Period 1 - Critical Analysis No 7

2/17/2022

Today you will be writing about this image made by artist Rachael Banks. This image is from a series called I Only Fear God. Rachael’s work addresses trauma, death, crime, and nature as central to experiences with her family and upbringing within the mid-south region of Kentucky. She makes photographs and small run photo books centered around her friends and family in Kentucky as they grow and come into and out of her life. Her photographs let us look into an intimate series of relationships that we would not have access to without her photographs.

Write 4 paragraphs, 5 sentences minimum per paragraph. Remember to post your analysis as a comment to the blog post that corresponds to your class. If you post your analysis to the wrong class's post, it will not be graded.

Remember, refer to your "How to See" handout for analyzing a photograph--

Describe specifics.
Describe form.
Describe the content.
Evaluate the image.

Your analyses will be graded on:

meeting minimum length requirements
depth of organization
evaluation of the content
grammar/punctuation

luigi

2/17/2022 06:37:45 am

This is a weird shot personally. It shows different emotions whilst giving me different emotions. It shows 3 men 2 are not showing emotions while 1 is demonstrating emotions while holding a firearm. It shows a great rule of thirds by showing each face in the shot while not giving away a feeling of too much space. This shot here makes me feel scared.

Each man looks and feels like a delinquent in their own way. Maybe this is their ranch that their parents own and they're posing to look cool. Maybe there meanaces that terrorize innocent students. Or maybe there are outcasts. Or they could be just posing for a photo shoot by Rachel Banks.

The props that they use are big, medium, and small sized. The big size is the kart that used to traverse along their ranch or anywhere really. The gun the person in the middle is using is poorly being used and aimed towards himself. Finally whilst small you can tell the man the right is smoking what seems to be a vape considering its size and how well he can conceal it.
Along with those props their backdrop is of a luxurious green forest which is taken away from the spotlight by the three men and their props.

Overall I think this shot is pretty good. It's very nice along with the background and that those were her family from kentucky. The props she used were good. The emotions displayed by the people being shot were good. I’d give it a 9/10 overall on this photo.

Grayson

2/17/2022 06:45:00 am

This image by photographer Rachael Banks shows three men sitting in the back of a red ATV. The background of the image is full of lush greenery, with the trees stretching up the back of the image. The three men are staring at the camera, the man in the middle is holding a gun and has an expression of mild amusement. The other two men to his left and right wear disgruntled and slightly bored faces. The soft shadows underneath the trees are contrasted with the shart shadows underneath the bed of the truck in the foreground.
The positive space of the image is taken up by the red truck, and the men sitting on it. The deep depth of field extends past them and into the trees, which make up the negative space. The only defined lines of the image come from the truck, horizontally cutting across the image. The picture is taken at the line of sight of the men, with their bodies taken up in the entirety of the frame. The sky is barely visible in the top left of the image, covered up in the background by trees.
Banks took this picture to show the intimate relationships which she has with her family. The central themes of her work are often trauma and crime, and the gun being held by the man in the middle makes my mind silently panic. The background of the image shows a serene landscape of bushes and greenery, contrasted with the foreground that dominates the image. This is a family portrait of sorts, showing life as it actually is rather than a photoshoot in a studio. The image reminds me of my extended family living in Cumby Texas, and the childhood car rides associated with the countryside and backroads.
The image has a sort of busy serenity that I can appreciate. Your eye is drawn to the face in the middle, then the gun guides your gaze throughout the image. I like how the image portrays life, and I think the gun acts as a web of intentions and speculation throughout the image. The image is successful with its goal, showing her family and giving a view into her life. The family and trauma themes are shown off well in the image.

Sofia Pinto

2/21/2022 12:19:09 pm

This image depicts three men sitting in the back of a red ATV. The man in the middle is holding up a gun, which is being pointed at the man to his left. The man in the middle has a mischievous smile, as if he is plotting a stealth revenge. The other two men to either side of him have a fair straight face, almost as if they were told to pose with a serious complexion. The background of this image is greenery. It is filled with tall green trees that take up the entire image. There seems to be some smoke in the far distance of the image. This background almost seems fake since the trees are so dense and luscious; thus, the image feels like a studio setup.

