Period 3 -- Critical Analysis #1

10/7/2021

Today you will be writing about this photograph by artist Joel Sternfeld. 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 post, it will not be graded.

If you do not finish your analysis in class, you must finish and post your analysis by the end of class tomorrow, 10/7/21.

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

14 Comments

Kevin Kessler

10/8/2021 07:16:51 am

I see a car. I see a truck.
The elephant eventually
ran out of luck.
It got so hot.
It needs a lot
OF WATER!
Kevin Kessler

Paragraph 1
I see a sheriff car that is parked a little ways from the elephant. I see an elephant laying on the ground. People are spraying it down with water. They are on the road in a rural area.

Paragraph 2
The image is very well made. It flows really well especially with the road. It makes your eyes follow the image and helps it flow. It is also framed really well.

Paragraph 3
The image looks like the elephant got really hot. That is why they are spraying it with water. It probably ran away and got lost and tired. Someone must have found it and called the police and local zoo.

Paragraph 4
I like this photo because it makes you wonder what happened. You usually don’t see elephants except in a zoo. When you see the elephant on the road laying down it is really really strange. I think this photo is successful because the exposure is really good and it flows really well.

Katie Hendrick

10/8/2021 07:17:32 am

This photograph displays many different components, but the first significant part of this photo is the specifics. This picture shows an elephant lying on the road while being hosed down with water. There are two sheriff’s cars, and a large truck stopped along the road beside the elephant. The photo seems to have a lot of shadow areas and less vibrant colors than standard colors. There are many pale yellows, greens, and blues that can be seen in this photo. The first object in the image that caught my eye was the white sheriff’s car on the bottom right side. The contrast between the car and the road makes the car an important focal point of the image.
The second major part of this photo is the form. This image looks as if taken at a higher point of view, like at the top of a hill. Additionally, this picture has a deep depth of field because it has sharp images in the background, such as the trees. There are also many lines in this image. The white painted lines leading down the road and through the middle of the image significantly represent the lines used in this image. There are also telephone lines on both the outer sides of the picture and the poles that hold up the lines. This image also seems to be asymmetrical because of the different components on each side.
The third important part of this image is the content. The colors are a little dull, giving off the photographer’s intention to give us a more depressing feeling after looking at this image. This makes sense because the story behind this image involves an elephant escaping its enclosure and being run tired to capture it. The zoo workers and bystanders had to hose down this elephant because it was overheating and could have died. This is sad because the people had to go as far as almost killing the elephant to catch it again. The color scheme in this photo may represent how dull, and guilty the sheriffs may feel after nearly killing the elephant. I think this image is beautiful in a sad sense; I think it perfectly captures the emotions of this event.
Lastly, I like this image because it captures a beautiful yet sad moment. It shows the importance of photography because it is hard to explain bizarre events like this, an overheating elephant in the middle of the road in the United States. I think this photo also shows how teamwork saves lives. These people came together and chased down the elephant and then helped it stay alive until they could get professional help. I think this photograph is successful because of all of the essential components to it. These components include the story behind the image, the way the picture was shot, the focal points of the image, and the coloration.

Jackson Uhr

10/8/2021 07:22:06 am

The image is of an elephant collapsed on a road surrounded by people watering the elephant with a hose. On either side of the road there are yellow-green grasses and large trees. By the elephant a large truck is parked, and a Sheriff’s car is sitting close to where the image was shot. The lighting in this photo is fairly bright, with small amounts of shadows in the treeline. The lack of clouds and bright sun combined with the generally lighter color tones throughout the image contribute to the brightness.

I find this image pleasing to look at. The colors are bright, but not blinding. The scene captured certainly piques my interest. The image has a deep depth of field, and is not blurry. The photograph appears to have been taken from a higher vantage point as the camera looks down slightly upon the scene of the elephant.

I don’t believe that there are any particular themes in this image. I think it just kinda looks cool. I believe that the image is very interesting and noteworthy. I believe this because It is very different from many other photographs. This is because of the unusual situation that very rarely occurs.

I like this image. I like it for many reasons. Firstly, I like how the image has very bright colors without them being too bright so it hurts to look at. Secondly I like how unique the photo is. I highly doubt that there is another photo of a random elephant just chilling on a road in rural America.

