Period 4 -- Critical Analysis #11

12/7/2017

Today you will be writing about this photograph made by artist Gregory Crewdson.

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.

Your analysis must be 5 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.

If you do not complete your analysis in class, you must finish it for homework before your next class on FRIDAY, 12/8/17.

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

Andi Feik

12/7/2017 09:24:42 am

This image is by Gregory Crewdson. It is of an older lady lying on the ground the house she is in is kind of old fashioned. In this image a lot of brown is being used. The lighting is pretty dark.

In this image the rule of thirds is being used. This image is shot almost at a bug’s eye view. This image almost the whole image is in focus. The main focal point in the image is the lady on the ground. It seems like the lady has fallen on the ground.

In the image the light from the window creates lines of light that come into the room. The subject takes up the middle of the frame. On the edges there are things like furniture, carpet, and the walls. This image is balanced because the lady is in the middle of the frame.

The theme of this image is to have a lady in kind of a dark room on the floor. I think there is a story behind the image that he created. I think that artist made this image to show what happens when people aren’t around. The lady fell and no one is there to help her.

I don’t really like this image because it really dark. It also has a lot of the same colors in this image. This image is also staged. I like images where you don’t really have to set it up. Overall, I don’t really like this image but I think that he created a nice image.

12/7/2017 09:35:28 am

Correct Critical Anaysis
This image is by Gregory Crewdson. It is of an older lady lying on the ground in a house. The house she is in is kind of old fashioned. In this image a lot of brown is being used. The lighting is also very dark with dark colors.

In this image the rule of thirds is being used. This image is shot almost at a bug’s eye view. This image almost the whole image is in focus. The main focal point in the image is the lady on the ground. It seems like the lady has fallen on the ground.

In the image the light from the window creates lines of light that come into the room. The subject takes up the middle of the frame. On the edges there are things like furniture, carpet, and the walls. This image is balanced because the lady is in the middle of the frame. It looks like artificial light is being shined on the women's face.

The theme of this image is to have a lady in kind of a dark room on the floor. I think there is a story behind the image that he created. I think that artist made this image to show what happens when people aren’t around. The lady fell and no one is there to help her. I think that it is a cool idea I don’t really like the image though.

I don’t really like this image because it really dark. It also has a lot of the same colors in this image. This image is also staged. I like images where you don’t really have to set it up. Overall, I don’t really like this image but I think that he created a nice image.

Leon Toursarkissian link

12/7/2017 09:29:01 am

This is an image of an old woman who appears to have fallen on the ground in a rather crowded room. The image uses very dark colors such as crimson, brown, and gray to give the image a gloomy feeling. The light in the image is mainly from a lamp as well as very little light that comes from the window, -perhaps with clouds outside, and t gives the image a dull and gloomy feeling. The objects in the image include an old woman, a blue shirt, blue pants, brown shoes, 3 brown and red armchairs, a mirror, a lamp, a window, many picture frames, a brown carpet, curtains, a clock, and flowers. In the image the old woman appears to have fallen and is staring intently at the ground.

I think that the photographer took this image using quite a bit of setup. I think that the artist had to use a tripod that was pretty low to give the photo a good angle and lighting scenario. There was most likely a lot of preplanning to get the area to look like this. The artist would have taken a lot of time to correctly expose the photo to get it looking like this. The image was probably taken in a natural environment that had to be altered for the image to look good.

The composition of the image functions well mostly because of the dark colors that it incorporates as well as the nice lighting. The rule of thirds is not being used since the subject is not centered on a thirds line. The artist took the image at an angle slightly elevated from the ground. The depth of field is semi-shallow because the objects in the background are blurry but not too blurry. The focal point of the image is the old woman and she is framed by carpet and armchairs. The lines in the image are placed randomly and don't direct my eyes in any way. The image is not symmetrical because each side of the image is different. The frame of the image crops off randomly. The positive space is the woman and the negative space is the foreground and background.

The theme of the image is that the old woman has fallen on the ground and is now just laying there as if she can’t get up. There does not appear to be a story being told in the image. I think that the artist made the image to demonstrate the struggles of being elderly. The image reminds me of a time when my grandma fell on the floor. It does not question any beliefs. I think that the best adjective that can be used to describe this image is that it is well-composed because of the colors and lighting.

I personally do not like this picture for one main reason: it is busy. I feel like the image has way too many objects in the background and it seems to take away the powerful feeling in the image. I hate when things are busy because it makes everything disorganized and hectic which are too things that I can’t tolerate. However I think that this image is successful mainly because it is so well lit and well composed. Due to the lighting, colors, and angle at which it was taken I think that this image is successful.

