Period 4 -- Critical Analysis #7

12/12/2019

Today you will be writing about this image by artist Sian Davey. The photograph is from her body of work titled Looking For Alice. We will look at some images from this series and discuss it in class before you write.

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.

Your analysis is due by 4PM today, so use your class time wisely to complete your assignment!

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

Kurt Bliss

12/12/2019 09:27:48 am

In this picture we see a little girl named Alice who is about 4. She is sitting on a bed and looks rather comfy. Its using very warm colors like light red and white. The lighting that is being used is from sunlight. There are pillows, a human, sheets, and a bed. It looks like she is just waking from a nap.

The composition is pleasing to the eye. The rule of thirds is not really being used and it uses a direct frontal point of view. The image is centered in the frame and it is using a medium depth of field for this photo. The image is rather balanced and pretty much symmetrical. The subject does fill the frame in this image.

The author is trying to say that despite the physical differences people may have. We are more alike than we think. I personally relate to this as through my senior year at TMI I have experienced this. I have gotten a chance to speak to more people who hangout with different friend groups than me, have different interests and it turns out we have a lot of the same views, listen to the same music, and have similar personalities. In this image we see the story of her daughter with down syndrome and what her daily life is like and how she is really no different than you or me. The image is not very noteworthy to me. I really won’t remember this image at all.

I do like the image however as it tells us an interesting story about a little girl. It also teaches an important lesson that we can all relate to and hopefully live by. The image is well done and deserves merit.

It probably took a lot to create this image as the author had to get a subject to cooperate with her.

Zac Isaac

12/12/2019 09:30:36 am

In the photo there is a girl. The girl is looking at the camera. The colors are white, brown, red and orange. The photo is dark in some places and white in others. Very good exposure.

It is a little creepy to look at. The girl is staring directly at the camera. The rule of thirds are being used. The girl is in the middle. Very good way to use the rule of thirds.

There is a story being told in the image. The story is about how people see a girl with a disability. The photo is noteworthy. It doesn't question any beliefs or challenges. Very good photo.

I like the photo. Although a little creepy it is a good photo. I think the photo is successful. Because it challenges people who are judgemental. Excellent photo.

The photo can make you think on how you treat others. You don't really know what happened in their life. You can’t really know they feel. That's what the photographer was trying to say in the photo. It is a very successful photo.

Kurt Bliss

12/12/2019 09:31:49 am

Expanding upon the fourth paragraph I also like it because it gives us a chance to see the life of someone who's struggles are foreign to us and sheds light onto an important subject that gets neglected. The image itself had a lot of work put into it as she had to maneuver the subject where she wanted and get her to make the face she wanted. She also had to get the correct lighting to display the subject correctly.

George Welch

12/12/2019 09:34:37 am

This image by Sian Davey and is of her daughter Alice. It uses a mixture of dark and bright lighting. On one side of the picture is window light and the other side has the window covered. It has Alice sitting with a blanket in her hand. She is alone.

I think this image is pleasing but yet not pleasing to look at. I think it looks nice as a photo. But it looks like it has some kind of darker meaning. It has a pretty close depth of field. You can see Alice clearly but the background slowly gets more blurry.

I think there is a story behind this image. Alice looks kind of confused in the image. I think this could have been after something happened right before this image was taken (or she could have just been confused about what her mom was doing). I think it also humanizes Alice a lot. I shows that people who are different (like Alice) are still people.

I think this image does show the viewer a lot about Alice. I think it shows that Alice is a person too. It shows that she has feelings like everyone around her. It shows that she isn’t all that different from the rest of society. And I think it shows how Alice is someone who needs to be treated like any other human being.

I like this image. I think the artist did an amazing job photographing Alice. I like it because it makes Alice no different than anyone else. It think it is successful because of its composure and execution. I like this photo.

Zac Isaac

12/12/2019 09:35:51 am

In the photo there is a girl. The girl is looking at the camera. The colors are white, brown, red and orange. The photo is dark in some places and white in others. She is on a bed or a couch.

