Period 1 - Critical Analysis #3

1/5/2022

Today you will be writing about this image by artist Zora Murff, which is from his series titled Corrections. Your analysis must be 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.

Below is a project statement written by Murff about his body of work, Corrections:
From 2012 to 2015, I worked as a Tracker for Linn County Juvenile Detention and Diversion Services in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. As a Tracker, I provided services to youths who were convicted of crimes, adjudicated, and subsequently ordered to complete probation. Juveniles in my charge were asked to comply with services which may include: electronic monitoring, therapies, drug screening, and community service; it was my responsibility to have continual contact with them to ensure these expectations are met.

Tracking and other similar community-based services are being increasingly used as an alternative to detention facilities. These services, which allow juveniles to stay in their homes, show a higher rate of success than strict incarceration. Although community-based services are built to foster a collaborative relationship between juveniles and service providers, attaining the actualization of teamwork becomes problematic when juveniles feel that they have done nothing wrong, are victims of circumstance, or do not fully understand why they have committed a crime. The system has been put in place to provide rehabilitation, but it is far from being a straightforward process. Many influences outside of the youths' control such as education, socioeconomic status, and race all play a role in whether or not a youth reoffends - all of these factors possessing the propensity to lead them to extended periods of incarceration in the juvenile system or to involvement with the criminal justice system as an adult.

By reconsidering the role that I played in the lives of the kids I worked with, I began to acknowledge the burden that comes with tasking young men and women with continued complicity. My stance as a consequence kept our relationships in a state of flux ranging from stable to tenuous – a constant motion mirroring the discord that develops between the system's intentions and outcomes. Through employing ideas of anonymity, voyeurism, and introspection, Corrections is an examination of youth experience in the system, the role images play in defining someone who is deemed a criminal, and how the concepts of privacy and control may affect their future.

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

9 Comments

Priya Tewari-Pine

1/5/2022 06:17:25 am

This photo is very interesting. The first thing I noticed was the color of the track. I can see the individual grains of the track, but everything else in the background is unfocused. The color scheme is also kind of interesting, the hues are quite gray. The whole picture has an air of depression.

I also want to talk about the person in the photo. First of all, there’s an ankle monitor. I could assume that he committed a crime or something like that. He is also wearing socks and sandals on a track. This makes me think that he’s probably not running.

There are also a couple of triangles in the image. The first one is the track itself. His feet make up a couple others as well. And for the rule of thirds, he’s right smack in the middle of the photo. The goal post is in the upper right corner.

This photo raises a lot of questions. Why is he wearing sandals on a track? Why is he on a track? Why does he have an ankle monitor? I think it would be safe for me to say that the photo has a bit of mystery behind it.

Luigi Jajou

1/5/2022 06:25:29 am

A photo that shows aspiration while being incarcerated by life. That's what this photo here shows me. The photo displays a black man looking behind him at the goal post. Displaying his emotion of sadness as he aspired to become someone. The background is all a blur showing that this life path has sailed away.

This photo shows multiple feelings of being sorrowful and sad. He has a body language of regret for his actions as he looks back to passion for football. He may be feeling sorrow for his actions, possibly for himself committing it, sorrow for his family having to deal with this reality, or sadness to the family he’s broken apart. And this here is the sad reality he’s in.

What stood out to me was the bracelet on his wrist first. As when I first saw this photo I didn’t think much but of a failed game that they didn’t win for the state championship. Until I saw their ankle bracelet which made me feel sad for this person. As his hopes and dreams of making it were shattered by something he may have done. Now I saw the bigger picture of what happened to this individual. This photo makes me feel sad for him as his dreams were snatched away just like that.

The man's environment is in a poor area. You can see their highschool football field being a little nicer than the track area. The track area has lost its indicators on where you are. Along with this in the very back you can see some older looking houses that may be from the 1960’s. In his area he may get lots of rain as the trees that cover the houses are bright green.