Melody Umsted

12/7/2017 09:30:32 am

This is a picture by Gregory Crewdson. In this image, there is a woman laying on the floor in the living room. The woman is older, and is propping herself up by her elbows. The woman is wearing a blue turtleneck and jeans. The living room is outdated.

In the living room, the furniture is clashing. The woman is looking at the ground in front of her. There is light coming in from the windows and from a lamp in the room. The living room is neat, but it seems busy because there is a lot of stuff in the room. It looks like the woman has fallen and can't get up.

The rule of thirds is being used because the woman is in the center of the image. She is not framed by anything. The depth of field is pretty deep because the back of the image is blurry, but hardly noticeable. The subject does not fill the space, but there is not extra space because of the other objects in the room. The image is pleasing to look at because it looks like it comes straight out of a movie.

The story being told from this image is that because the woman has fallen, we see her vulnerability. The author makes his images to capture the perfect moment. I think he did that in this image by capturing a moment of the woman that is not perfect, but is perfect because of its imperfections, like falling in your living room. This image reminds me of my best friend's great-grandma’s living room. Like this one, the living room is outdated and busy.

I don't really know why I don't like this image. I think it gives me weird and creepy vibes that I don't like. I don't like how dark this image is. This image is successful because it is well produced. The image tells a story that I think the author was going for.

Kaitlyn Evans

12/7/2017 09:35:06 am

Critical Analysis #11

This image is made by Gregory Crewdson. This image is of an old woman lying on the floor in a house that looks quite old and it is very decorated inside. The colors in this image are dark, there is a lot of brown, blues, and whites. The lighting in this image is dark because the only light that is coming in is the lamp light and the window light. There are a lot of objects in this image there is an old woman, chairs, a couch, flowers, pictures, etc. In this image there is an old woman laying on the floor chest down.
The composition is not that pleasing to look at because the dark room doesn’t look balanced with the lamp light and the window light. In the rule of thirds her body is in the middle of the picture but off to the side is her head. The photographer used a deep depth of field to capture the whole room. The focal point is of the woman lying on the floor.
The lines in this image come from that patch of carpet on the floor because they direct my eye to the woman’s hand which directs my eye to the rest of her body. This image is not balanced. The subject does not fill the frame there is still extra space around her. At the edge of this image I think there is more to her house maybe a tv or more furniture. The positive space is of the subject, the old woman, and the negative space is the background, furniture, flowers, mirror, etc.
In this image I think the idea is showing how an old woman has fell and she can’t get up. I think the artist is trying to show how hard it is as you get older. This reminds me of when my grandma fell and hurt herself and it was very hard for her to get back up. This lady looks like she is alone which means she might not have anyone to help her get back up. I think this image is sad because this happens to a lot of older people and it can be very painful for them.
I don’t like this image. I think the colors in it are too dark and I don’t like when images are dark because i’m not as interested to them as bright colored images are. I also think this image is sad. I think this photograph is successful and unsuccessful because I think this image is too busy but I like the aspects it shows. I like how this image shows how differently houses have changed and how modern today’s houses are compared to older houses.

Dylan Pegg link

12/7/2017 09:43:18 am

This photo by Gregory Crewdson is of an old lady who looks as though she has fallen down in her living room. The room is cluttered with chairs, tables, lamps, photos, and other things. The photo has dark colors mainly, with the exception of the blues that the lady is wearing. Some sunlight comes in through the blinds, and a nearby lamp provides light. The look on the lady’s face does look as though she is worried or in distress, but rather as though she is contemplating something.

The photo is taken at the lady’s head level, creating the sense that you are on the floor with her. She is in the middle of the picture, with her head at the right third of the picture. The depth of field is not f/22 or is it f/3.5, and appears to be closer to the middle of the two since you can pick out items in the background, but can’t pick out their details. There is little negative space, since the room is cluttered. Some lines are created by sun rays and chair arms, but many of them seem to cancel out or go unnoticed due to the amount of stuff in the photo.

The photo creates a nearly 1:1 replica of the “grandparent’s house” stereotype. The items look and feel familiar because the same chairs and kind of furniture are at my own grandparents house. The story in the photo is somewhat vague, other than the obvious fact that she fell down. Perhaps the artist intended to create a bleak image of suburbia. There doesn't seem to be a very clear message though.

Overall, I don’t like the picture very much. It feels too cramped and makes me uncomfortable, but not in a good way by any means. The colors are depressing, but they do fit the atmosphere in the photograph. The photo does achieve its job, being to create a bleak and uncomfortable vision of suburbia. That said though, I feel like I’ve seen this place before and it doesn’t feel too creative or fun in my opinion.