It is a little creepy to look at. The girl is staring directly at the camera. The rule of thirds are being used. The girl is in the middle. Very good way to use the rule of thirds. The shadows are on the left side of the exposure.

There is a story being told in the image. The story is about how people see a girl with a disability. The photo is noteworthy. It doesn't question any beliefs or challenges. But the photo challenges judgemental people.

I like the photo. Although a little creepy it is a good photo. The child looks sad in the photo.I think the photo is successful. Because it challenges people who are judgemental. The way the photographer took the photo was precise.

The photo can make you think on how you treat others. You don't really know what happened in their life. You can’t really know they feel. That's what the photographer was trying to say in the photo. It is a very touching photo.

MJ Ervin

12/12/2019 09:39:47 am

This image is of a girl sitting down with a bunch of blankets. The colors are like brown shades and whitish shades, because that's the place they took the picture. The lighting is dark and bright is some places. The objects are some blankets and pillows the curtains in the background and the window also the girl.

This image is pleasing to look at. The rule of thirds is not being used because she is i the center of the frame. The photo was taken from a front facing view. It is a slightly shallow depth of field because of the windows being slightly blurry in the background. The lines are like the couch the blankets and pillows they direct your eyes to the girl, but I do have to say that the lighting directs my eye more than the lines. The subject doesn't fill the frame and there's a lot of access space. The framing doesn't really cut of anything important just more of what in the frame. The negative space is ore on the far left and right sides whereas the lighter spaces are by the window and the girl.

Um maybe how she is at home from school or something i'm not sure. There's a story about the image but it isn't really easy for me to understand the story just by thi picture. The image doesn't really remind me of anybody but for some reason when i look at it i can't stop thinking about home alone. This picture doesn't really question any elifs but i mean you can assume that its a girl and she is at home on the couch and so on but you can't really make any more than just that. This image is interesting and beautiful.

I do like this image because it makes me want to go home and just chill in my bed and be warm. This makes me more excited for winter break. This image is successful because it is pleasing to look at and gives you good vibes. I do have to say the message or the story i can't really get from just this picture. I mean you could assume that she has down syndrome but if you saw this picture and didn't know any backstory I couldn't tell what was going on. I would believe that is a girl staying home from school or just at home laying down.

I think that Sianis trying to send us a message about her daughter and life with her daughter. The image by itself is kinda hard to get the full meaning form. If she were to put all of her images together then i think it would be a lot easier to get the full story. I think she would really be able to tell the story if she was at school and while everybody was walking she would stand still and look at the camera. That would make me be able to understand her story so much better and since its one image it shows how she is kinda the odd one out but still does things normal kids do.

anaya zachery

12/12/2019 09:41:42 am

This image shows the photographer’s young daughter, Alice, sitting in a pile of blankets. She is positioned in front of a window, and we can see that it is a bright day, most likely sometime in the afternoon. The colors in the photo are all warmer tones instead of brighter, more vibrant ones. There is also quite a bit of shadow in the image. I think that most of the lighting is natural, coming from the window.

The rule of thirds isn’t really being used in this image; the subject is pretty centered in the frame. Based on her positioning, we can tell that the focal point of the is definitely Alice. The photo’s depth of field is fairly shallow so as to draw more attention to Alice. The negative space surrounding her is mostly filled with the patterns of the blanket and curtains. There aren’t very many lines in the photo, though you could say that Alice’s legs are positioned in the foreground, and sort of serve to guide the viewer’s eyes up toward her face.

As we read in the photographer’s statement, we know that Davey created this photo as part of a series to capture moments in the life of her daughter. I would definitely say that it challenges beliefs that may be held by some people. Many times, we choose to judge people that we see as different. This photo allows us to have a personal glimpse into the life of Alice, and gives us the chance to see parts of her that aren’t based on first impressions that others may have. I think these reasons make the photograph beautiful, because it captures an authentic version of her, apart from the miscalculated impressions others may have had.

I personally really like the color scheme of this photo. I think it is pleasing to look at, and the fabrics all sort of blend together in an appealing way. I also like the use of shadows in this image. I also like how this photo is part of a series; I think it adds to the meaning of it. Overall, I think that this image successfully captured the meaning that the photographer was trying to convey.