Ben Hokenson

1/5/2022 06:25:48 am

In the photo for today’s critical analysis, I see a black man standing on a gravel track wearing all black clothes, white socks, sandals, and what appears to be an ankle bracelet thing on his ankle. He is standing on the track outside of the football field, which leads me to believe he is an athlete of some sort and has probably just finished up football practice. He also seems to be pretty strong as we can see the cuts of his bicep, tricep, and his calf muscles in his legs. There seem to be relatively nice houses in the background of the image which shows the level of poverty within the area. Also, he is looking over his shoulder and looking back as if he is trying to hide his face from the camera.
Everything in the image seems to be pretty evened out. The boy is in the dead center of the image balancing out the picture making it quite nice. Until you see the upright in the background and it sets the image off balance. This makes the viewer almost feel a little uncomfortable with the layout of the image and causes me to only look at the 2 things (person and uprights). The image is not really put together very well because the image seems to be unbalanced between the 2 subjects.
Within the photo, I think the main subject is the boy. Nothing else around him totally seems to be sticking out and in as much detail. With the Ankle bracelet on his leg, he obviously was in some sort of crime and has had a troubled childhood. He seems to be at a lower-income school because of the track that may not have the means to help pull him out of the crime he has gotten himself into. Then he is looking over his shoulder back at the goalpost because he is remembering the memories he had of playing football and now he can’t play anymore.
Finally, I would rate this image a 5/10. Definitely not my favorite image in the world, it is unbalanced which makes me a little uncomfortable. I do see the meaning that this image could possibly have behind it but overall definitely not the move for me.

Carol Marin

1/5/2022 06:28:13 am

The first thing we see is a man with his track uniform on a track field. He is a strong man because we can see the muscles in his arms. He is looking away from the camera and onward to the goalpost he is also wearing a GPS monitor on his ankle. It's using warm and cold colors. The lighting is pretty dim as we don't see much sunlight in the picture. Objects in the picture include a man who is strong and is probably practicing running around the track.

This picture is not as pleasing to look at for me just because the lighting is quite dim and it doesn't have as much sunlight and also does not have warm tones but it is pleasing to look at. The point of view is taken from someone (the photographer) watching the man. The focal point in this image is the man which is the first thing we see in the picture. He is using the rule of thirds with the man and also the goalpost. It has a narrow depth of field because the background is blurry and it focuses more on the man.

The theme here is probably sports because of the track field and his attire. Yes, there is a story in the image we can see a GPS tracker on his ankle which makes us think he is someone who is on probation. This reminds me of running around the field in my old school with cold weather I don't know why but the colors make it seems like the weather is cold. This image is not interesting to me it is quite bland but it does give us ideas to make a story about what's going on in the image for example the GPS tracker, him looking to the goalpost in the distance, etc. This does not question my beliefs.

I don't like the photograph honestly I think it is boring and is not interesting. I can make a story about this photograph but it's not a photo that I like. The colors for me are way too dim and I like more bright colors not too bright but warmer tones. I think if there was sunlight in the picture it would have been more interesting. I think this photograph is successful because it follows the rule of thirds, it has a focal point, color, etc.

Carolina

1/5/2022 06:43:48 am

The image is of a boy maybe around 16 years old, he is standing in a football field staring at the goal post. The colors shown in this picture are mostly all dark except for the small amount of light at the top. I think that the colors shown in this picture give it a good feel for what the photographer is trying to show. The lighting looks very natural. At first glance you would think not a lot is happening in this picture but once you look at the details there is so much more to it. There are houses in the background which means that the football field might not be in a school. The football field might be in a park of the community where the boy lives. It is probably used by the Juvenile Detention center to perform some sort of service.

I think this photo is pleasing to the eye because everything looks like it should be there, it goes together. The rule of thirds is being used because the head of the boy and the goal post create a line at the top or connect. The point of view that this picture is being taken is very straight forward. It looks very natural. It looks as if the photographer just walked up to him and took the picture. A narrow depth of field is being used in this picture; the only thing that is focused is the subject. The focal point ,the boy, is not really being framed by anything. The photo is mostly symmetrical except for the goal post. I think the subject fills up the perfect amount of space, that space is needed to make assumptions about the setting of the picture and the boy.