Gregory Crewdson has made many photographs that look as though they’re from a movie, and this cinematic tone doesn’t exclude this photo. The contrast is one of the most influential benefactors to this feeling. It makes the scene feel tense or important, similar to many dramas. Similarly, the character’s clothing plays a unique role. Her blue clothing doesn’t match her environment, creating questions as to why she’s here and what happened.

Now that I’ve finished my five paragraphs and somehow incorporated movies into this, I feel as though it is only proper to leave you with the entirety of the Star Wars Episode 2 script for no apparent reason. Thank You and have a Merry Christmas.

A long time ago, in a galaxy far, far, away...

NOTE: This script has been edited eliminating anything that was not in the final print of the film. This version is the only complete version on the net.

A vast sea of stars serves as the backdrop for the main title, followed by a roll-up, which crawls up into infinity.
STAR WARS
Episode I
The PHANTOM MENACE
Turmoil has engulfed the Galactic Republic. The taxation of trade routes to outlying star systems is in dispute.
Hoping to resolve the matter with a blockade of deadly battleships, the greedy Trade Federation has stopped all shipping to the small planet of Naboo.
While the congress of the Republic endlessly debates this alarming chain of events, the Supreme Chancellor has secretly dispatched two Jedi Knights, the guardians of peace and justice in the galaxy, to settle the conflict...
PAN DOWN to reveal a small space cruiser heading TOWARD CAMERA at great speed. PAN with the cruiser as it heads toward the beautiful green planet of Naboo, which is surrounded by hundreds of Trade Federation battleships.
INT REPUBLIC CRUISER - COCKPIT
In the cockpit of the cruise, the CAPTAIN and PILOT maneuver closer to one of the battleships.
QUI-GON: (off screen voice) Captain.
The Captain turns to an unseen figure sitting behind her.
CAPTAIN: Yes, sir?
QUI-GON: (V.O) Tell them we wish to board at once.
The CAPTAIN looks to her view screen, where NUTE GUNRAY, a Neimoidian trade viceroy, waits for a reply.
CAPTAIN: With all due respect, the Ambassadors for the Supreme Chancellor wish to board immediately.
NUTE: Yes, yes, of course... as you know, our blockade is perfectly legal, and we'd be happy to receive the Ambassador.
The screen goes black. Out the cockpit window, the sinister battleship looms ever closer.
EXT FEDERATION BATTLESHIP - DOCKING BAY - SPACE (FX)
The small space cruiser docks in the enormous main bay of the Federation battleship.
INT FEDERATION BATTLESHIP - DOCKING BAY - SPACE
A PROTOCOL DROID, TC-14, waits at the door to the docking bay.
The door opens, and the Republic cruiser can be seen in the docking bay. Two darkly robed figures are greeted by TC-14.
TC-14: I'm TC-14 at your service. This way, please.
They move off down the hallway.
INT FEDERATION BATTLESHIP - CONFERENCE ROOM
A door slides open, and the two cloaked shapes are led PAST CA

12/7/2017 09:44:18 am

Nevermind, there's a character limit.

Adraiana Vazquez link

12/7/2017 09:44:25 am

The photograph is of a living room and an old woman laying on the ground of it. It looks like she’s hurt because of the way she's laying. The colors that are being used are very dark colors. I think this colors were used to show that the woman is suffering from something that might just have happened to her. There isn't a lot of natural lighting in this picture, the only natural light is the one coming from the window. But apart from that, the lamps are the only ones giving light to the room. The image was designed for it to be taken inside the living room. The living room has three couches, a center table with flowers on it , a what looks like a desk facing the wall with some frames, a clock, flowers and cups on it. There is a mirror of the shape of a circle hanging on the wall and frames with pictures around it. There are also windows in the same wall as where the desk is, but they're aren’t letting any light in because of the curtains.

The image is pleasant to look at because the composition that it has, it looks like there is a lot of space between all of the objects of the living room, but at the same time it looks like the living room is full of objects. The photographer took this image in a low angle. The point of view is the old woman, that is the first place your eyes direct to. There is a very open depth of field being used, everything in the image is being focused. The image is symmetrical, there isn't any extra pace in the image. The edges of the image are cropping off a curtain an a part of a couch.

I think the story being told in this image is that the old woman has lived in this house for a long time and so the house is old. One day she hurts herself by accident and falls or that she finds something on the carpet and she’s looking at it. This image reminds me of old movies because this house looks like a 60’s house. And also by how the woman is dressed and how her hair is.
This image is interesting to know how it was made and how long it took.