In Davey’s statement about this series of photographs, she talks about how society tends to reject others that are considered different. When her daughter came into her life, she was forced to come to terms with her differences and realize that the things she thought would set her daughter apart from others didn’t affect the unconditional love she had for her. She made this photo as a way to educate society about the prejudging others. By drawing conclusions about a person based solely on one aspect of their identity, we lose the wonderful traits that make up the rest of the person. I think that this series of photographs does a great job of capturing Alice’s personality, as well as show the mutual and unconditional love that she and her family has.

Garrett Greiner

12/12/2019 09:43:11 am

This is an image of a toddler, who is 3 years old and a girl. She is looking right at the camera. It looks like she is sitting on a couch of some sort. There is a window behind her, and we can see the daylight. Part of the window(the left half) is covered by a curtain. There is a pot with a plant in it sitting on the windowsill. It looks like she just woke up from a nap, and she appears to be wearing pajamas. There are some pillows scattered on the couch, and there is a blanket or a sheet off to the right of the couch. Orange, white, red, and grey are the main colors of this image.

I think that the image is pleasing to look at. Although it doesn’t use the rule of thirds, the girl is lined up with the end of the curtain. She divides the light from the dark, and I think that has a really cool effect. I like how the light is coming from the back, and the setting of this image makes it feel more relatable. The photographer took this picture at the eye-level of the toddler. The photographer used shallow depth of field, as the girl is in focus, while other objects are not. The plant in the background isn’t in focus, the curtain isn’t in focus, etc. The focal point of this image is the girl. Although normally I like images to be symmetrical, I like the asymmetry of the light in this image. I think it has a really cool effect. The little yellow line that goes across the curtain guides the viewer from the left half of the screen to the middle. The right end of the curtain brings the viewer from the top to the bottom. The top of the couch/windowsill brings the viewer’s attention from the right side of the screen to the middle. The window has those white bars that help bring the attention from the top to the middle. The subject doesn’t take up all of the space, but it is essential because the setting of the image is important in this image. The frame crops off the left and top side of the curtain. Some of the couch is cropped off, and the pillow on the left is cropped off. The windows in the top right are cropped off.

I think the main theme of this image is the contrast between the light and the darkness. The story behind the image is that this girl was born with down syndrome. Her mother wanted to take these pictures so that she could love her daughter they way she knows her daughter loves her. The photographer likes to take pictures of her family members, and doing this allowed her to get closer to her daughter. Her intention is to show that people with down syndrome are just like any other human. Taking pictures of her daughter allows her to prove her point. I think this is a beautiful and interesting image, as I like the setting of the image, and after hearing the story behind this album the image means more.

I think that the image is pretty good. I like how the subject is placed on the line where the curtain and the windows meet, as it creates this cool effect where half of the screen is lit up, while the other side is dark. I also like the colors used, and I like how there are many different lines that lead to the subject. I think the photo isn’t as successful as a stand-alone. When it is by itself, you only see one aspect of the girl’s daily life. In order to really get a sense of what her daily life is like, you need to see the whole album. Together, the images of the album are successful. But to me, when you just view one of those images, it becomes slightly less successful.

I think that the author would have had to wait there with the camera set up and take the picture as she woke up, as that is what it seems the girl was doing right before this picture. That would have been a little hard to time, and if the girl was not cooperative or didn’t sit up in the right place, the image would not have been the same. I don’t know whether the curtain was in the position it is in the photo before the photo, or if the photographer moved it so that she could get the cool half-light half-dark effect. Regardless, it was still probably not the easiest photo to take. I think her intentions behind this project are really cool and unique.

Nathan Bond

12/12/2019 09:48:04 am

In this picture, there is a toddler girl sitting on a couch. The girl is white and has blond hair. She is wearing a button-up shirt with little pink flowers all over it as the design. She has a drawing on her leg of triangles that have been drawn in what looks like a black marker. She has green eyes and a chubby face.

