My commentary is under "comments", as I understand it I was supposed to post the before picture there as well but I could not figure out how to do this.
I was trying to find a compelling shot in the vast wilderness that surrounds my house but was having some trouble finding something that felt both original and interesting.
In the end, my solution was to look for something that was not compelling in the least and then do my best to photograph it in a compelling way. Enter the oranges, they were sitting on the counter acting very inconspicuous when it struck me that we view compelling images of food almost every single day, why not try and turn everyday oranges into a story worth looking at.
In the reading, Evaluating Student Work: Types of Critiques there are several ways laid out in which to criticize a photograph. I think it would interesting to follow the guidelines presented under the Type 3 critique style. The subject of the photo is fairly simple and this simplicity could lead to a large variation in interpretation. I think it would be interesting to see the difference in how I intended the photo to be interpreted and how it is actually interpreted by others, knowing this will yield valuable lessons in how different approaches affect others. This is a single photograph so extended viewing should not be a problem. I understand that this type of critique is not recommended for beginning art classes and is more involved than necessary for this assignment, but it would yield useful feedback.
Mood: I fiddled with different types of background and foreground but in the end thought that the best way to connect the two, to make them seem, "like they couldn't exist with out each other", was to take that statement literally and make the orange peels the foreground and the oranges the background. The mood is a bit gloomy because of the grey between each arrange space, the arrangement of the peels in relation to the oranges invokes a funeral or a firing squad.
Emotion: I think the angle and the perspective give it an overwhelming feeling, as if the oranges are towering over the viewer, it feels like you are the exact same size as the fruit itself. The grayed out shadows help to build some anxiety as if something is creeping up on the oranges, ready to pounce. Of course as the viewer we know this is the truth because rarely do we peel and orange that we do not intend to eat.
Narration: Humans eat, therefore we all understand the story of the photograph. The story is moved along by the fact that one orange has already been peeled. We can not see the person responsible for undressing the orange but we know they are close, we know that at any moment a hand could enter the picture and grab the naked orange.
Lighting: The light in the room is from ceiling lamps which provide, "high noon" lighting. I know that this is usually viewed as undesirable, to be honest, I did not have the equipment or know how to improve upon it. Using the feature on the camera that produces black and white images with the exception of selected objects helped incorporate the usually undesired shadows into the gray spaces between the subjects.
Rule of Thirds: I took a shot at using this when taking the photograph. Deciding on the focus was problematic, oranges or peels? In the end I thought the oranges would be focused on the same spot as the viewer which is the crest of the newly removed orange peels. I think that focus helps give the impression that we are physically inside the picture, perhaps the unseen fourth orange.
I was trying to find a compelling shot in the vast wilderness that surrounds my house but was having some trouble finding something that felt both original and interesting.
ReplyDeleteIn the end, my solution was to look for something that was not compelling in the least and then do my best to photograph it in a compelling way. Enter the oranges, they were sitting on the counter acting very inconspicuous when it struck me that we view compelling images of food almost every single day, why not try and turn everyday oranges into a story worth looking at.
In the reading, Evaluating Student Work: Types of Critiques there are several ways laid out in which to criticize a photograph. I think it would interesting to follow the guidelines presented under the Type 3 critique style. The subject of the photo is fairly simple and this simplicity could lead to a large variation in interpretation. I think it would be interesting to see the difference in how I intended the photo to be interpreted and how it is actually interpreted by others, knowing this will yield valuable lessons in how different approaches affect others. This is a single photograph so extended viewing should not be a problem. I understand that this type of critique is not recommended for beginning art classes and is more involved than necessary for this assignment, but it would yield useful feedback.
Mood: I fiddled with different types of background and foreground but in the end thought that the best way to connect the two, to make them seem, "like they couldn't exist with out each other", was to take that statement literally and make the orange peels the foreground and the oranges the background. The mood is a bit gloomy because of the grey between each arrange space, the arrangement of the peels in relation to the oranges invokes a funeral or a firing squad.
Emotion: I think the angle and the perspective give it an overwhelming feeling, as if the oranges are towering over the viewer, it feels like you are the exact same size as the fruit itself. The grayed out shadows help to build some anxiety as if something is creeping up on the oranges, ready to pounce. Of course as the viewer we know this is the truth because rarely do we peel and orange that we do not intend to eat.
Narration: Humans eat, therefore we all understand the story of the photograph. The story is moved along by the fact that one orange has already been peeled. We can not see the person responsible for undressing the orange but we know they are close, we know that at any moment a hand could enter the picture and grab the naked orange.
Lighting: The light in the room is from ceiling lamps which provide, "high noon" lighting. I know that this is usually viewed as undesirable, to be honest, I did not have the equipment or know how to improve upon it. Using the feature on the camera that produces black and white images with the exception of selected objects helped incorporate the usually undesired shadows into the gray spaces between the subjects.
Rule of Thirds: I took a shot at using this when taking the photograph. Deciding on the focus was problematic, oranges or peels? In the end I thought the oranges would be focused on the same spot as the viewer which is the crest of the newly removed orange peels. I think that focus helps give the impression that we are physically inside the picture, perhaps the unseen fourth orange.