Period 4 -- Critical Analysis #8

1/10/2020

Today you will be writing about this photograph by artist Jerry Uelsmann. This photograph is a composite, or an image made up of several combined photographs.

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 by midnight.

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

Some things to consider:

This photograph is a composite—i.e., it is made up of more than one image.

How is Uelsmann (the photographer) using compositing to influence the overall mood and feeling of the image?
How do you think this image was created?

Kurt

1/10/2020 09:32:18 am

The image is of a house rooted in the ground by a root system. The house is pretty beaten up and has shattered glass and discolored paint. The image itself is black and white. The lighting is during the day time and uses black and white to paint a dark theme onto the image. There is a house with a root system and it looks like the house is in a pretty mountainous region.
The image is very pleasing to look at because it is blackand white and is an overall cool image to see. It’s otherworldly and definitely has a dream affect. The rule of thirds is not being used as the image is centered in the frame. It is the main focal point of the image and is centered on the frame. The image uses a shallow depth of field to display the subject with full clarity. The subject mostly fills the frame however there is some extra landscape behind and around it. The point of view is very front and center as the object is right in front of us and centered in the frame.
The image seems to display this theme of nightmare on earth as the image itself seems to act as a dream and overall has a dark tone to it like a nightmare. The house rooted into the ground with broken windows and neglected paint, along with the houses surrounding it being pretty crappy seems to display darkness, depression, and neglect on earth. The artist made this image because he thought it looked cool. The image reminds me of this one movie about halloween where a house comes alive and starts eating everyone it sees. The image does not challenge any believes but challenges the assumption that the base of a house can’t be a root system and that houses are built on level ground. The image is very interesting.
I do like the image. It is very interesting using black and white coloring and featuring something that couldn't happen in real life. The image is very dream like and is overall cool to look at. The world around might be some post apocalyptic world or post war world. The photograph is successful in challenging reality and sparking curiosity within the viewer.
The photograph would of been very difficult to make as the photographer would need to use composition to create the image and would have to use the right angle to photograph the house and be able to composite it later on. The photographer needed to capture the tone of the landscape and world it’s in.

MJ Ervin

1/10/2020 09:34:24 am

This image is of two pictures combined a tree and roots. The colors are black and white / greyscale. It's mostly just shadows and light around the image. The things in the image is a house and a tree root. Nothing really is included just some extra houses and leaves. I don't think anything is happening but I know that these images were two separate ones and then were combined together.

This is a pleasing image it is fun to look at because if he didn't use photoshop to do this it must have been really hard to make it look clean. The rule of thirds is not being used in this image this angle is just a straight front view. Very deep depth of field in this image. The lines are on the house and the roots kind of leading up to the house. This image seems to be balanced from what I can see. There's a lot of extra space on the top half of the image which is filled in by some nice gloomy dark clouds. No thee frame doesn't really cut of anything important that I think needed to be in it. Maybe just some more trees and houses. The positive space is on the upper half of the image and the negative space is on the lower half of the image.

I don't know the theme or idea for this image. I don't think their is a story but I like to think that the roots are what holds the family together. I'm not him so idk but it is a nice composition. Kind of reminds me of like a house that would be in alice in wonderland but that just maybe me.This image is interesting and fun to look at I still don't know how it's possible he did that without photoshop.

I like this image it is fun and smooth. It seems like this could actually be a house in real life maybe in like a scary movie. This is a very successful image. The image is incredible already and knowing that he didn't use photoshop makes it ten times cooler. The way he made them overlap and clash into each other, it made me think it was a real image.

The way he made this was first finding what he wanted to use, the house and the roots. He then probably took both pictures as close to alignment as possible. Once he has taken both pictures he took then to be developed then merge them together in such a way that makes it look so real. He probably need a tripod to get the shot symmetrical.

Diego Saucedo

1/10/2020 09:35:27 am

Critical analysis

In this image we can see a house coming out of a tree, the image is black and white with a much darker tone than the other pictures we have analyzed, The colors the artist is using are all dark colors to show some kind of feelings like sadness or depression, many artists express themselves through art and i feel like this artist was going through some rough times when this picture was made, The background is also a bunch of old houses in a hill the houses seem old and somewhat abandoned.
In this image the artist uses dark imager and colors to show something we don’t know right off the bat, The image is centered and focuses more on the house rooting out of the tree, the point where the house is combined or merged with the tree, we can see some fading and also the corners of the tree don’t really match the linings of the house and the soil in the ground doesn’t go all the way to the houses in the background without cutting the bottom image of the tree.
The artist took two pictures and merged them on a black room, and made the places where both images merge really dark so people don’t spot the bad sides of the picture, the image is about a house coming out of a tree, this might mean something related to someone's coming of age or growing up to become an adult, the lighting and colors might mean something else but I’m not really sure what is it, The house and the tree seem to be really old and the house seems abandoned in the middle of a small town somewhere in the UK rural areas.
I like the image and I also like the lighting and colors because it makes it seem like some kind of mysterious to make you wonder how did the artist made that picture?, We can also appreciate the effort it took to make this image because back in the day, they didn't have those resources that are available to us right now, like photoshop or other editing programs, or even modern computers like the ones we have right now.
This image is a composite image made with more than one image and was edited to look like the house was rooting from the tree. The image was affected or inspired by the artists feelings and daily moods, this image seems kind of sad and with this we can infer or think that the artist was sad and was going through some rough times while he was creating this image.
I think this image was made by taking three different pictures, one being the background, another one being the house, and the other one being the house, and finally taking a picture of the tree’s bottom.