I like the image. I like how the image is composed, and the style of the living room. I also like how it looks that the light is coming from outside. I think the photographer is successful with this image. It lll looks realistic.

Catherine Clausewitz

12/7/2017 09:49:23 am

Critical Analysis
The main point of this photo is a woman lying on the ground in what looks to be a living room. The women doesn’t seem to be in pain so she is purposefully lying on the group. She is resting on her left hip and left elbow with her right knee bent and has her right hand just laying on the next to her almost as if she is reaching for something. She looks to be an older woman maybe somewhere between her late fifties to late sixties. She has her knees bent and is in sort of a weird position, but she looks to be average height. She is wearing a light sky blue turtle neck and loose fitting capri jeans. She has on brown loafer slippers and for jewelry she is wearing a bracelet and two rings on her left hand, one on her ring finger and the other on her pinky.
She has a short haircut that has a lot of volume to it and looks like she used a curling iron to fix it. Her hair is also golden blonde that is almost white blonde. I can’t see her eye color, but her lashes are long and her eyebrows are much darker than her hair. She has a dimple in her cheek even though she isn’t smiling and a very long face. She is very tan, but it’s most likely from sun exposure. The image starts to get out of focus once you reach the vanity. That is also the point at wear the woman’s knee is bent. The point part of the image that is out of focus isn’t super blurry or out of focus, it just is super sharp because the focus is on the woman. Other than the women the other things that seem to be in focus are the carpet that is right in front of her and it looks like it has a rectangle that was cut out and then put back. There is also a brown leather chair to the left of the woman.
The background seems to be of a living room that looks like it’s from the 60’s or 70’s. It has very dark and warm almost golden tones to it with the only pop of color being the woman in blue and the bright red flowers on the coffee table. The lap is making the room have a very golden feel to it, but the one window that has light coming through it in the room is bringing in natural white light which is making that part of the room have somewhat of a cool and very dark feel to it. All the brown tones are really making the blue that the woman is wearing pop and the dark tones in the back of the room really make the bright red flowers pop.
The lighting in the image isn’t extremely bright. The is a golden light from where the lap is shining and the white light coming through the window, but it’s being broken up by the blinds. There is also what seems to be a golden glow on the woman coming from behind her because there is light on the floor by where she is lying and She also has the right side her face in the light. The shadows in the room are all different intensities, some are lighter to where you can still see what’s in the shadow and some are so dark that you can’t see what’s there. The dark shadows seem so dark because most of the room seems to be very dark and in the shadows.
The angle of the image was taken facing a little bit above the woman tilting a little bit downwards. The main theme of this photo is sad and mysterious and almost creepy. The woman has a very sad expression and her focus is on the rectangle on the carpet. I think the artist made this image to tell a story. I can’t quite figure out what the story is, but there is one for sure. It is almost as if the artist wanted to take you back in time a couple of decades. I like this image because it has a mystery to it. I also don’t like the image because it has a very creepy feel to it. It reminds me of a murder mystery or a horror something. Something about the image makes me feel like something bad happened or something bad is going to happen. I still however like the mysterious feel to it.

Estefan Zorrilla link

12/7/2017 09:51:13 am

It appears to be a room inside a house with old furniture like if it belongs to a elder or grandparent. There is an old lady that appears to have fallen in her room. The image uses a lot of brown colors like dark brown and light brown. The subject which is the grandma is wearing blue so the colors make her stand out more. There are a lot of shadows in this image. The lighting is very dim. The lighting is some natural light and studio lights. There is a window which we can see some natural light come out of. There is also some lamps which we can see emit some non natural light. Some of the objects included in this image are an old person, some furniture, decorations such as lights, blankets, photographs and flowers. The lady has a very panicked face.
The composition is pleasing to look at because of how everything around her is one primarily the same color. The elder pops out more than her surroundings which serve the composition well. The lamp in the corner i feel takes away from the composition as it is a bright color and could direct your eyes there which can confuse the person trying to view the image and can direct your eyes to the lamp instead of the subject which is the elder. The rule of thirds is being used here because of how the lamp and the elder is both the subject.
The point of view is if the photographer is looking at the grandma from the same level.
There is a shallow depth of field being used here to make the subject pop out more so you can focus on her face details. The lines in this picture are the shadows of the blinds from the window. The lines direct my eyes directly to the subject. The image is balanced and symmetrical because the image was steady when the photographer took the picture.
The subject does not fill the frame. The subject does not cover the extra space. The extra space is everything around the subject like the brown furniture and walls. The positive space is the subject which is the elder and the negative space is everything around her.
I think some of the ideas and themes in this picture are that things are going to get bad but they always get good or maybe the idea of letting go. I think the story in this image is that everyone will go through something bad the only thing that matters is how well you get back up or if you get back up at all. You have to keep fighting no matter what until your last dying breath.
This reminds of a song by the band Sabaton, to hell and back.
I like this image i think you can interpret something very useful from it. I think there is a message here that is very useful and can help a lot with anyone's life. This photograph is successful because of its message.

