Period 4 -- Critical Analysis #4

10/6/2017

Today you will be writing about this image by artist Holly Andres. The photograph is from her body of work titled Stories From A Short Street. Here is the artist's project statement:

STORIES FROM A SHORT STREET is a collection of eight photographs inspired by my unique experience growing up in rural Montana as the youngest of ten children. By casting a fictitious group of siblings loosely based on archetypes of my own family, each image is constructed to enact a specific moment, communicate identity through space, and depict a psychological portrait.

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.

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

Dylan Pegg link

10/6/2017 08:19:32 am

A young girl kneels in the middle of a living room, looking towards something out of frame, with a bunch of dolls laying on the ground in front of her. The photo is comprised of mainly warm colors of brown orange, and grey, along with a bit of blue. Since it is in a house, there is artificial lighting, but there is a small window in the background providing a bit of sunlight. A picture hangs on the wall, and a piano is near the back of the room with a bird cage hanging over it. It seems like the girls was playing with her dolls, maybe giving them makeovers, but was interrupted by someone out of frame, most likely her mom.
The rule of thirds is used with the girl slightly off center to the right, with her head in the middle of the photo (vertically). The picture is taken from an adult's eye height, which is a bit taller than the girl. Most of the photo is in focus, with the exception of some branches outside the window. The photo is symmetrical for the most part, with the girl and dolls in the middle, and furniture and other things you find in a home on either side of her. The frame barely cuts off one of the doll’s heads, half of the couch, and a bit of the piano, along with leaving out the person of thing the girl is looking at.
The picture seems to tell the story of a girl who is playing, but is interrupted by a chore or some other thing that will keep her from playing. Perhaps this is a message that the real world isn’t just fun and games, or maybe the photographer was just recreating childhood. The color scheme and furniture remind me of my grandparents old house, which just helps me feel the picture more, almost being able to smell the room (grandparents’ houses ALWAYS have a unique smell). The picture is beautiful in my opinion, since it has an interesting color scheme and seems a bit overexposed, but not overly-overexposed (it’s still nice to look at, and doesn’t seem to be clipping).I believe the photographer was trying to recapture childhood with this picture since it features a playing girl and seems a bit vintage in style.
I think the picture is successful since it manages to immerse the viewer. It creates an environment almost everyone can relate to, such as the house they grew up in or a loved one’s house (or at least it reminds me of those places). It recreates a situation almost everyone's been in when they are interrupted from playing when they were young. Its for these reasons that I think it's beautiful, mainly due to a false sense of nostalgia. If it had a different color scheme or environment, it wouldn’t have the same effect, but luckily the photographer managed to make a relatable and enjoyable image.

Leon Toursarkissian link

10/6/2017 08:21:32 am

This is an image of a young girl on her knees in her living room, and appearing to be cutting out figures from a magazine. It is using very warm colors such as brown, cyan, white, green, and tan. The lighting in the image is pretty bright but it does have a slight dimness to it. The objects in the image are a girl in a blue dress, around 40 cutout images, a piano, a stool, or birdcage, a sofa, a window, scissors, an image on the wall, a wooden floor, and a magazine. In the image the girl is cutting out pictures of female models from a magazine and laying them out in front of her, and she is also looking away towards something, perhaps a parent.
The composition of this image is odd because there are some colors that work well together but also some that don’t look nice at all together. The rule of thirds is not being used since the girl is slightly off from the right vertical thirds line. The angle at which the image was taken is horizontal and slightly vertical because the image seems parallel to the ground. A deep depth of field is being used because all of the objects in the image appear sharp. The focal point of the image is the girl, and it is not framed by anything. The lines in the image are all over the place and don’t seem to lead your eyes in any specific direction. The image is neither balanced nor symmetrical because no one half or part of the picture is the same as another. The subject barely takes up any space in the picture and there is a lot of extra space. The edge of the image is not anywhere in specific and it crops off randomly. The negative space is anything around the girl, who is the positive space.
The theme of the image is to recollect events from childhood and attempt to portray them as they actually were. The story being told is that there is a girl cutting out images from a magazine and laying them down in front of her, and it appears that someone may have caught her and she’s looking at them. The artist made this image with the intention of remembering her childhood events. This image reminds me of a seventh grade propaganda project where we had to cut out images from a magazine. It doesn’t question any beliefs. The image doesn’t seem very special to me and it’s very bland.
I really don’t like this image mainly because the colors chosen do not work well together at all and give the image a very odd mood. I also don’t like that the image is overcrowded with objects, which gives me a feeling of uncomfortableness since I like thing to be neat and orderly. I personally don’t think that the image is very successful because it only tells the story of a person’s childhood, and seems to be very vague. The colors chosen and the composition may also be attributed to that.

