Period 3 -- Critical Analysis #16

3/4/2019

Today you will be writing about a photograph by artist Lori Nix. This image is from her series titled The City.

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

Before you write, read the artist statement:

I consider myself a faux-landscape photographer. I build meticulously detailed model environments and then photograph the results. Through the photographic process, the fictional scene is transformed into a surreal space, where scale, perspective, and the document of the photograph create a tension between the material reality of the scene and the impossibility of the depicted narrative. In this space, between evidence and plot, the imagination of the viewer is unlocked, engaged, and provoked. I want my scenes to convey rich, complex, detailed, and, ultimately, open-ended narratives.

Several common themes prevail throughout my work: the constructed photograph, the landscape in turmoil, and danger married to humor. I present these elements as the raw materials of stories with messages, but without conclusions.

The photographs I create do not reflect the tradition of the grand idyllic landscape. Rather than showing the beautiful or heroic vista, I look to the darker corners of life. I am interested in the forces of entropy, in the ruins left in the wake of human pretense of grandeur. My scenes are usually devoid of people, and this emptiness becomes an important element. In this way, the impact of civilization is shown by what remains in the absence of humans. Evidence of humans may still be visible, but the cause for their absence is left unclear, allowing the viewer to complete the narrative.

In my current series The City, I focus on the ruins of urban landscapes. I have chosen the spaces that celebrate modern culture, knowledge, and innovation: the theater, the museum, and the library. Here the monuments of civilization and material culture are abandoned, in a state of decay and ruin, with natural elements such as plants, insects, and animals beginning to repopulate the spaces. This idea of paradise lost, or the natural world reclaiming itself, becomes more forceful as we face greater environmental challenges in the world around us.

Sofia Galindo

3/4/2019 07:30:13 am

Lori Nix’s photograph is of a wrecked and dark looking classroom. There are blue pupils and in front of them a teacher's desk and chalkboard. The chalkboard is covered up by what looks to be a diagram of something. The tiled floor is very messy with debris covering it. To the right, there are shelves on the wall, but they are not lined with books or class materials. Skeleton heads are mostly stored on the shelves and jars of what looks to be liquids. The windows are cracked, dirty, and broken, just like the walls. The colors are eerie and dusty looking, adding to the post-apocalyptic theme. The only sunlight is coming from the windows and the rest of the classroom is very dark and shadowy.

This image is pleasing to look at because it’s creepy, however, it is appealing to the eye. I find the dust, shadowy light in the image very interesting because it makes the blue of the pupils and green of the chalkboard stand out more. The rule of thirds is not being used because there are objects all over the room. The focal point of this image is the green chalkboard because it is in the center of the wall and the color attracts your eye to it. The image is asymmetrical because nothing is in order or symmetrical.

Lori Nix creates detailed model environments to then photograph. Her images look at the dark side of life, explaining the dark colors and shadows of the image. Her scenes usually do not include humans because the emptiness of life is an important factor in her work. She shows the impact of civilization through the remains of human civilization. This photo is in her collection The City, which focuses on the ruins of urban areas. The buildings are always in a state of decay, and she include plants, insects, and animals beginning to repopulate the area.

I really like this photo because of the dark and mysterious quality portrayed in it. I also like the theme and idea Nix is creating of a post-apocalyptic world with the remains of human civilization. The colors in the image really attract my eyes because they are very vivid compared to the dusty browns and beiges of the walls and shelves. I like experiencing what Vix thinks a civilization without humans would look like and what would happen to the everyday building and environments we go to.

Hasan Ehsan

3/4/2019 07:30:30 am

In this image by Lori Nix, a scene of some kind of urban building is depicted. It appears to be a classroom or a museum or a library; it’s something that represents knowledge and learning from previous generations. It’s using a variety of bright colors to identify the artifacts, and it uses gray and worn out shades for all the other dilapidated objects. The lighting is all natural light coming from the windows (though, this is a model, so that may not be entirely true. There’s absolutely no humans, which the author chose to do on purpose, and all we see are eccentric objects like skulls and organs as well as some chairs.

I wouldn’t say that the image is pleasing to look at because of the undertones and mood that it incites. The rule of thirds is not being used as there is no one focal point that’s off-center. There are plenty of lines that are used within the cabinets, tiles, windows, and the building itself. Nothing is purposely cut off from the frame, and the image fills the entire space rather symmetrically, except for the windows. A deep depth of field is being used as the entire image is in focus.

