Photograph Analysis Lewis baltz
Coco Kniese (Eportfolio)
Lewis Baltz Fairfax 1973 Deadpan
Light Quality Light quality describes the source, amount, and direction of lighting in a photograph. Light can come from natural sources, like the sun. It can be altered or created by humans, by using such things as flash bulbs or lamps. It can also be diffused by clouds or by humans putting a veil of cloth over a lamp. The direction of light is also important when looking at photographs: it can come from above, behind, or from one side. Bright, dim, cloudy, directional, diffused, and flash are some terms used to describe lighting. Questions to Consider Determine the source of light (sun, lamp, flash?). What is it? From which direction does the light come? Does the light come from above the subject? Below it? From the side? What kind of light do you think this is? Is the light harsh with strong shadows, or is it diffused with soft, light shadows?
Fairfax 1973
Light Quality: With this photograph, the light source is natural and coming from the sun. I know this because the photograph has been taken in an outdoor environment and so there was no need for any artificial lighting from lamps or bulbs. The direction that the sun is coming from is not easily seen, but I know that the sun is not coming from behind the photographer as there would be some indication of a shadow on the wall or floor that is behind the photographer. I also think that the sun was fairly bright at the time the photograph was taken as the white colours, in the photo, are very bright which tells me that the sun was hitting the wall to be able to makes the original colours brighter and cause shadows around the ledge above the white section on the wall. Texture Texture is how the surface of an object appears to feel or actually feels to the touch. Texture can be described as rough, smooth, soft, etc. Texture is shown in photographs by the way the light falls on an object and through value changes. The paper on which the photograph is made also determines texture. Questions to Consider What objects in the photograph show textures? Describe those textures. Is the texture of objects something that you noticed right away or do you notice it after looking for a while? Why? Texture: In the photograph Fairfax by Lewis Baltz, I think that the most significant textures are show by the wall, which is directly in-front
of us when Looking at the photograph. The reason why I think this is because the small uneven rectangle, which is on the wall, looks very smooth and had a polished look to it. Then the wall which is around the smooth rectangle, looks damaged, scratched and uneven. These two textures create a contrast between themselves as they are the complete opposites. Due to this I believe that it makes the two opposing textures stand out more as it is more obvious to the viewer when they are placed next to each other. After looking at the photograph for a longer period of time and in more detail, as the viewer, I am able to pick up other textures that are around the wall, these things include the grass/weeds that appear to be growing from the edge of the side walk. These create more texture within the photograph as it makes it look feathered and aged. Focus Focus is the sharpness or clarity of subjects in the photographic image. Soft focus is created when a photographer manipulates the camera to achieve blurry, gentle edges. Photographers use the aperture (lens opening) and limitations of the lens to create sharp detail, soft edges, or both; this is called selective focus. Questions to Consider What is in sharp focus? Has the photographer kept everything in sharp focus? Has the photographer kept only a few things in focus? Explain Has the photographer made this image in soft focus? What mood or feeling has the photographer created by using soft or sharp focus? Focus: In the photograph the part that is in sharp focus in the middle section of the photo (the smooth white part on the textured wall). this means that when looking at the photograph this is the main part that us as the viewers tend to automatically look at in more detail. By creating the image in sharp focus, it means that Baltz has altered the aperture to make sure that soft focus is not achieved. In the photograph, the photographer Lewis Baltz, has kept everything in focus, thus creating the photograph to have no apparent main objective or subject to it. Due to everything being in sharp focus, it means that the photographer has not taken the photograph after manipulating the camera to create soft focus or sharp and soft focus at the same time (selective focus). By the photograph being in sharp focus think that the mood that is created is one of stillness and calmness. This is because there are no busy actions taking place and there is also no blurry/nu-focused areas in the photographs that may distract the viewers attention away from the actual image. Angle of View Angle of view is the position from where the photographer took the