Andi Feik

10/6/2017 08:22:11 am

This image is of a girl kneeling on the ground. It looks like she is cutting out people from a magazine and laying them on the ground. This image is using a lot of colors. The Majority of the colors are more cool colors. There are also some more warm color in the image. The lighting in this image is bright and makes the image look white. In the image there is a girl on the floor cutting out people from a magazine. There is also a bird cage in the background with a bird in it. In this image the girl’s eyes are looking kind of off to the side and up it looks like she could maybe be looking at her mom or another person that maybe walked in the room.
I think this image is pleasing to look at because there is a lot of things to look at. It is also a bright image. The rule of thirds is being used because she is centered in the picture but a little of to the side. The photographer took it a little higher up from where the girl is kneeling but also in front of the girl. This image has a very deep depth of field because everything in the image is in focus. The subject fills the bottom half of the image and towards the top of the image s a birdcage, couch, and piano.
The story being told in this image is supposed to be of the photographer and her siblings growing up. This image looks like the setting was from a long time ago. Everything in the image is kind of old looking because this was from her childhood. I think this is image is interesting because there is a lot of things to look at. This is also a very bright image and looks very lit up.
I like this image because it is interesting to look at. I like this image because this is what the artists childhood looked like and it represents her. I think this image is successful because this whole set of images is about her and her siblings. The cut outs on the floor are also interesting because they are sort of color coated and are arranged. I like this image because she had a plan for everything and knew where she wanted all the things to be.

Catherine Clausewitz

10/6/2017 08:27:32 am

This image is of a little girl. She looks to be about 9 or ten. She looks to be in a living room. The decorations and furniture in the room are a piano with a very colorful stool that looks like the top is a flower, a mix between a green and brown colored couch, a painting on the wall that looks like a mountain scene of some sort, a bird cage that is gold with a bird in it and, curtains with a very victorian and royal looking pattern to them. The actual room itself has cream walls and hardwood floors that are almost a caramel looking color. This picture is mainly warm tones except for the little girl's dress and the trees outside when you look at the window. She light mainly focuses around the center of the room and the shadow is mainly near the piano.
The little girl is wearing a long sleeve white shirt with a collar as well as lace on the collar and sleeves. She is wearing a dress that is a mix between light blue and turquoise with white flowers all over it. She has strawberry blonde hair that is parted to the side that is about a medium length and she is very pale with blue eyes. She is kneeling and looking off to the side with a not so happy expression her face. She has what at first glance looks like paper dolls on the ground but when you get a closer look you see it is actually people she has cut out from a magazine.
She has a magazine open and scissors next to her. When you look at the cut outs they look to be cut out in a very careful and detailed way. It looks like she has cut out about 45 different outfits and the order from the top to the bottom goes from warm tones to cooler tones. The image looks like it might have an 70s or 80s theme to it. The little girl in the image is very stunning and stands out in the image because she is the only thing with light blue and cool tones. I like this image but it isn’t something I would hang in my house. The little girl has a very sad expression on her face that gives off this very sad feeling. The image is very beautiful but it isn’t my favorite.