Jorie Weeks

10/8/2021 07:23:40 am

When I first look at this photo I see an image with an elephant in the road. Some of the details that we see in this photo is the multitude of police cars and the many people standing in the middle of the road. We see a lot of warm colors such as the yellow in the grass and the green used in the trees. We can see some shadows in the background of trees as well as in the open car door shadows. In the middle of the street we can tell that the sun was very exposed in the middle area of the picture, which leads us to know why there is water on the road. There may be water on the road to keep the elephant from overheating.

This photo is very interesting to look at, because it is almost like a puzzle in which you are getting different pieces of information, connecting them, and coming to a conclusion on what the photo is about. The composition in the photo is very good. When I look at this picture I see a sharp photo in which my eyes are led to a bright car. This bright car I would say is my focal point due to the very bright beige color being projected. My eyes are led from the bottom to about the middle of the pictures by the dashes in the road. I feel as if this picture was taken from a higher level perspective which is not symmetrical due to being a landscape photo. On the sides it is cut off by the rest of the landscape.

The story behind this picture is that a man was an elephant trainer and had 2 elephants in his possessions. One day he had a heart attack and one of the elephants trampled him to death and then later escaped into the public, in which the police got involved to help save not only the owner but the elephant. I think that the author of this picture just got lucky and was in the right place at the right time.The story told through these pictures reminds me of Dumbo, just because there aren’t a lot of elephant movies.

This picture truly made me think. When I first looked at the picture my first instinct was to learn the background of the picture. I think that is a really good attribute of a picture, to be able to pull in a viewer so quickly. I think this picture was successful not only because it intrigued me to know the background of the picture, but also the background of the author and why he was so lucky to be able to take this picture. I would say that I definitely liked this picture!

Lily Warr

10/8/2021 07:24:02 am

This image is of an elephant that is laying in the middle of the road in a rural area. There are people crowded around it who seem to be hosing it off. There’s a Sheriff's car in the foreground and the Sheriff is getting out of the vehicle. The photo has warmer colors and looks like it was taken a long time ago.
I wouldn’t say the picture is pleasing to look at. It’s a good photo, but something about it is sort of unsettling. The photographer must have been on a hill or other elevated place. The focal point is the Sheriff’s car, probably because of its bright color. The lines of the road direct my eye to the elephant and the people around it.
The unexpected seems to be a theme in this image. The area in which this photo was taken is not a place where an elephant should be. It’s in the middle of the road, in what looks like America. The story behind the photo is even more unexpected. The man who owned the animal was an elephant trainer. He was trampled by one of them and then the other escaped. It was found running down the road and some people from a nearby zoo were called. They tranquilized the elephant and hosed it off to keep it cool. The photo does remind me of something, but I can’t quite put my finger on it. The area they are in looks very familiar to me.
I don’t really have any strong opinions about this image. I don’t love it, but I don’t hate it either. The photographer seems very successful. It’s an interesting scene and they did a very good job taking the photo. It’s even more interesting that he just happened to be in the right place at the right time and was able to capture this odd incident.

Trinity Wilkinson

10/8/2021 07:24:14 am

This image is of an elephant overheating and being cared for to prevent further harm along with huge pine trees in the background. It has warmer colors giving this image an older more vintage feel. This lighting has bright, direct sunlight which can be seen on the sheriff’s car and the foreground. In this image, there are bystanders, a couple of cars, and a sheriff. Also in this image is an elephant.

This image is pleasing to the eye. It’s pleasing because it has warm tones and the lines of the road and towers are nice to look at. This image has a deep depth of field as you can see the far details of the tree’s branches. The focal point of this image is the sheriff’s car. The sheriff’s car draws your eye because it is bright white.

Without the context of the image, you can tell that the photographer is trying to say something. One of the themes that can be inferred from the photo is to stop animal cruelty. With the context, we know that this is about an escaped elephant. With the coloring of the image, it reminds me of an old movie. I think the picture is trying to capture the bizarreness of the situation and how the elephant is being mistreated.

From a technical standpoint, I did like this photograph. The lines, colors, and lighting is pleasing to look at. I think this photograph is successful because it makes you think about the scene and what is happening. Upon seeing the photography, you look at the sheriff’s car, which sets the mood that something is wrong there. Then you look at the elephant and wonder what has happened. I think the photograph is successful because it is technically good and is good from the perspective that you have to think about what is happening.