The story in this image, based on the author’s note, is whatever the reader interprets from the image. There’s no specific conclusion the author forces her audience to come to. Nix does, however, leave some clues to lead us in the general direction of thinking about environmental change. This image could be seen as the urban walls of the library/classroom/museum being expunged by the creeping sunlight and mold. It can be interpreted as mother nature coming back to take what was rightfully hers. Even though the human race has attained such a vast amount of knowledge, we will never be able to exert full control on nature, and our careless actions will pay the ultimate price in the near future.

I really like this image. It successfully attains the silver lining between keep the audience in the dark and giving the audience the cut-and-dry interpretation. It elicits a sentimental, serious, and melancholy atmosphere when viewed, and it gets the reader to truly think about who’s really in charge of this natural world. I’m intrigued by the fact that the artist chose to use objects of science, specifically anatomy. The skulls and the stomach and the eyes show the pinnacle of modern human achievement and research; it is still no match for the overwhelming influence of mother nature, however.

Matthew Sutherland

3/4/2019 07:32:35 am

The image is of a bunch of dusty chairs sitting in an old broken down science classroom. The windows are broken, there are fragments of objects lying on the ground, and the walls have water stains. There are models of organs and skeletons on shelves on the walls of the room. There is a diagram of an eye covering the blackboard. There are two dusty lamps hanging down from the ceiling. The image is using a lot of blues, browns, and whites. The lighting is bright sunlight as well as dark shadows.

The image is pleasing to look at. The rule of thirds is not being used. The point of view is from the photographer. The picture has a deep depth of field. The focal point of the image is the blackboard with the diagram of the eye over it. There are lines of shelves, lines on the floor, and lines of chairs that all point toward the diagram of they eye. The image is asymmetrical.

The theme of the image is an apocalyptic scene. It depicts a world where humans are gone and the natural world is taking back over. The image has dark themes. The emptiness of it adds to the darkness and apocalypticism. I think the idea behind the image is super interesting.

I like the image. I like how it looks with the empty and abandoned classroom. I also like the dark theme of the image very much. I think the photograph was successful. It clearly portrayed its story of an apocalyptic world after mankind has ended.

Sam Meldner

3/4/2019 07:33:26 am

In this image, one of the first things that our eyes are drawn to is the front board. It seems to be crooked and messy like many other things within the room. The walls are cracked and discolored while there are also random boards on the floor. The shelves on the other side of the room are broken and not holding up any of the boards. Therefore, all of the boards begin to just fall off.

In this image, there is a specific “center” of the image. Just above the board in front of the classroom, there is a light. It is the most brightened part of the image. While the rest of the image seems to be in a darker space. I think that the artist wants us to pay attention specifically to where the light is.

The image looks like it is using shallow depth of field because the very important parts of the image are highlighted and presented more openly to the audience. I think the shutter speed used must not have been very high because nothing seems to be moving. The exposure settings looked like they are constantly changing because of the different shadows. Based on the material on the teacher’s desk. I guess that it is most likely the classroom of a science class. There are brain and body molds.

In my opinion, looking at this image makes me wonder if the artist has an underlying meaning to her work. I wonder if she is describing the way that education has changed now and how it has been getting worse. I think that it is possible for her to also be hitting at the importance of government funding in our public school because, without it, we have classrooms that end up looking like this. Which, is a very important cause.

I really like this image because it allows the audience to come up with many different scenarios about the meaning. I also like this image because it forces the audience to think more critically. The message that I believe that the artist wants us to think about is very crucial to the growth of our society. Finally, I enjoy this art because the color schemes are very precise and pleasing to the eye. It draws the audience in.

Henry Cool link

3/4/2019 07:33:45 am

In this image by Lori Nix she shows a destroyed, sorrowful science classroom. The walls and cieling seem to have water damage while, desks are destroy, but many things still seem pretty intact. The main color this image is using is a light tan in order to bring out the small bright colors in the photos. The lighting of the image is nice sky light coming from the windows which is problably mid day. The shadows that are involvd in the image are at the foreground of the image adn in the corners of the room, this brings out the center allowing the viewer to see the bright colors and really allows her to show that so call “emptyness.”