This image is pleasing to look at because its composition makes the entirety of the image feel fake. The positive space of the image consists of the three men sitting in the red ATV. The negative space consists of the luscious forestry and greenery behind the red ATV. This image uses a deep depth of field since the whole image can be seen crystal clear. This would make sense because deep depths of field are used best for landscapes, resulting in the use of a narrow aperture. I would say that the main subject, which is the three men, is horizontally centered. Although, the image is asymmetrical; thus, the only clear and defined lines come from the truck.

This image by Rachael Banks addresses and demonstrates the trauma, death, crime, and nature that makes up these central experiences with her family as she raises them within the mid-south region of Kentucky. She makes photographs and small run photo books centered around her friends and family in Kentucky as they grow and come into and out of her life. Her photographs show the intimate relationships she has with her family and friends. The gun held by the man initially made me think that this image was negative, but in reality, the gun is meant to show humor. I think that this portrait depicts the struggles that can occur when one spends and reveals intimate experiences with one another. The serenity and peacefulness of the background is used to contrast the seriousness of the image.

I appreciate and enjoy this image because it is pleasing to evaluate. I feel like there are a lot of missing pieces to this image, but that’s what makes it intriguing. The viewer is supposed to fill in these missing pieces through their own interpretation of the image. I think this idea directly applies to the symbolism of the gun. Everyone can’t interpret its significance and meaning in different ways. This image is successful because I think that it shows the idea of trauma very well simply through the expressions on these mens’ faceses. You can also tell that there was a lot of effort put into this image. Overall, I would give this image a 10/10. It’s simple, but gets the message across.

Priya Tewari-Pine

2/22/2022 07:16:01 am

The person on the right seems to be smoking. It looks like there’s smoke around their head. The middle person is holding a gun and smiling a little bit. The person on the left is staring at the camera with nothing going on around him. The truck has a bit of dirt on the bottom. Come to think of it, I don’t even think the truck is a truck.

The colors of the photo are incredibly vivid. I love the green and the orange. The rule of thirds also comes into play here. The bottom third line aligns with their knees. The top third line aligns with the top of the truck. The person on the left aligns with the line on the left, same goes for the person on the right, and the torso of the middle person is in the middlest third.

The three people are sitting in some sort of vehicle. They are surrounded by vivid greenery, and the contrast between the vehicle and grass is kind of extreme. The three people look like they’ve been photoshopped into the picture because they are brighter than their surroundings. But the photographer might have put them in direct sunlight. Their surroundings seem a bit muted compared to them.

Overall the image is quite intriguing. I love the contrast between the colors of the truck and grass. I can’t quite figure out what the commentary is. It might be the photographer capturing how her family experiences nature. I just love how lush the greenery is, but they don’t seem to be enjoying it.

Carol Marin

2/22/2022 07:43:53 am

The details of the scene are that one boy has a ripped shirt another one has a dirt shirt and jeans and gun and the other one has tattoos.
This color is oversaturated but not quite it is not overwhelming to look at but it's got vivid colors.
The lighting is natural light from above probably from a tree.
The objects included are 3 boys, a gun, a side-by-side ATV.
3 boys are sitting side by side atv one of the boys is wearing dirty clothes and is holding a gun pointed at his friend the other friend has a ripped shirt and looks unamused, the other friend has a puma shirt and tattoos. The friends look very unamused at the guy holding the gun but the guy holding the gun has a smirk on his face.

This photo is pleasing to look at the colors are a bit overwhelming but not too much. The point of view is third person. This is a deep depth of field because we can see the things behind them in detail. The focal points are the three boys and the gun. This image is balanced and symmetrical it has the classical triangle. The positive space is the boys the negative is the background.

The theme is how a family of low income lives in Kentucky. The story is about three boys in a truck sitting down with a gun. He intended to make the people of Kentucky on a pedestal. This image doesn't remind me of anything in particular but the boy in the middle reminds me of Vladimir Putin. It does not question my beliefs. This image is very interesting because of the gun.

I like the photo it's vivid colors and good lighting. The theme is very interesting and cool. The image is interesting and got great focal points. This photo is successful because it tells a story and is a beautiful image

Carolina Meneses

2/22/2022 07:47:52 am

This image is of three boys on an old ATV. Most of the colors in this image are orange, red with hits of black and white. Their clothes look kind of old and dirty. They look like they probably get in trouble a lot. The lighting is very bright and vivid, there are a lot of trees in the background. The guy on the far right is smoking and the one in the middle is holding a gun towards the guy on the far right.