Reagan Bishop link

10/8/2021 07:28:08 am

Elephant
The first thing I see when I look at this photo is the white sheriff car. At first I thought that maybe somebody got in trouble with the police. You know when you see a police car driving down the road you assume that something bad has happened. Since the car is white it tends to draw your eye to it. I also found out it was a sheriff car because it has big bold letters on the back saying Sheriff.

Then I saw some big brown thing in the middle of the road. It took me a minute to figure out what it was but by looking at the sentence at the bottom it told me it was an elephant. At first to be honest I thought it was bigfoot or some other kind of animal because that is not the environment I would picture an elephant to be. I noticed how it was laying down and s/he seemed very tired / exhausted. You can see that the photographer captured the photo to be this way to make you wonder for a minute what this could be.

I then noticed that there was a big pool of liquid by the elephant. I thought it was blood but when Mrs. McCauly told me it was water and I was relieved. You can see that there is a lady standing next to the elephant with a hose and multiple bystanders watching the scene. I was told that the elephant was very exhausted and was about to die if s/he did not get watered off. They might have connected to a fire hydrant or something because that is a lot of water being used.

This environment is not where I would picture an elephant to be. When I think of elephants and where they live I think of Africa and the desert or something like that. Not in rural areas by houses, roads, and definitely not people. I also see only one house and a ton of people. So maybe All of these people had to walk here because I don't see any cars besides the cops either. They all probably heard about this news and walked over.

Christian Lacayo

10/8/2021 07:31:47 am

This image by Joel Sternfeld depicts an elephant lying on the floor with people around watering it with also a couple cars and a truck around. One of the cars at the front of the photo is a police car because it says “sheriff”. The scene appears to be set in a countryside or rural area because there aren’t any buildings in sight, and the ground is full of overgrown weeds and grass. The shadows around the plants are dark, but overall the picture appears to be pretty light since it was taken outside.
I think the photo is pleasing to look at because of the colors captured in it. The faded greens, browns, and grays, I feel, represent the countryside. The photographer seems to have taken the photo at an angle not directly, but slightly above the scene. I found that the first thing that drew my eyes was the sheriff's car. I would’ve liked to see the elephant as the focal point though because to be honest, I couldn’t really make out what the elephant was the first time I saw the photo. However, I really like how the photographer describes the whole situation so well with just a still image, without any backstory or video.
Another part of this image that I think is so interesting is the fact that no story is necessarily attached to it. The meaning of this image is not told just by looking at this image. Maybe the elephant fell out of the truck or ran away from the circus. Why are the people watering it, and how did they know where to find the elephant? The setting of this image actually reminds me of my grandma’s house, which is in a small town that looks a lot like this one.
I quite like this photo because of the obscurity of the meaning behind it, but the familiarity I feel with the image itself. The size of the elephant confused me at first, so at first the picture just looked like a couple of cars though. Overall, I think this was a successful image because of all that it captures as well as the detail. Throughout the photo we can see the elephant, the woods, the weeds, the chopped wood and bushes, and the cars, and I love that.

I see a car, I see a truck
The elephant eventually ran out of luck
It got so hot
The elephant needs a lot
OF WATER
-Kevin Kessler

Myrthea Vigil

10/8/2021 07:34:39 am

This image is of an elephant who seems to be dehydrated and exhausted. The image also has a few cop cars who most likely are trying to get the elephant to a safe place to help it. The elephant is covered in water which indicates that they tried to cool him down a bit. The image’s color is very warm which gives a nice visual of how hot it is at the time of the photo. The image is taken on a highway surrounded by trees and two small sheds. In the image the cops are trying to cool the elephant down to get it off the road and to a safe place so they can take care of it.

The image is pleasing to see. It has a nice warm color to it which helps with the visual. It’s also a bit confusing, to look at. The point of view of the image is more of a third person, the photographer is on an elevated hill or something like that, and he is looking down at what is happening below. There are the lines of the road which direct your attention to the cops and the elephant in the middle of the road. The image is mostly asymmetrical. The curve of the road makes it uneven and gives it a nice crooked look.