The composition of the image is very nice to look at, and has everything blend together and give off a post apoclyptic vibe. The rule of thirds is not being used because I believe the center or focal point of the imag is the desk or the graph behind it. The point of view is the photographers’s which allows the viewer to imagine that they are walking through the abandoned classroom. Instead of taking the picture straight on the photographer decided to move a little to the side, and this is problably because the lighting looked nicer and really made the subject pop. The edge of the frame the wall, cieling, and floor with shadows over them again allowing the center to get more focus.

The idea of this image is to make a world that is post-apocalypse showing the damage, destructiveness, and emptyness. There is kind of a story being told which is about the world after destruction and how it would effect stuff around us. The artist made this image to portray a destroyed world. Her intention was to show the emptyness in this type of world allowing people to understand how it would feel. I believe the image is very beuatiful and is able to tell the viewer what the photographer is feeling.

I really like this image. I like it becuase it opens the door to so much possibility in this project, and it is very beuatifuly constructed. The image is very successful. It is successful because the hotographer is able to get off her point and give the viewer a real piece of art. I think overall this image was great, and the idea was also great.

Clara Blume

3/4/2019 07:34:33 am

This image is very busy. It appears to be a classroom with broken, dirty desks, a crooked poster covering the blackboard, and shelves on the back and right wall full of small items such as human anatomy models, skulls, and books.There are two windows on the left wall and three windows above the blackboard on the back wall. The floor and the desks are very dusty and the cabinets on the right broken shelves and drawers. The ceiling is cracked and water-stained, and the walls are streaked with water marks. The colors of the cabinets, desks, floor, and walls are muted which makes the colors of the items on the walls stand out. The lighting looks natural, coming from the windows.

I think this photo is pleasing to look at, despite the post-apocalypse theme. The rule of thirds is not being used, the classroom is centered in the frame. The photographer appears to have taken the photo from the doorway looking in on the room. The depth of field is deep. The desks in the foreground are in focus, as well as the blackboard and the shelves in the back. The image is well framed by the walls of the classroom. The lines where the walls meet direct your eyes to the back of the room.

The image is mostly balanced. The wall on the left is bare except for some orange marks by the windows while the left wall is full of classroom supplies. I think the focal point is the poster and the would-be teacher’s desk in the back of the room. It is framed by the cabinets on the back wall and the arrangement of the chairs facing the desk. The subject fills the frame very well. The frame cuts off the very front part of the classroom, by where the door would be. It also cuts off the cabinet and shelves on the right wall.

The theme of this photo is post-apocalypse. I think the story is meant to show life pre-apocalypse and the lack of life after, without humanity. The artist’s intention was to show how the world would be without people in it. How our buildings and school would look if we never used them. The picture kind of looks to me like something out of a horror movie. I think this image challenges the belief of what will happen once the end of humanity comes.

I think this image is very interesting because of the artist’s take on the apocalypse. I really like this photo because of the colors and the use of space as well as the added elements. I like that the light coming from the window is light when post-apocalyptic scenarios seem to always be dark and dreary. I wonder how hard it was to make mini models of everything you might see in a science/anatomy class in school. Everything seems so detailed to be so small. I wonder how long it took to make versus how long it took to shoot.

Farouk Ramzan

3/4/2019 07:34:49 am

It seems that the environment of the photo is a science classroom. There are skeletons and organ models scattered on the shelves and the desk. On the chalkboard, there is an illustration of the human eye and its components. On the right, you can see many human skulls lined on the shelf. Underneath the shelf, there are brains drenched in blood in containers. The last drawer is coming out of the table. The floor is littered with dust and debris. There is a broken skeleton body on the floor, to the right of the desk. The walls look very old with cracks and leak marks. You can see trees and outside the three obscure windows.

The depth of field is crisp and focused. The focal point seems to be the eye illustration hanging in the back. The image does not use the rule of thirds. The edges of the frame are dark which creates a feeling of the viewer being in the room. The natural light source is coming from the interesting windows on the left and at the top of the classroom.

