Period 1 -- Critical Analysis #21

4/27/2017

For your final critical analysis, you will be writing about a photograph made by artist Gregory Crewdson.

Write 5 paragraphs, 5 sentences minimum per paragraph. Remember, refer to your "How to See" handout for analyzing a photograph--

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

Read this short biography for Crewdson before you write:

Gregory Crewdson is an American photographer best known for staging cinematic scenes of suburbia to dramatic effect. His surreal images are often melancholic or disturbing, offering ambiguous narrative suggestions and blurring the boundaries between fiction and reality, thanks to the artist’s painstaking preparation of elaborate sets, lighting, and cast. “My pictures are about a search for a moment—a perfect moment,” Crewdson has explained. Born on September 26, 1962 in Brooklyn, NY, the artist works with large production teams to scout and shoot his images. His work has been exhibited widely, notably including solo exhibitions at Gagosian Gallery in New York, the San Diego Museum of Art, and White Cube in London, among many others. A 1988 graduate of the Yale School of Art, he has served on its faculty since 1993 and is currently the director of its graduate studies in photography. The artist lives and works in New York, NY.

William OLiver

4/27/2017 06:20:11 am

This photograph by Gregory Crewdson has a lot going on in it. There is an old woman laying on the floor as if she fell or is injured. The background has a lot going on such as the pictures and all the furniture. The light is shining through the window and it puts a bright spot on the woman. There is furniture all over the room and it is decorated as if an older person lives there. It is a dark photograph with the brown colors, yet it is also bright in places.

The exposure seem to be correct for this environment. The pixelation and color both seem adequate. This photograph is not using the rule of thirds, but instead is focused on the woman on the floor. The chair on the left side of the photograph also seems to grab your eye. The only places that are very pain and dark are the left and right bottom corners. There is a lot going on with the photograph and it does not look very real the way the lights shine.

This image is surreal and is pretty dark. We do not know what is going on and Crewdson lets us find that out ourselves. I think multiple stories can be made from this, such as the woman feel, or had a heat attack or even was injured by someone. The light does not look real, and the woman does not seem to be real either. She seems to have been placed there when I look at the elbow and the way she sits on the brown carpet. This photograph is very interesting because it does not have a definite story and so we get to imagine what happened ourselves.

I do not like this photograph because I do not enjoy how fake this photograph looks. The background and surroundings look real, but the lighting and the woman do not. The way the light hits her and there is not shadow makes me wonder what is happening. I do think this photograph is successful because it is what the photographer was aiming for. He says that he wants the person look at the photograph to guess what and that is what i am doing. I do not like this photograph, but i do think it is successful.

Alexis Parsons

4/27/2017 06:24:19 am

in this photo there is an older aged women laying down on the floor. the woman is wearing a light blue turtle neck long sleeved shirt. her pants are royal blue cropped pants and her shoes are brown slip on shoes. her hair is bleach blonde and short. She has a green and white bracelet on her left wrist.

the house looks like a wooden cabin. there are three chairs in each of the corners in the photo. the curtains are white with red and purple roses on them. one of the windows are open and one is closed.there is a lamp in the left corner of the photo that is casting shadows across the room.

This photographer case to take this photo from a low perspective to line himself up with the older ladies face. everything is in focus so he used a smaller aperture. He probably had slower shutter speed because there isn't much light in the room. the photographers name its Gregory Crewdson. he caught every detail in the image.

The floor consists of all carpet. in front of the lady there is a spot where the carpet changed texture. this causes it to look like its a door. the lady is laying infant of this "door" looking at it in a sad way. her facial expression is sad mixed with serious. the light thats cast on her face makes her look very thin.

The house mainly consists of shades or browns. there is a little bit of color in the background which is white and red roses. since the lady is wearing blue she really pops out in the photo. the photographer also used the chairs to direct your eyes t her.