Without any context, this image would seem rather strange and confusing. The story behind the image is about a man who trained elephants, and how one of them escaped after he had a heart attack and was trampled by one of the elephants. In the image, they are trying to cool down the dehydrated elephant by pouring water all over him. The image reminds me of a fever dream I once had, it just seems to give off the same energy which, gives me deja vu.

I did not like this image. It was interesting to look at but in the end, it just wasn’t pleasing to me. This image was strange and confusing that I wasn’t really sure where to look, or what to do with it. This photograph to me was unsuccessful. It was just confusing and I’m not sure what the point was or how the photographer wanted it to be conveyed as.

Olivia Talley link

10/8/2021 07:37:04 am

At first glance, the photo seems to be capturing a country road in the middle of a sparsely populated town. You can tell the image is dated because of the type of police vehicle and the way the people in the background are dressed. Your eye follows the line of the road and powerline before resting on the central concentration of the photo, which appears to be an elephant surrounded by trucks and bystanders. The photographer used the bright white of the police cars to draw the attention of viewers toward the elephant and leave people intrigued. Without any context, the image definitely raises some questions about what the elephant is doing in the middle of a street, far from any region that is normally inhabited by their species.
I think the photographer was trying to capture the chaos of the photo and how it represents the setting of the image. The image is captured from the point of view of a passerby who happens to witness the scene. The focal point of the photo was objectively placed on the police cars, which was most likely done by the photographer to catch one’s eye. Since the scene is surrounded by pretty much a bunch of nothing, it’s easy for the concentration of the image to be on the elephant and truck. In this case, the photographer chose to include so much extra space so that viewers would question the elephant’s location and why it would possibly be there.
After learning that this photo was part of a collection called American Prospects, it makes sense that the photographer would try to capture odd scenes all across the country. It tells the story of a small town in Washington, and a man who tried to train elephants in his backyard. I think the photographer is trying to show his audience that small towns with real people have real stories. All it takes is a man with a camera willing to travel cross-country in hopes of capturing weird scenes to share those stories. The photo isn’t exactly beautiful, but it’s definitely noteworthy and iconic, and that’s something that people will remember.
I think photos are meant to make the viewer wonder, and this image definitely checked that box. Each photograph has a story, some stranger than others, but it’s something that people can connect over and relate to. Having a discussion over this in our photography class is a great example of how images can serve as a form of entertainment and a way to get to know people. I generally enjoy the photo, although I’m normally more attracted to photos that spark awe, such as landscape photography. Overall, the image successfully captured the story of a small town, and made an Intro to Photography class in San Antonio, Texas wonder why an elephant was in the middle of a country road.

Preston Biela

10/8/2021 07:37:21 am

The picture is about an elephant who is dehydrated and on the ground. The elephant is definitely not supposed to be there. People are helping the elephant. The color of the elephant is grey and there are two white cars/trucks. There are trees in the background and water on the elephant.
The focal point is the white car on the bottom right corner of the picture. The image is pretty balanced in terms of symmetry, the road divides the tree lines and there are two cars. The negative space in the picture is the sky above the treeline. The positive space is definitely the road because the cars and elephants and people are on the road. The depth of field is pretty wide in this picture.
The main theme is the elephant in need. The story being told in the image is kind people helping the elephant. This image reminds me of dumbo because all elephants remind me of dumbo the elephant. The photographer’s intention was probably to note or capture this rare encounter with a run-a-way elephant. I think this image is awesome because it shows how caring people can be.
I really enjoyed this image because of the story being told. The story of people doing all they can to save the elephant’s life. This photograph is a successful one. I think it is a successful photograph because the exposure is good, the depth of field is good, and there is no apparent clipping. I think that this photograph was taken by a professional photographer.

Max Eitter

10/16/2021 04:31:18 pm

There looks like there is an elephant in the middle of the road, obviously somewhere not in Africa, probably in North America.There is also a bunch of people crowded around the elephant with what looks like to be a hose spraying down the elephant because its seems to be hot. The sherifs' car is also there to keep and eye on it and it is kind of the main focal point. There also seems to be pine trees in the background indicating it's not Africa. And there is also old house or barns in the background where they probably got the water from. There is also a truck behind the elephant that seems like it might be able to carry it once they get it in the right conditions.