The idea of this image is to show a classroom that studies the human body abandoned by humans. It’s ironic in a way and creates an odd feeling. The artist’s intention was to let the viewer interpret an area of education without the presence of humans. When there is no presence of humans, natural forces such as plants, weather, and etc. begin to grow and take a toll on a place abandoned by humans. The artist wanted to capture that feeling and authenticity of abandoning a place. I feel like the artist cleverly also wanted to juxtapose us studying humans and then nature studying us.

I love the image given how the photo provokes an authentic feeling. The school classroom truly feels abandoned. I love the many different models of the human body and organs as it adds to the bizarre nature of the image. I think the artist was successful.

EmmaKate Spies

3/4/2019 07:37:55 am

In this image by Lori Nix the image is taken in a messy room with the ceiling looking slanted and the paintings on the wall all crooked and messy. The image looks to be taken in a classroom because of the desks facing the main desk. Everything in the room looks to be damaged by something, maybe the apocalypse. The lighting is some natural light coming in from the windows but also kind of dark and sad looking. What is happening in the image is that the room looks to be destroyed by something and everything is a complete mess.
The image is composed in a very harsh manner. With stuff all over the place. The image is not pleasing to look at because i am not quite sure what i am supposed to look at first, the painting on the wall or the desks in the back. The rule of thirds is being used. There is a shallow depth of field that is being used in this image. The lines direct your eyes to the desk in the front of the classroom and the paintings on the wall behind it.
The themes and ideas that are being portrayed is post- apocalyptic time because everything is destroyed and a complete mess. The story behind the image is to let the observer know what might come in the future. The artist made this image to inform of what might be coming. This image may challenge the assumption that if you keep everything in order then it will be kept that way forever. I think that this image is interesting because of the way that the photographer Lori Nix and the idea that she had to create a post apocalyptic world is very hard for me to imagine because if it were to happen it wouldn’t happen anytime soon.
I don’t really like this image because i think it looks messy and unorganized. The way that she had everything and the way that the image is composed looks like it was a child’s dream. The image is too messy and is really hard to focus on one single object and aspect. I think that the photograph is unsuccessful because of the organization and thought the artist put into. The image is not well organized but the idea is ok and if the image was more organized than the idea would be great.

Claire Rollwitz

3/4/2019 07:38:37 am

The image Lori Nix created is full of details. The image takes place in a run-down room classroom. There are dusty chairs on the floor, pictures, models of body parts on the walls and a desk for a teacher at the front of the room. The photo has more dull colors but incorporates subtle pops of color on the wall decor. The photo’s lighting is intentionally darker in the front, which sets more of an eerie tone in the photograph.

The viewpoint from which this photograph was taken is that of a person at eye level standing at the front of the room. The artist uses a deep depth of field to show all of the detail in the picture. There is a lot to look at in this image, but I think the focal point is the area with the teacher desk because that is where the lighting in the photograph is directed. There are lines formed in this photograph by the walls of the classroom, windows, floor tiles, and wall decor. The details in the image completely fill the whole frame.

The artist, Lori Nix, depicts deep meaning in her photograph. She photographed this image to show emptiness. She is telling a story of a classroom that used to be lively and full of kids, that is now empty and abandoned. I think the artist might be trying to tell her audience that there is more to life. Things on earth will end so we should live in the moment.

I like this photo. I think it is very interesting to look at. It is filled with so much detail. One reason I would dislike this photo is because of its dark and eerie meaning. I think Lori Nix was successful in creating this photograph because she executed her image well and told her audience the story she wanted to portray.

mariah podwika

3/4/2019 08:56:15 am

This image is of a post-apocalyptic room. Possibly a classroom and evident by the anatomy of the eye poster and the models of a liver and skulls. There are desks scattered throughout and disheveled chairs and what seems to be a blackboard behind the anatomy of the eye poster. The lighting is very dark but extremely natural. The light is something that you see in a forest on a cloudy day. The windows look broken and like they’ve been in a state of disrepair for a long time.
The image has a somewhat ominous look to it. It almost looks not of this world. The tiles of the floor act as leading lines to draw your eye throughout the room but specifically to the desk in the front. The corners of the image are negative spaces where there is little to no light in them. The focal point is the front of the classroom because of the tile lines leading that way and all the chairs facing in that direction. The image is framed by the walls of the school.
This image reminds me of a book that I read of a post-apocalyptic world that I read recently, I don’t quite remember the name of it though. It described a schoolhouse that was one of the first places hit in the apocalypse and, if I remember the story correctly, it represented a classroom precisely like this. From the blood on the wall to the chairs and desks that were thrown about. The image is picturing what us and humans would leave behind if we got wiped out. There would just be buildings upon buildings just waiting for nature to take back over and that’s what happening in this image.
I really like this image. It reminds me of when I was reading a good book and just enjoying myself. It also reminds me of The 5th Wave book just because of the way that it is lit and the subject matter behind the image. The photograph is really good at portraying a world void of human contact and showing how the world would go on without us. The buildings that we built to the skies would eventually fall to nature, and the knowledge taught in schools, like the anatomy of the eye, would be lost to the universe. That’s a really cool concept to think about, and I think the photographer does a brilliant job bringing that alive.