There are pillows and blankets all around her. The pillows and blankets are grey and white and some of them have flower designs just like her shirt. The back of the couch is behind her and it has unique pattern designs. The patterns are in the shape of a rhombus but I can’t describe the design inside of that shape. There is a pot of pink flowers behind her by a window and there is also a curtain to the left of the flowers.

The girl is looking directly at the camera and she looks clueless. There is bright sunlight coming out of the window and shining on her but the picture is primarily dark. The colors in the picture are primarily red and pink. The subject doesn’t fill the frame and there is a lot of extra space to see around her. The frame cuts off to where we can’t see the end of the couch and the bottom of the couch and it cuts off before we can see the top of the window.

The rule of thirds is not being used because the subject is in the middle of the picture. The first thing you see it the child and then a blanket that leads toward a pillow with the same design as the kid’s shirt. Then the sunlight leads you to the flowers in front of the window, so those are the lines. There are a lot of flowers in this picture (the kid’s shirt, pillows, and the pot of flowers). The positive and negative space is cut in half, the left half of the kid and the left half of the image is dark and the right half of the kid is light and so is the right half of the picture.

The themes in this picture are the flowers and maybe light and dark. There is no story in this picture that I can see. Maybe the artist took this picture of the child to show the dark and light sides of people. This photo doesn’t question or challenge beliefs. It isn’t interesting and it isn’t noteworthy to me. I don’t care for this photo because it just doesn’t catch my attention and I can’t come up with a story for it. I would say this photo is unsuccessful.

Ryan Shields

12/12/2019 09:48:24 am

In this image a young girl named Alice with down syndrome is sitting on a bed of sheets. The colors are more neutral and the colors that aren’t are more bleak and subdued. On the right half of the image there’s light coming in from the window, while on the left side of the image it is much darker. Some of the objects included in the image are, Alice, sheets, pillows, and a plant by the window. In the image Alice is sitting on some sheets on what appears to be either a bed or a couch.

I think the image is pleasing to look at because there's nothing technically wrong with it. The rule of thirds is being used. The image was taken directly in front of Alice. Shallow depth of field is being used. The focal point so n Alice and the image is not framed. There are lines in the folds of the sheets but they don’t lead your eye any place in particular. The image is balanced and Alice is sitting in the middle of the picture so it’s relatively symmetrical. The subject does not fill the frame and the background of the sheets and the window are along the edges of the photo. The positive space is at the right, while the negative space is on the left.

The theme of the image is Alice. There's a story being told in the image. Alice has down syndrome and the whole idea is that she’s not that different from the rest of us. The artist made the image to prove how Alice isn’t that different from everybody else. The image doesn’t remind me of anything. The image does not question any of my beliefs. I don’t think the image is interesting, it’s pretty boring and all the colors bleak.

I don’t really like the image because it’s boring.The image is supposed to say how people with down syndrome aren’t that different from normal people and it does sort of accomplish that. When I look at the image I can tell that there some sort of problem with her, but I wouldn’t be able to tell that she has down syndrome.

I think that the image is supposed to be about how people in general are similar, and this photo of her daughter with down syndrome is supposed to prove that idea.

Elise Miles

12/12/2019 09:49:53 am

The image is of Alice sitting on pillows on a couch in a nightgown. Some of the colors in the image are red, white, tan, and black. The only lighting in the image is coming from the window. Other then that the room is dark. Some of the objects in the image are Alice, pillows, curtains, and the couch. In the image Alice is sitting on the couch staring at the camera.

The rule of thirds is not being used because the subject is in the middle of the image. The point of view is from right in front of the subject. The depth of field is shallow yet deep. Mostly everything is blurry except for the subject but the subject is sitting at a distance from the camera. The focal point is Alice. The lines in the image are the edge of the couch and the curtains. The subject does not fill the frame; there is other space around her. At the edge of the image is the window, couch, Alice’s feet, and the curtains.

