realness” of the photographs until I got to one in particular which made me wonder if Polidori rearranges a few things to better his compositions. The room looks so terribly wrecked, yet there’s a framed photograph of a woman in uniform that we’re to believe has “fallen” on something, and is now leaning against a wall completely undamaged. To the viewer’s left of that photograph is a somewhat skewed one of a family, pretty much in the center of the frame. These elements make the image emotionally charged for me, so I don’t really care if Polidori carefully placed them there, but I still wonder…
3. I really spent some time on 5000 Cartier Avenue, which I find to be a successful image. It is essentially split in two: indoors and the light-filled foyer leading to what’s outside the front door. For such a small portion of the home, there are still so many vestiges of its owner. The cheesy paintings, doily thrown on the back of the chair, and the old time piano make me think of my grandparents, and how the owner’s of the home are undoubtedly missing their place. The natural light flooding the home reveals everything, underscoring the bleakness of the situation.
1) How does the use of color effect the content and mood of these photographs?
ReplyDeleteThe use of color, in the neutral/pastel palette, pale, unsaturated, non-vibrant, helps portray the "washed" (literally) nature of the images. It creates a melancholic mood, sadness at view of the scenes, the debris in the aftermath of the hurricane, the so-called calmness after th storm.
1b) How do the titles inform the images?
The titles of the images help to connect the art (each photograph) with the reality of the catastrophe, by indicating the exact locations, in an unromantic, objective way.
2) Do they feel like documents of a natural event or of an event which was created by the photographer (i.e. pictures of a real occurrence or of something made up)? Why do the images feel this way to you?
The photos feel staged, like events created by the photographer because of the formal elements/approach of the photographer. The color, for example, manipulated through Photoshop, the framing, basically, the intention behind the choices done by the photographer for each shot. There is an air of trying to express some kind of beauty in images that display chaos/destruction. The fact that the images are presented through an art gallery/institution suggest the non purely documentary/informative purpose of the images.
3) Pick an image that you are drawn to and tell us why you feel it is successful or not successful as an image.
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1- The use of color effects the mood of the content by shaping a dreary, vacant atmosphere. All the colors are saturated with black tones, and deep grays. The color effects the content by showing that the houses, the car(s), the streets are not in use, they are abandoned; there is no vibrant life there.
ReplyDelete1b- The titles inform the images by being named After the Flood, so the viewer; in this case myself, has the knowledge to recognize the time, and sequence of events in the still images, and that these photos are after a disastrous flood, and not after a tornado, party, riot, or just heavily altered in photoshop to look unpleasant.
2- The images to me, feel as though they are from a natural event, because there is evidence of watermarks every where, and the homes are destroyed in a such a way, that it looks as though debris was thrown around in a flood. All the elements of the photograph add up to tell the story.
3- This image is very interesting to me, a shows a successful photograph, but a natural disaster. The entire house is covered in grime, and kitchen appliances are thrown every, but at the ceiling there is a well ordered series of pots and pans hanging from a rod.
http://www.flowersgallery.com/shop/polidori-after-the-flood/