Grant kahl

4/27/2017 06:26:08 am

in this image there is a woman lying on the ground in a suburban house. the room appears to be old with leather armchairs mown for older fashion. along with this the room has flowered curtains and wooden walls which continue to add to the rustic feel. the setting feels slightly setup with the multiple flowers, the images on the dresser facing the camera, and the lighting.

the image is properly lit with no overexposed parts or underexposed. However, the angle of the lighting doesn’t align well with the setting. first the lighting is coming into the room like a wall flight unlike a stream from a light bulb or a window. this makes part of the image of a thing of white. also the light is white which isn’t a normal color for a antique house. due to this the setting is further drawn away from a realistic setting.

in the article we read in class it says that he treats a urban tension but in this photo i am not feeling it. the woman is casually chilling on the floor.i see more drama in a life alert chimerical. however the image is well planned and shot. the background and the orientation of the rope makes the image appear to be pleasing.

the image draws the user in by using lines. the furniture and the dresser create the imaginary lines which make the eyes focus not he woman. however i think the lines could have been more angled since my eyes drift to the coffee table every time. the image isn’t symmetrical since it has a difference between the two sides. even though the subject isn’t filling the entire space the background objects creates interesting view throughout

overall i dislike this image. the background looks fake and set. the lighting looks natural and ill-fitting for the setting. finally the woman doesn’t look like she is any distress. she is jus lying on the floor with a look of thought. however, the setup required for an image like this is commendable but it could have done better to make this a realistic photo.

Simon Bruhn

4/27/2017 06:26:44 am

In the image by Gregory Crewdson there is an older woman laying on the floor of an older house. The image uses heavy use of the color brown with a brown carpet, wooden walls, and leather chairs. These colors serve to darken the image overall. The lighting is a studio setup which we can see due to the mystery lighting source lighting up her face. The image is cluttered with the kinds of images you would expect to find in an older persons home.

The image is correctly exposed. It is, however, very warm in terms of the color balance. I personally am not a fan of this, as it seems overly warm given what this would normally look like. The image is in focus, but it does use a deeper depth of field in order to see the entire room. There is also no motion blur, as the image is taken of very still objects.

The composition of the image is good. They did a good job at set dressing, and it looks true to life. The rule of thirds does not seem to be being followed, at least not strictly, and there are not very many leading lines. The point of view seems to be about waist height of a standing up person. The focal point is the woman, and she is featured prominently using lighting, but she is not really framed by much.

The image is not strictly symmetric, but some objects are mirrored. Chairs are towards the front on both sides of the image, for example, and the woman is in the center. The image does also not have very much negative space. There is a small amount towards the bottom of the image, but other than that there is typically an object in what would otherwise be negative space. The image crops off some of the objects like curtains and the chair on the left side.

I do not really like or dislike the image. I think it is a good photograph, with good technical skills uses to take it. It terms of technical understanding of photography, it displays a lot of skill. However, the idea itself is not that strong. It is too similar to the whole “I’ve fallen and I can’t get up” ads for me to take it that seriously.

Raven

4/27/2017 06:29:02 am

This photo by Gregory Crewdson is of an old lady laying on the carpeted floor of a house. The colors in this photo are mainly browns, the old lady is wearing blue. Her color being different from the rest of the room makes her sick out. The photo has sunlight and shadows. The sunlight is from the windows on the left, the blinds on the window create lines with the light.

In this photo the old lady on the floor if laying in front of a part on the carpet that looks like it was cut out and placed back to hide something. The photo has good exposer. It is in focus. The whites are white. There are a lot of objects in the room, chairs, flowers, pictures, curtains, vacuum cleaner.

The old lady, and the cut out carpet are the focal points of the photo. She is framed by the chairs and the cut out carpet. The carpet cut out is a lighter shade then the rest of the carpet, this directs in eyes to it. The image is pleasing to look at, every thing works together.

The theme I see in this image is mystery and depression. I see this through the old lady face, she looks sad. Mystery because we don’t know what the carpet is covering. Gregory Crewdson makes surreal images offering ambiguous narrative suggestions. I defiantly see that in this photo. I see three things happing in the photo; the old lady is just looking at the carpet cut out, she is about to uncover it, and the old lady just covered up what ever she is hiding.

I like this photo. Photos like this, mystery and depression are photos I like, they can show so much emotion or hide all emotion. This photo was successful. I like how you really can’t tell how the lady is feeling or what she is hiding. For me it lets my mind run wild making up sorts for the photo.