picture. A photographer can point the camera from below, above, or straight at an object. In other artistic media, this is often called point of view. When looking for subjects, especially in nature, a photographer often shifts the angle of view to make interesting images. Angle of view can also express emotion or mood. It can give the viewer a sense of being small if looking up, or a sense of being big if looking down. Questions to Consider What is the angle of view for this image? Is the camera angle in the photograph at eye level, lower than eye level (ground level) or above eye level (birds eye view)? Is the viewer looking straight on or from one side or another? How does the photographer’s angle of view make you feel about the subject? Angle of view: The photograph Fairfax by Lewis Baltz, has been photographed looking straight at the object therefore Baltz has simply taken the photograph with the camera at no particular angle. Due to the photograph being taken straight on it means that the photograph has been taken at eye-level. This is effective as it makes me as the viewer feel as this is more realistic and it like I am standing in front of the wall and not just looking at a photograph of it. When looking at the photograph, I, as the viewer, am looking at the photograph from a straight on angle as this is the same angle that the photograph has been taken. This means that Baltz wants the viewer to see the photograph from this angle as his intentions were to take it on a straight angle. The photographers angle of view makes me feel fairly relaxed about this photograph. This is because there is no complicated angle of view that the photograph needs to seen at and the photograph as not taken the photograph at an angle therefore not obscuring the photograph in any way therefore making no hidden meanings behind the photograph. Framing/Composition Framing is how a photographer carefully presents a subject. Unlike painters, who usually begin with a blank canvas, photographers begin with everything in front of them. Once a subject is found, a photographer decides what to include in the picture frame. The photographer then composes the image to draw a viewer’s attention to the subject in a way that best expresses the artist’s idea of it. Questions to Consider What do you think the photographer chose to include or exclude from this scene in order to draw your attention to the centre of interest? In what ways did the photographer use framing in this image? What in the photograph helps frame the centre of interest? Framing/Composition: In this photograph, I think that Baltz has chosen to make the detailing on the wall and small roof above it the main focus of his photograph and so he has made sure that the roof/sheltered area is directly in the middle of the photograph. Due to this part being in the centre of the page, its makes it the most interesting aspect of the photograph and this is what catches viewers attentions and draws them into the photograph. Baltz has used framing when taking this photograph as I think that he has purposely excluded the surrounding scenery from this photograph so that there was one main focus to the photograph. I can tell that Baltz as zoomed in when taking the photograph as
there is a significant amount or the floor, that is in the foreground, missing from the photograph. I also think that Baltz’s has focused in on the main part of the wall and so other things that my have been above or on either side of this part of the wall have also been cropped out of the frame so that there is nothing distracting about the photograph. Due to the framing of the photograph and taking out any other objects/scenery from the photograph, it helps to create a main focus, which is placed in the centre of the photograph. Colour Artists use colour to achieve many effects. Colour gives viewers a sense of mood, place, and time of year. Colour can also move your eye around a composition and create a sense of space on a flat surface. Some artists achieve very saturated (strong, intense) colour in their images, while others intentionally use subdued or muted colours in their subject matter. Questions to Consider Are colour photographs more real looking than black and white photographs? Why or why? What can a photographer achieve with colour that she or he cannot with black and white pictures? How would this scene be different if it were in black and white or in colour? How do you think the photographer has captured wither saturated or muted colour? Colour: I think that the black and white colouring on this photograph, creates it to become as realistic as a colour photograph would be as the lose of colour should not take away the realness of a photograph but it adds an effect that is more aged, delicate and is a quite photo instead of something that is full of colour and is a louder photograph. When a photograph is in colour, the photographer will be able to attract the viewers attention slightly more quickly compared to a photograph that is black and white. This is because when a photograph is in colour, it makes that photograph more modern and current therefore making it more suited to our day and age, but when photograph is in black and white, it reminds us of when colour did not exist in photographs and so makes us think that the photograph is very old and almost precious. If this photograph was in colour, I don’t think that it would make a judge difference to the look of the photograph or the way that it is seen by the viewer. This is because if the photograph were to be changed to a coloured photograph, the wall would still remain white with black tiles and then the flooring in the foreground of the photo would still be a dark grey. The only difference is that they may be come green colouring from the bits of grass that is growing from the pavement. This results in the photograph still remaining in a monochrome colour scheme when the colour is added to the photograph. I think that Baltz has created a photograph with zero saturation so that the photograph can appear washed out and muted. The muted colours that are used in this photograph are blacks, whites and greys-monochrome colour scheme. This creates the photograph to become soft and understated to the viewer, therefore we appreciated more of what the photograph is and not the colours that can distract us from the main focus.