The themes that the photographer is trying to show can be showing how young people who get into trouble are still kids. The photographer is trying to remind how he is still a normal teenage boy. It doesn't mean that what the people at the detention center do is okay but to see the whole picture of that person's life. I think the artist's intention was to show other kids how these people are no different than them and to try to remove the stigma that is often put on people that go to prison. I think this photo can make you question your thoughts. This image made me realize how important it is to give criminals the opportunity to redeem themselves by doing things like community service. The picture is definitely interesting and has a very interesting backstory to it.

Overall it is like this picture, I like that this photographer is trying to show the public what these people do when they are in rehabilitation. I think this photograph is very successful to show the public people in these programs. What this artist is doing can be very influential in showing young people how these people still are teenagers.

Sofia Pinto

1/5/2022 06:54:05 am

This image depicts a teenage boy who is on probation for committing a crime. This is why he is wearing an ankle monitor. The boy seems to be dressed in all black, which could be used to symbolize the boy's dark past. He is staring at a goal post, which means his face is not shown. This is a common pattern in Zora Murff’s series called Corrections. This is because Murf is trying to prove that one shouldn’t be judged by their looks in order to understand if a person is good or bad. Murr uses bright sunlight to emphasize this teenage boy. She also uses a track around a football field to highlight that this boy can still be part of a community amidst his errors. He can still go to school and make friends amidst his rough beginnings. Behind the goal post are trees and little houses. Since it is very hard to see, this adds to the tension of the image.
This image is pleasing to look at because the image radiates emotion. The emotions I feel by looking at the image are remorse and shame. Although, the boy seems to want a new start in order to diminish the shame. This image uses the rule of thirds and a narrow depth of field. Even though the boy is centered, the rule of thirds is seen between the boy and the goal post. The boy’s head creates a line that connects to the top of the goal post. There is more negative than positive space in this image, which is also why I think it is more pleasing to look at. As soon as you look at the image, your eye goes directly towards the boy and then the goal post. The boy would be the positive space while everything else would be the negative space.
This image reminds me of a show called The Fosters. In the show, this teenage girl named Callie had just come out of juvie. She, along with her brother, were constantly going from one foster home to another. When she finally found her forever home, her family really thought she was an issue because she had just been to juvie. Although, all she needed was a sense of belonging and love to be comfortable with starting over again. This image emphasizes the theme of compassion and empathy. We should never judge a book by its cover because we all make mistakes. Some mistakes are way more serious than others, but in the end, we all have the opportunity to correct those mistakes by forming better habits and actions. It’s not just adults that commit these serious mistakes, but kids too. This image is beautiful because of the message and story it tells.
I really like this image because it is successful at unraveling a theme that is very pertinent to the ideals of society today. Society is very quick to judge, and this image tells us otherwise. I think it is a great reminder that we are all equal. We all deserve to be treated with kindness, love, and respect no matter our background. There is always room for improvement, but oftentimes, people commit crimes because they feel like they don’t belong. The photographer did a great job of showing us how we should view people as equals in this challenging world.

Grayson

1/5/2022 02:59:11 pm

This image by Zora Murff shows a teenager standing on a track, looking back towards the goal post. On his right leg he is wearing a tracking ankle bracelet. Everything that he is wearing is black except for his white socks and wrist band. The white, overcast sky prevents rigid shadows from being cast onto the faded red surface of the track. The image uses undersaturated and drab colors to present the viewer with the bleak reality of the situation.
The photograph is taken at a distance from the boy, showing his entire stance, with plenty of excess room to all sides. The gap between the photographer and the subject alienates us from the situation, making us feel like observers in the situation. The straight lines of the track form two major triangles in the picture, piercing though the bottom half of the image. The green and red surfaces are distinctly separated at the bottom with clumps of dead grass. The narrow depth of field gives us a hazy view. There are fuzzy and impermanent houses in the back, followed by trees and grass with varying levels of detail, before the subject is pulled into focus, standing out as a stark contrast to the background. The soft image is shattered in front with the boy standing in the middle, while the little red shards of detail are underneath his feet.
As Zora Murff states, he worked as a tracker for a Juvenile Detention service. This image shows us a moment which would have passed unknowingly, detached from our lives. This is an image that is being lived by around 48,000 children each day. The teenager standing here is on probation, and that is all that the image tells us at face value. The image reminds me of nothing specific, but a feeling of distance and quiet thinking.
I quite like the image, especially its form and the way that the triangles slice through it. The image draws your eyes to the center, focusing on the teenager and his liminal existence. I am not quite sure of the photographer's goals, but I believe that he wanted to show what he saw while working at a correctional facility, he wanted to give us a tiny glimpse into the lives of many thousands of children. Of course, the true meaning of the photo may only be revealed through experiencing what these children have. There might not be one single answer to its purpose, the picture could instead act as a mirror, where our thoughts and experiences directly influence what we get out of the picture.