Julian Gauntlett link

4/27/2017 06:32:01 am

This image is of a elderly lady which looks like her legs has given out or her heart is having problems. The colors are vivid and pop out at you and the lighting is dark shadows. There is a lot of shown objects in the living room. It seems like they are in a wooden cabin and the living room has pictures, mirrors, and even flowers and decorations covering the whole thing. It is seriously decoration nicely and Gregory made this scene amazing. The thing that is happening in this photo is that this lady that looks over 40 years old has fallen down and now it looks like she's struggling to crawl her way to the phone I'm guessing or for safety.

The image is in good exposition and it is in focus. The color is correct and there is no pixilation, very adequate resolution. It is not underexposed or overexposed it has a good composition.

The composition functions quite well and it is very pleasing to look at in my very own opinion. The rule of thirds is not being used in this one. The point of view is from where she is crawling to the lines in the carpet and some of the furniture direct your eyes to her. The image is balanced well and the subject does not fill the frame but the background plays a roll in it as well. The edge of the frame is just the rest of the living room as I know it. The positive space is the lady and the negative space is the living room around her.

The theme behind this image is that every lady or even man over the age of 50 should be careful of how they position themselves and push themselves. This artist is known for his amazing scenes and this one to me is outstanding. It is so creative is so many different ways. This image reminds be of those ads on tv which show the lady dropping on the ground and then clicking the button and the police come right away. The image is very interesting and very eye taking to the viewer.

I really like this photo because of how creative the artist is with the scene and the backgrounds. The photograph is very successful because of how the composition was functioned and how greatly he used the lady to give off themes and ideas. It really makes you think.

Preslee Vanlandingham link

4/27/2017 06:35:41 am

This image is of an elder woman laying on the floor of her own living room. The room is dark rich colors like maroon and different shades of brown. The woman is wearing blue, contrasting the background. The light is dim which accents the colors. The woman seems to be hurt because there is not many explanations for her to be laying on the floor despite her calm but sad expression.
Its underexposed but it helps the image to be darker. The woman is in focus while the rest is blurred. The color is correct despite the dusty overlay the image has. It has resolution but the woman looks over edited. Its pleasing to look at because of the arrangement.
The woman is the focus but doesn't take up all the frame but is still the first thing the viewer looks at. The walls and corner of the room provide the lines directing to her. The rule of thirds is not being used. The point of view is a lower perspective as if someone walked in and saw what was happening. The photographer took it from a lower angle.
The focal point is the woman and is framed by her living room. The image is asymmetrical because of the placement of the two chairs. The subject does not fill the frame and the extra space is the background which contributes to the image. The edge of the frame cuts off the rest of the house.The positive space is the woman and the negative is the background.
The woman on the floor is concerning because thoughts of her being hurt is obvious. Her calm and sad expression is confusing because theres no indication of pain. It looks like she's tired of whatever is happening to her and a look of acceptance towards it. The image is also mysterious because the viewer doesn't have a clear understanding of the story and has to interpret most of it. This image is successful compositionally and capturing the idea of mystery.

Kyle Meister

4/27/2017 06:41:52 am

The image is of a elder lady laying on the floor. She looks to be observing a part of the carpet. Her expression on her face shows seriousness and negativity. The lady does not look to be in a good mood. The lady like i said above is starring at a part of the carpet that looks indented probably due to a piece of furniture that once might have once been there.

The background of this image is most likely in the elderly women living room due to the fact that there are chairs, a fire place, some paintings ext. The image is not a bright photo, but rather uses not such much light to reflect the story of the image. The expression of her face reflects the negative, dark light in the photo. The light is underexposed in the background. The light from the window and the light from the lamp are the main sources of light in the image. The main focus of the image is most definitely the women. Most of the light is shinning on the women. The lamp above her is shinning down leaving her the most exposed piece of the image.

In the image the coloring looks to be correct. The image looks to be shot at a little higher angle then the lady laying down. The image is not framed. The only thing i take from this that could be an example of the direction of lines is the room and how it is faced. The walls on both sides of the image connect at a deeper part of the image in the background. Which indefinitely leads your eyes to the center of the image where the elderly lady is lying. The focus point or the subject does not fill the entire frame. Some negative parts of the image are around the edges near the background. The positive spaces are the focus point and the sources of light, the window and the lamp.