The theme of the image is loving someone no matter how different they are. The story behind the image is that the artist photographs her down syndrome child to show people that she really isn’t different from them. The artist made the image to show that all people are capable of love or being loved no matter how different they may be. The image reminds me of when I was really sick and how I sort of just sat on the couch in a sickly kind of daze. The image does not challenge any beliefs. The image is beautiful in the way that we can see everybody as pretty.

I like the image because it shows how Alice is pretty even though she has down syndrome. It shows that people with disabilities are just like us. They are capable of being loved. It reminds me of when I just chill at my house. The lighting is also really good. It looks as if Alice has light all around her head.

The photo is successful because everything is clear. The image is crisp in the way that you can see every detail. This image would definitely be good in a gallery supporting people with disabilities.This image would definitely make lots of money. It is successful in many ways.

dana s

12/13/2019 09:01:28 am

The image by Sian Davey shows a girl sitting on a couch surrounded by blankets and pillows. She is sitting near a window, with a limited stream of light. The colors that Sian Dave is using are mostly dark and there is only one small part where light is actually touching the subject. There is only one girl in the photograph and she is all alone. The dark shadows make it seem like she’s all alone and in a way makes it look a little scary for a young girl.
This image is pleasing to look at because of the different colors in the picture and the different shadows. Personally, I like dark images better than bright ones so I believe that this image in particular is very successful. The artist made the subject the center of the photograph but she chose to cut off her feet. It’s interesting how the artist shows a lot of background and deeper ground but yet doesn’t show the subject’s feet. The artist also made everything dark except the subject, the girl, making her the focal point and the focal point.
The photograph reminds of childhood and how it was to wake up alone in a room where everyone else is gone. The girl in the picture looks like she just woke up because of the marks on her calves and her almost confused face. The marks on her calves are probably there because of the sheets being tangled and her not moving for a long time. She is wearing pajamas which also makes it more evident that she had been taken a nap. I believe that the photographer was thinking about what it’s like to be a child. Whenever any child falls asleep, it’s without a care in the world, which is what the marks on her calves represent.
I really like this image because it reminds me of whenever I was younger and I used to fall asleep on couches or even in the car. I’d wake up with marks on my face because I had laid on hard or textured surfaces. I believe that the photographer is very successful in trying to portray childhood through this image because we all can think of a time where this is how we woke up.
The theme of this image is childhood and it is represented by the innocent look on her face. Her face captures the purity of childhood which is then further highlighted by the light. I believe that the author wanted to make the subject of the photograph more noticeable to the public and make them believe that she is a child too despite her condition. This is why I like the picture so much and believe that it is truly successful in trying to portray all of these things.

Diego S

12/13/2019 09:14:21 am

Sian Davey

Critical Analysis

In this picture we can se davey’s doughter, Alice, She has down syndrome and she’s under five years old, Davey started to photograph alice when she was about 2 years old and did a series of pictures called “Looking for Alice”, Davey also takes pictures of her family most of Alice and her other doughter.

In this picture we can all se alice in a room with natural lighting that is coming from the window, while alice is sitting on a couch with bed covers, and she’s sitting down, the couch has a pattern and there are flowers and a pillow on the background.
In this picture Davey used natural lighting for her picture an did a portrait of Alice, just like many others.

In this image we see alice sitting down on a couch that is used as a bed, she’s surrounded by pillows and covers for a bed, on the background we can see the light that is being emited by the window, and a pot with flowers that are colorful, we can also see the covers in the window have a pattern and they are orange.

I like this image because it is using natural light from the sun that is being reflected by te window, it is also a portrait of a diferent person tat is not like the other portraits we have seen in this class, it also is a different thing that the other portraits we have seen because most of the pictures are just grown up people that are jsut sad, depressed or they are just having a really bad day, but in this case we just see Alice, while she’s just sitting down to chill.

I think Davey started crating this type of series to show the various aspects of someone who has down syndrome, and also to show the world to not be afraid of something different than what people are used to looking at, she also by creating this series, she shows people what is like to having or even living with someone who lives with that type of syndrome, she has another daughter that in one image she seems to be enjoying her sister.

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Period 4 -- Critical Analysis #7

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