The image is very balanced; not to bright or dark. You can see the details from the letters and wrinkles on the sherifs car and elephant to the small crooks and crannies within the pine trees. The car is a little bright but I guess still nice to look at considering being something else to look at before the photographer shocks you with a dying elephant in the back.

Originally I imagined the elephant escaping from some circus ground. And that it just keep on wandering before collapsing from not being in shape and being unable to find the "natural" resources it would usually consume/drink in the circus grounds. I also thought that it escaped from some un-official zoo and ended up running around until some old hillbilly hunting dude with a rifle saw it and thought it was his day to officially make the "endangered North American elephant" extinct with a shot to its head. In which he missed and it ran until it couldn’t handle the trauma, in which it ended up falling in the middle of the road where people eventually found it collapsed on the road.

Now i know it was just a an elephant trainer who died in the middle of training the elephants. In which one of them escaped and ran from the police until it got exhausted and collapsed on the road. Where they then helped and tranquillized it, moving it to a safer location. Over all it is and interesting image to make assumptions about.

Carol Marin

10/22/2021 06:38:04 am

In this picture we see a road possibly in the middle of a rural area with old police cars they are probably older models from the 1970s.We also see a truck and the most noticeable an elephant on the road surrounded by people.These people include police,zookepers and some onlookers.The elephant has been running for hours on the roads so it was probably overheated so they hosed him down with water to cool him down and tranquilized him.The elephant probably ran away and they found him and they cooled him down.

The colors it's using are more warm colors like warm yellows subtle browns and some greens part of it is the film since this picture was taken in the 1970s so the film gets older and some is the light quality the humidity als effects it.The lighting is a quite evenly lit not many shadows are shown.Objects included in the image are an elephant,people,cars,trees some houses,road,power lines.The composition is quite nice to look at i feel like i am in the sense with them and watching everything unfold it also feels quite warm.The warm feeling feels like it would be quite humid where the picture was taken.

The point of view of the photograph is probably birds eye view so it was taken at a higher level probably at the top of a car.The artist probal made this image so he could document the venet unfolding.This image kind of remind me of Dumbo for some reason because it's where an elephant shouldt be on the road.I think it kind of questions my beliefs because i though they were hurting the animal but i am glad they are not and they are taking him back where he needs to be.This image is quite interesting because we want to see the story behind the imagine as soon as we see it.

I am not a fan of this image it is NOT something i would hang in my house EVER feel like it's more of a museum type of photo.I feel like i like the concept of the photograph i would say because they are not harming the animal and they are helping it i think this picture would probably appear on the news or a newspaper.I think this photograph is successful and unsuccessful.Successful because it is documenting a scenario that we don't see quite often so that is very interesting.Unsuccessful i don't think anyone would be interested ins in this photo i just see nothing special in it.Like if this was in a museum i would probably skip it. People may misinterpret the photo when they do not know the story so that's why it might be unsuccessful even if I thought they were hurting it or it was dead.

John Paul Ortiz

10/25/2021 07:28:02 am

The image looks like a couple of cop cars and a semi with spectators. If you look closer at the photo there is an elephant in the picture being sprayed with water. The colors are dull greens, blues, yellows, whites, and browns. There is bright sunlight for the lighting but the colors are still dull. There is an elephant in the middle with spectators watching the elephant getting sprayed. There are cop cars and a green field. There are dark green trees in the background with a blue sky. An elephant is being sprayed down with water because it’s hot and if the people didn’t spray the elephant down it would more than likely die from overheating.
I think the image is visualy apealing because of how warm the image is and its also interesting. I don’t think the image is using rules of thirds or being framed correctly because the main focus of the image is pretty small, there is alot of extra details. It is taken froma birds eye view because there is a lot of trees and extra details beside the elephant. The image has a deep depth of view because the whole image is in focus. The focal point is elephant because it is in the middle of the picture. There aren’t many lines besides the road. There is a lot of negative space in the image and very little positive space. The elephant is pretty small in the image.
The story of the image is the elephant who escaped and needs water to not die of a heat stroke. The image is very interesting but, the focal point is so small which doesn’t help.
I do like the image. I feel like the image is semi successful because it is interesting and pleasing to look at but, the most important thing is hard to see which ruins it in a way.

Period 3 -- Critical Analysis #1

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