In this image their is a story to be told but I'm not sure my story is the right one. To me what my view or perspective is of this image is loss. I believe that the indention in the carpet represented a memory or a special item to her that had been taken away. Anything could have made that indention but with the negative light and the negative look on her face i believe she is missing something that meant something.

Gregory Crewdson the artist of this image. He uses the themes of staging cinematic scenes of suburbia to dramatic effect. His images are sometimes disturbing. His intentions were to offer ambiguous narrative suggestions and blurring the boundaries between fiction and reality. This does somewhat remind me of something i once had and admired but lost. I like this image. Its a different theme and a little more outgoing of an image. The theme does emphasize the story. To me the image is successful due the fact that the image tells a story. The image is setup differently and in a way mystic.

Patrick Behrens link

4/27/2017 09:33:09 am

Gregory Crewdson’s image radiates overwhelming feelings of nostalgia. The shag carpet and wood paneled walls fully encapture the ideal house in the 1960s. This notion of “what was” ruminates throughout the image. The old vacuum cleaner sitting in the background provides a subtle nod to the consumerist culture that grew throughout the 1960s and continued to evolve into modern society. The wood paneled wall and shag carpet introduce the idea that what was whilom popular no longer holds the same level of status in society.
These ideas are funneled through the aging woman lying on the carpet. This woman, donned in her American jeans (another subtle hint to the 1960s era), lies fixated on a sole patch of carpet. This carpet, arguably a rug, matched the rest of the carpet, yet stands out (due mainly to its evident beveled edges and elevated nature). This patch of carpet suggests that this woman had to cover something up, or re-patch her carpet at the very least. This motif of hiding along with the solemn look on the woman’s face proposes that the woman might be hiding feelings about the past, or rather exists solely in the past, disregarding the present in its entirety.
In conjunction with lying haphazardly throughout the image, the remnants of the past and objects in the living room overflow the edges of the image. This overflow of articles creates a bridge between reality and the interior of the woman’s mind. The cluttered atmosphere is a direct parallel with the woman’s seemingly troubled and perhaps disorderly mind. The pure chaos that ensues from things overcrowding out of the frame of the image steals focus from the subject, allowing for the woman to be forgotten, similar to the things of old. This puts forth another conflict for the woman to struggle with.
Struggle and general chaos exude from the image. The image stands as a metaphor or more likely a symbol for the woman’s brain. She concerned herself with solely the past and subsequently found herself trapped inside a hellish chaotic nightmare. The patch of carpet on the already established carpet reveals the lack of ability to communicate on the woman’s part. She trapped this secret deep inside of her and doesn’t release it to anyone. This completes the cyclical nature of her mindset: Creating more and more stress and disarray without having an outlet to release.
Upon first glance, I found this image less than appealing (as with most). Yet, as I dug into the core of the image by doing some research, it became quickly evident how beautiful it truly is. The image itself does display a cinematic like scene, but that’s not what’s magnificent about it. Rather, the message tucked deep inside tells magnitudes of the artist’s unadulterated genius. The goal of a photograph varies from photographer to photographer. Yet, this artist’s goal, clearly to display a message, was indefinitely met and exceeded. This photo creates an amazing story from a few things and made itself into a wonderful amazing image.

Ethan Austin link

4/27/2017 09:53:08 pm

This image is by photographer Gregory Crewdson. This image shows an old woman lying or crawling rather on the floor. She seems to be in an older housed judging by the old style furniture and wallpaper. She is crawling on the floor in a rather dimly lit room with a few rays of light peeking through the blinds.

The image is correctly exposed for the most part. Id say that the image is a little bit dark but that may just be the tone the photographer was trying to achieve. The image is in focus entirely. The image also has very high resolution resulting in little to no pixelation.

The woman is centered in the photograph for the most part. The image, although not recognizable at first, uses lines very well. The lines from the flooring, the desk, the furniture, and the rays of light all draw your attention to the center of the photograph where the woman is crawling.

This image is very confusing to me. At first it is slightly off-putting because i saw an old woman crawling helplessly on the floor like in a Life-Alert TV commercial. Then when looking at her facial expression she doesnt have any emotion it seems. This photograph primarily makes you think more than anything else.

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Period 1 -- Critical Analysis #21

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