Ekam Mehat

1/5/2022 08:17:44 pm

This photo by Zora Murff depicts an African-American teenager standing on a track field. He is wearing a black shirt, black shorts, and some black slippers. He also appears to be wearing an ankle monitor. This would allude to the audience that he has recently gotten into some sort of trouble and is on probation for that. The fact that the photographer used to be a juvenile detention tracker can confirm this theory.

The young boy is looking back past the uprights on the football field. This could possibly mean that he used to play football before getting in trouble. He probably had a bright future ahead of him but one bad decision can change that all. Maybe he still has a chance to pursue his dreams in football after he gets out of juvenile detention. The audience will never know.

The background is not in focus and is very blurry while the kid is in focus. This means that the photographer used a low aperture setting. Also, the rule of thirds is being displayed here. This is because the kid is in the center and is the subject of the picture. We also see a high texture because you can see all of the little grains on the track.

Personally, I think this is a good picture. It has a sort of depressing feel to it which I usually don’t like. However, I do like how the photographer doesn’t let the audience see what the boy is looking at next to the uprights. This lets the viewers guess for themselves. I also like how we don’t see the boy’s face which causes the audience not to know how he’s feeling, causing the audience to be curious.

julia daniec

1/13/2022 04:59:57 pm

This image tells a story that expands and evolves the closer we look into the image. The lines depicted by the difference in the track, grass, trees, and sky create sections within the image. I like to observe the simplicity of the image itself when not looking at the story or representation. I like the colors within the image, the young man in all black grounds himself into the ground and makes him appear larger. The image does not strike me as a life altering piece of art and honestly looks like any person with access to a camera could create this same level of image.

The young man in the image is looking at an unfocused football field behind him, possibly meaning that he is longing to play football but cannot. When we look closely at the young man we see he might still be in high school but he also has an ankle monitor on probably because of some type of arrest. Looking back into the young man's body language, he looks like he's trapped and not allowed to play on the field possibly as a result of the sentencing he faced. The way his shoulders and legs are pointing in one direction but his head is looking behind his shoulder could symbolize his longing for something metaphorically behind him. I thought I really liked this image but I noticed I grew to like it more once I knew the backstory of the photographer.

The photographer had to deal with tragic stories possibly like abuse making him realize the position he took in these kids' lives. His toned muscles show that he possibly played football and could have been used as his escape from whatever crime(s) he commited. On his shirt I noticed some design that looks alot like chain link on a fence similar to the ones put on top of jail or juvie fencing. The clothes and specifically his socks and shoes he's wearing seem like very basic clothing like that given out in jibvie or a foster home further providing us with background information. The young man does in fact have a green bracelet on but it does not seem to tie into the story in any way but it does add a piece of color to his outfit.

When reading the photographer's excerpt we find there is a deeper meaning that dates back to the photographer's previous job as a tracker in Juvenile Detention facilities. The use of these tracker jobs helps alleviate the amount of teenagers in Juvenile Detention facilities by keeping them at home with tracking devices and off drugs with drug tests. This keeps the dangers in detention to a low because there's less people in enclosed spaces near each other. This can make it easier for teens struggling to get help whether in the form of counseling, rehab, recovering from abuse or pressure, or to get away from stressful situations. Also the information gained from trackers who grow close to the “inmates” could possibly help out with other situations.

Period 1 - Critical Analysis #3

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