Julieta Vazquez Martinez

12/7/2017 09:59:06 am

This image by Gregory Crewdson shows a woman in the center of a living room. The lighting is a set lighting that is controlled by Crewdson.He is using dark colors in the setting, but bright colors on the subject. The woman is wearing brown shoes, little bit dark pants, and light blue turtleneck and long sleeves sweater. She is laying down on the floor facing down but her torso,and head are raised by her arms which are positioned in a vertical way to the floor. She is looking to the floor to a distinctive square on it.

The composition is not pleasing to look at, it is overcharged with details that saturate the viewer with information. The rule of thirds is being used, although it is very subtle since the subject of the image is slightly laying more to the lower right corner. The point of view is low, I would not call it a bug-point of view, but rather a eye-level view. This is because the subject herself is in a low position. The image has a deep depth of field, you are able to see the picture in the back and the shelves on the corner of it.

The photographer seems to be aiming to a 50s, 60s or even 70s set. It gives off a sad and dark feeling. This can be seemed in the face of the woman, and the pallet that the photographer decided to use. This image could be interpreted as a story of a housewife from the times already mentioned. I could see her vacuuming (there is a vacuum in the back) her living room and then coming across the squared caret piece that seems to not fit entirely. It could be about a secret that somebody had been hiding from her. This image reminds me of Edgar Allan Poe’s short stories of psychopaths and murderers.

I do not like or enjoy looking at this image at all. I feel like this gives off a bad sense of mystery and miserability. All this sense is probably what makes it a successful image, Gregory Crewdson aimed to this. As already said, this image is overcharged with information and detail on the setting. This image does call my attention when I first see it, but then as I try to look at the detail I cannot focus because of the saturation.

Like all of Gregory’s images, this was a set up. He probably looked for a little town, where he rented a warehouse and got his team to help him to set up. Then he probably casted a woman that fitted the idea that he had. Because of the hard position to maintain that she had and the point of view from which the image was taken I believe that he used a tripod, this way light could get in easily and get rid of any possible shakiness. He probably also set a light that goes directly to the subject and that way highlighted the square which has different lighting than the woman and all the other parts of the carpet.

Pedro Mejido link

12/7/2017 10:08:43 am

The picture is of an old lady in her house and lying on the floor. She is staring at the carpet. She looks like she is staring at the square in the carpet. The old lady has blonde hair and is wearing a light blue sweater and blue pants. The photo uses natural light from outside and artificial light from the lamp and the studio light.
The photo doesn’t use the rule of thirds nor any bird’s and bug’s eye view. The photo uses a shallow depth of field to focus on the old lady and the focal point of the image is the old lady. The lines of the image are the small little lines of light in the top left corner of the image. The subject of the image does fill the frame and the image doesn’t crop off any other space. The photo is balance and the image is mostly positive space but some of the negative space can be found in the window.
The theme of the photo is supposed to be about the house of an old lady. The image was shot with a budget of a small scale film company. The photographer makes photos like this one in suburban homes. I don’t know why the old lady is lying on the floor and looking at the square on the carpet. The photo uses both natural and artificial light for some reason and I don’t know why the artificial light shines on the square that the old lady is looking at.
I don’t like image because the combination of the artificial and the natural light looks weird to me. I also don’t like the fact that the old lady is not doing anything particularly interesting she’s just lying on the floor looking at a square. I don’t the fact that the photo looks like it has a symbolic meaning but to be honest it probably doesn’t. I also don’t like the fact that photo costs thousands of dollars even though it’s just an old lady lying on the floor and looking at the square. I don’t like the photo in general I don’t know why but I just don’t like it.
The photo is successful because it focused my attention to the old lady. The photo can also be unsuccesful in my eyes because it didn’t please me. You could also say the photo is successful because it captures what an old person’s house looks like. You can also say the photo was successful because it got you thinking what made that square so important. In my opinion the photo is unsuccessful because it didn’t look pleasing.

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Period 4 -- Critical Analysis #11

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