I think the picture is pleasing to look at because all the colors go together really well. The angle of the photographer is the artist standing right in front of them. The depth of field in this image is deep. The focal point is the three guys and it is being framed by the ATV. I would say this image is pretty symmetrical. The subjects do not fill up the frame.

The negative space is the greenery of the background. The positive space is the ATV and the guys. I think the themes of this image are to show how people's everyday lives are affected by other problems in their lives. How they live with problems in their community and families. I think the story in this image is to show how people in rural Kentucky may live while dealing with problems like crime or drugs etc. I think this image is interesting because it makes you wonder more about the background and intentions of this picture.

I do like this picture because the colors and the subjects look very appealing together. I also think this picture tells an important story for people who live in these situations. I think this photograph is successful.

Ben Hokenson

2/22/2022 07:58:49 am

In this photo, there are 3 white boys who appear to be in the countryside sitting on a Kubota ATV. One of the boys is holding a firearm towards the boy on the right. He may be leaning forward so it may not be pointing at him but it is still too close to tell. But they do not seem to care that there is a gun near the head of another man. The boys seem to total country “acts”.
The photo is pretty balanced out with the main subject being the boys and the orange truck. There is a bench in the background which adds a little bit of character to the photo. From what I would assume is that they are in West Virginia which is kind of a “hick” area of the country. I assume they are a bit poorer just based on their clothes. One of the kids has a face tattoo which means he was probably living in the hood to some extent.
To me, the image is of 3 men who have probably got into some legal troubles. They probably are not the best behaved and have seen some difficult things in their life. The boy on the right is smoking which means he probably does not totally care about his health. Their clothes are all torn up. They are also pretty dirty.
Overall the photo is pretty bad. I am not a fan at all. I would rate it overall a 5/10. The image is pretty good, but it is just not my taste. We have seen better photos.

Lawson Runge

2/22/2022 08:03:35 am

In this photo there are three white guys on a Kubota. One is holding a gun and the others have tattoos all over their bodies. In the background there is a big field surrounded by a forest. There is also a broken down swing behind the kids. They look like they are in their late teens to early twenties.

I honestly think this photo is a little weird. The boys look really young and they are made to look older in the photo. They are all dirty with mud and dirt all over their shirts.The Kubota that they are sitting on is all rusted out. I do not understand the meaning of this photo and what they are trying to show.

I do like the colors they picked for the photo. Almost everything in the photo is green except for the Kubota and the kids. This helps attract your eyes to the kids. They are also in the center grid of the photo which also helps gain your attention. The photographer also was smart in putting them close to the camera to draw your eyes.

However, even though I think this photo is a little weird, I still think the photographer did a good job. He put the main action in the center of the screen which was smart on his part. He also had really good lighting in his photo. He also did a good job at showing all the different things that are occurring during the photo. Overall though I think the image was weird but still good, so I would give it a 6/10.

Julia Daniec

2/23/2022 11:52:48 am

Clothing and shoes are dirty and used, do i like it? How is this image showing us life many people do not understand or lack knowledge in

Ekam Mehat

3/10/2022 11:20:23 pm

This photo by Rachael Banks displays three teenage boys. They are sitting on an orange ATV. The ATV is parked on what seems to be a field of grass. In the background there are some green trees and a table with a paint can hanging off of it. The boy on the right appears to be smoking something.

The overall mood of the picture is mysterious. This is because the middle boy is holding a gun while the boy on the right is smoking something. Some questions that this may raise is, why is one of the boys aiming a gun at the other one? Why are they sitting on an ATV in the middle of nowhere? Why is the boy on the right smoking?

This photo displays many features. The depth of field is very shallow because it only reaches up to the trees in the back. The boys are the subject of the photo. There is a lot of negative space being taken up around the ATV. The color is very vibrant, especially because of the orange ATV and the green trees in the back.

Overall, I would give this photo a 3/10. I don’t enjoy pictures that have a depressing feel to them. I also don’t like to be left wondering about unanswered questions. It displays many prominent problems in the United States today such as drug abuse and gun violence in the youth. Although this image shows deeper meaning, I would say that this is one of my least favorite photos throughout all the critical analysis.

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Period 1 - Critical Analysis No 7

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