Kaitlyn Evans

10/6/2017 08:27:52 am

Critical analysis #4

In this image there is a girl kneeling on the floor and cutting women out of magazines. She is in the living room that includes a couch, a piano, a birdcage, and a window with a curtain on it. The colors in this photograph are red, blue, green, black, brown, and beige. The lighting is bright, it looks like a studio set up. The objects in this photo are a girl with red hair and she is wearing a blue dress over a white long sleeved shirt. The house looks like an old house with older furniture so this picture could’ve been taken or is made to look like it was taken in the 80’s or 90’s. In this image there is a girl who is cutting out people in a magazine. She put them in a rainbow order on the floor. She is kneeling and looking away so she could be looking at someone or something.
The rule of thirds in this image is showing that the subject isn’t right in the middle of the image. The point of view is from a straight angle, the photographer is standing right in front of the subject. The photographer took this from a deep depth of field to capture everything that is going on in this image. The subject does not fill the frame there is still extra space that is included in the background such as the couch and the piano. At the edge of the image that is not shown there is probably more to the room that might include a TV or a table. The positive space is of the young girl and the negative space includes the background.
In this image the artist is trying to show us what she did as a kid. The artist is trying to show us what kids did back then before ipads, iphones, and computers came out. Kids did normal things besides staying inside and playing on video games all day like most kids do now. This image reminds me of the stories my mom use to tell me about her childhood, she played with dolls and made things with magazines. I think this image is interesting because it’s a reminder of how things use to be and it’s cool seeing how different society has changed.
I like this image a lot because we don’t really see houses decorated like that anymore and people don’t dress like that nowadays. People use to go outside or do arts and crafts and now we can download apps to draw or color and play stuff on our phones that we could be doing outside. This photograph was successful because it really got me thinking about how much the world has changed. The style of houses have changed a lot because they’re more modernized inside. People don’t wear clothes like that anymore, the style is way different.

Pedro Mejido link

10/6/2017 08:28:33 am

The image is of a little girl in her living room with cut out images of models laying on the floor next her and a magazine which is where the images came from. The image uses a bright light which is from the lights in the house, the photographers light, and the light from outside. The little girl’s dress matches the painting of the mountain and the girl looks like she wants to be involved in the fashion industry. The photo looks mildly pleading because of the light being used in the image. The image doesn’t follow the rule of thirds and the image uses a shallow depth of field to focus more on the little girl. The image cuts off some object from the frame like for example, the couch which doesn’t show where the couch ends. The image also cuts out some of the pictures of the models and it also cuts out the piano. The photographer tries to tell us that the girl wants to be a model or fashion designer. I feel neutral about the photograph because the picture is not horrible nor is outstanding. The photograph is successful in telling us the story of the image and focusing on the little girl.

Estefan Zorrilla link

10/6/2017 08:30:39 am

This picture is about a redheaded girl in a house that is decorated with furniture. ˇhe girl is cutting out portraits of girls which look like models. She is looking up and looks sad. This photograph uses neutral colors like white and a lot of peach and sand color. There are almost no shadows here. The place is very lit up. There is a girl in the middle with a blue and white dress. There is a piano and a couch. Some paintings in the wall and a window which leads to outside which is green. The girl is cutting out models then stops and looks up.
The photo is pleasing to look at because it uses the same colors almost everywhere around the picture. The rule of thirds is being used here because the subject is next to another subject and aligns nicely which is pleasing to the eye. The photographer took this picture in a first person view as if someone is looking at the girl. A shallow depth of field is being used here because the girl pops out more the the other things in the background like the grass outside. The focal point is the girl. The image is balanced and symmetrical. The photo is not crooked and it is in place. The subject does not fill the frame completely, there is still some extra space like the grass outside and the window leading to it. The image crops out part of the sofa and part of the piano. The positive space is all the girl and the negative space is the stuff around her excluding the furniture.
I think some of the ideas that are being explored here are self doubt and not having confidence. The story that is being told here is i think that she wants to be like those models so she cuts them out from magazines and studies there bodies so she can be like them. I think her mom came in the room while she was doing this and she looked up to her mom and was very sad. I think the reason the artist made this image is because the photographer wanted the people to make up their own story. This reminds me of a movie. I can't remember which tho. I think the image is boring, it's weird and uses nice colors but the setup and composition doesn't fit me.
I do not like it. O think it is boring and i hate it. It gives me a weird vibe and feeling. The photograph is successful because i think it portrays what the photographer meant to say. I just don't like tho.