Troy Githinji

3/4/2019 02:01:41 pm

In this image, we are introduced to an almost dystopian world, shot by the artist Lori Nix. We are presented with a classroom in an abandoned state and showing signs of age with its cracked ceiling and destroyed shelves. The colors used in the photo are dark and dreary, but also somewhat realistic because of its diffused natural light. Looking closer, we can see models of the human body, reminiscent of a biology class, now in shambles and disorder. The absence of any care or love for this former classroom reminds one of a nuclear disaster or apocalypse, a place where no humans reside.

The form of this image is disastrous and there is no form of rhyme or reason to be found in it. But the image is pleasing to the eyes and is not harsh or boring. The frame is completely filled and lets the viewer explore without becoming bored. Everything in the image is sharp and in focus, letting the viewer explore with clarity and leaving nothing covered. And although not exactly visible at first, the lines along the desks guide the viewer’s eye along the picture.

Looking closer at the photo we can see the cracked floors, messed up desks, and disorderly shelves. But in the corners of the room we can see life, plants and light, repopilating in the dark spaces. Through the destruction creeps a new life. Nature reconqures itself. Through the abcents of life, new life comes.

When looking at the image for the first time, the viewer might think that they know the meaning of this photograph and leave it. But I think there is more going on in the photo than is immediately obvious. In a statement about her photography series, The City, Lori Nix comments, ”The photographs I create do not reflect the tradition of the grand idyllic landscape. Rather than showing the beautiful or heroic vista, I look to the darker corners of life…Here the monuments of civilization and material culture are abandoned, in a state of decay and ruin, with natural elements such as plants, insects, and animals beginning to repopulate the spaces.” Although the destruction and terror of the photo is immediatley obvisous to the viewer, by looking closer we can see a revival happening. Throguh the destruction, nature reforms itself.

I like this image because of the message that comes from it. The picture itself is nice to look at, but what it says about us and those around us is far more interesting to think on. I definitley think that this image is successful about what it means for us.

Teresa Lei

3/4/2019 03:08:49 pm

The photograph depicts a post-apocalypse scene of a ruined classroom. From the poster in the front and the displays on the shelves, it's apparent that the classroom was previously in use for the anatomy class. the classroom is very detailed in the term of showing the elapse of time. The ceiling is ruined by the humidity. The plants grow into the room. Dirt and ashes scatter in the room and cover every object. It is very realistic but also surreal.

The author uses the rule of third dividing the floor and the wall. The eye level is fairly normal as if a person is watching the classroom from its entrance. The picture has a very vibrant color although it is depicting a post-apocalypse scene, especially the books and organs on the shelves, the small portion of red and orange colors contrast the dark blue of the chair and the greyish floor. Everything is in the focus and the lines of the wall lead eyes to the blackboard and the poster.

Lori Nix created a surreal, destructive and abandoned post-apocalypse scene. I feel like she is trying to explore the boundaries of the fantasy and the reality, the gray areas between them. The scene provokes me to imagine and to try to interpret what has happened in this area. As it is written in her note, this is one of her intentions. To bring the audiences into a journey that they have never thought before through the visuals and the details in the images.

The photographer Lori Nix is not only the photographer but also the model builder of the project. It's a fairly interesting idea to build every scene on a smaller scale with sophisticated details. The result of her work is realistic and striking since it is hard to tell whether the scene is smaller than it actually looks. I enjoy her work because of her choices of colors and the visuals. I am more curious about the motives behind building the models instead using the actual set.

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Period 3 -- Critical Analysis #16

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