Adriana

10/6/2017 08:30:47 am

Critical Analysis #4

The image is of a girl kneeling on the floor, it look like she was cutting images of dresses from a magazine. She's in the living room and as a background there is a couch, a piano, a window with a curtain and a painting. The colors that are being used in this picture are warm colors, the dress of the girl is the brightest color, I think they applied they used the brightest color on her dress so she can stand out from anything else in the image. The piano at the background in the darkest object in the image. There isn’t natural light in this picture, they are using fake light coming from the left side and it gets darker to the right side. The girl is making a shadow and also the piano. I think what is happening on the image is that the girl was cutting dresses and designing out from the magazine, then her mom or dad come into the room and she looks to the side, that's when they took the picture.
The image is very well composed, it fills every part of the image, there is an object filling out every space. The picture was taken from 5 year old kid angle.The first object you look at when you first open the image is the girl and the cuts of magazines on the floor. The image is being framed by the wall and the floor. The main subject does not fill all the image but there are others objects like the cuts of the magazines, the painting and the piano that fill out the background. The lines direct us to the main object which is the girl. The story being told in the image is that the little girl’s wish is to be a great designer one day, she starts looking for dresses and designs from the magazine and starts to design clothes.

Julieta Vazquez Martinez

10/6/2017 08:35:47 am

This image by Holly Andres shows a little girl of about twelve years old. She is wearing a light blue dress with a white shirt under it. She is lying on her knees and her body is straight, her hands are down on the sides and she is looking to the right upper corner (like if she was looking to an adult standing up). In the floor right next to her on the left side there are multiple women cut from magazines. Behind to the left of the girl there is a magazine and scissors close to her left hand on the floor. You can see a window behind the girl, then in the same wall there is a painting of a landscape, right behind the painting there is a couch with a kind of yellowish-goldish color. To the left of all of this, there is an old school organ with a colorful seat; right above it there is a bird in a cage.

This image uses warm color, they are all vibrant colors and there are few light colors. Holly uses the rule of thirds here with the girl and it is asymmetrical. The picture is taken from a low angle, but it is still in the range of eye-agle. A medium DOP is being used because you can see the girl completely focused, then you can still see the couch focused, but then you can’t see after the window. The image is not framed, neither are some objects completely in the image. The image does fill in the space with the composition that it has arranged.

The themes that this image could be about are childhood, rules, and rebelty. Childhood because there is the girl who seems to be rebel (she looks like she is being scolded) for [maybe] breaking the rules about cutting the magazines out.

I do not like the image in any aspect. The composition is too much for my taste, I believe that she charged too much information into the image. The editing job was too saturated and makes the image to look very fake.

Julieta Vazquez Maritnez

Melody Umsted

10/10/2017 04:32:49 pm

This image is of a girl sitting on her knees in front of the couch on the floor in the living room. In the corner of the room there is a piano and above that, a bird cage. There is also a picture hanging above the couch. On the floor in front of the girl, there are pictures of people that have been cut out from a magazine. The girl is looking off at something not in the picture.
The picture is not pleasing to look at because the girl looks angry. Next to her are scissors which look a little scary. The point of view is from another person just standing in the room. The focal point is the girl. She is not framed. The couch is cut off and so is some of the piano. The subject, the girl, does not fill the whole frame, but there isn't empty space because there are other objects that I think are important for this image.
The idea of this image was for the artist to recreate scenes from her childhood. From just looking at this picture, I think it looks like the girl is going to take these cutout people and hang them in her room so she can create some plot against them. But also, she could be cutting out these people from the magazine to learn about fashion and mimic their style. This picture doesn’t remind me of anything, but it looks like something that would be in a scary movie. The image is interesting because it makes you wonder what the girl is doing and what she is looking at.
I don't like this image. It’s not easy to look at and I don't want to look at it for a long time because it is weird and spooky. Knowing the background and the artist’s intent of this image, I think it is successful. If I didn’t know that, it wouldn’t have been successful because the observer wouldn’t be able to tell that the artist is recreating her childhood. I am curious to see her other photos from this series to piece together her story.

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Period 4 -- Critical Analysis #4

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