Zac Isaac

1/10/2020 09:36:27 am

In this photo there is a house that has roots going into the ground. The photo is black and white with shadows in the gaps of the roots. The house has windows that are broken. The house looks like it's deserted. It looks like it is getting sucked into the ground.

The photo is pleasing to look at in a way. The house is creepy but the roots make it more pleasing to look at. The house with roots just takes up the middle of the photo and the rest of the photo shows what seems to be a ghost town. The photo has a large depth of field. The person who took the photo probably took photo of an old house in an old neighborhood then took a photo of a tree and combined them.

In the photo, the house with roots looks like it had a lot of history in it. The roots can symbolize the memories that were in the house. The house reminds me of the house in the movie up. I think the photo is interesting to everybody. Everyone probably has something different to say about the house.

I think the photo is successful. It makes the people who look at it think about what the house with roots on it symbolizes. I like how the person took the photo. It really makes people think. A well done job on editing the photo.

This photo looks like he took multiple pictures of the house and whats around it and of the tree. The shadows and the black a white colors make it look like its an old house that's been through alot. If you look closely you can see a little bit of the tree above the roots. The photos had to be taken quickly before the light could change what they looked like. The person who took the photo did a really good job on putting the house and the tree together.

Garrett Greiner

1/10/2020 09:41:55 am

This is an image of an old abandoned house that appears to have roots. The windows are shattered, it appears that the paint has been worn over the years, and the roots are quite thick. The house almost seems like it grew out of the ground. We can see other houses in the background of the image. The house seems to be positioned in a rural area, and the terrain is hilly. It is a black and white image, probably to give it that old vibe. The image was taken in the daylight, but the black and white coloring sort of limits the colors used. But the black and white are necessary to emit the feeling the photographer desires.

I think that the image is pleasing to look at. I really like how the roots fade into the house, as I think that it looks really cool. I like the architecture of the house. The rule of thirds is not being used in this image, as the house is centered in the picture. I think it is a deep depth of field as the rest of the background isn’t blurred out very much at all, and you can see everything in the image pretty well. I think the focal point of this image is the second floor of the house where the windows are broken, as there is sort of a white spot that makes it stand out. The roots bring the viewer’s attention towards the center of the image, or in other words, towards the house. The image is not really symmetrical. The house is symmetrical, and I love its design, but the background isn’t balanced. There is a hill on the right, but not on the left. There are more houses on the left than on the right. It feels balanced in a way though. There is extra space in this image, and that is taken up by the sky and the hills and other houses in the background. The frame crops off a little bit of the house that is pictured on the right-hand side of the image. The frame crops off a bit of the end of the roots as well.

I think that age is a big theme in this image. It is clear that this house is old and abandoned. As I have thought about it more, it is almost like the roots are slowly growing over the house and will eventually cover the house and everyone will forget about the house. It is like the house is fading away and dying. I think the author is trying to show that everything comes to an end, and this house is nearing its end. This reminds me of a Greek myth where a good couple, Baucis and Philemon, are turned into trees after death (I think they make up one tree together but I forgot the specifics). This image reminded me of that myth because the roots slowly growing over the old house remind me of the old people being turned into trees.

I think this image is really cool. I really like how they made the house look like it is being taken over by the roots as they make their way up the house. It makes the house look like it is fading away, and I think it has a really cool effect. At first, I did not like how the image was in black and white, but as I have been writing this I realized that having the image be black and white is crucial to the success of the image. The black and white image makes it seem like the house is as old as you would think, and helps the reader get a better sense of what is going on. I think the techniques used were also important to the success of this image.

Making this image would have required a pretty good amount of skill. I believe that the artist did this by compositing. They would have had to first find this house and take an image of it. Next, they would have to go find a suitable tree to take a picture of its roots. After all of that, they would have to go and do a decent amount of editing to paste the roots in the original image and make the smooth fade from the roots to the house. This makes it seem like the roots are becoming part of the house. Then they would have had to put on the filter, which isn’t that hard to do. But overall, the process would probably be lengthy. However, you end up with a very good image.

Nathan Bond

1/10/2020 09:42:22 am

This is a black and white picture of a house growing huge roots out of it. The house looks old and has broken windows. It is in a neighborhood with other houses near it. The roots look above ground and are connected to the house. The house also has pillars by the front door with the roots connected to them. The photo is dark and there are leaves and sticks on the roots.

The reason the colors are black and white are probably to make this image look old. The house having broken windows, black and white color of the photo and the roots coming out of it makes it seem that the person who made this was trying to make this image seem like a real photo. The house is a simple square shape with a triangular roof. It’s a 2 story house and the top floor has 3 broken windows and the bottom has a door in the middle with 2 broken windows to it’s sides. In the distance, there is a hill and below the hill, it looks like there is a little town.

This image is very interesting to look at because it is unusual. It makes me think about what happened here and why are there roots connected to a house? The photographer took this photo in front of the roots and the house. The subject almost fully fills the frame and the only extra space that we can see are the houses in the distance. The roots and house make up the positive space and around the subject is the negative space.

The lines are the roots that lead up to the house that they are connected to. This photo looks like it could symbolize something. Maybe this photo is trying to show how a house is alive and it grows old with the people that live in it. This reminds me of a movie I’ve seen called monster house where the home is alive just like this one just in a different way. It also reminds me of other shows that have houses in trees or the house is the tree.

This image is noteworthy and successful. It is unusual and interesting to look at because of it’s weirdness. It makes you question how did this happen? Why did the person who made this make it? What does it mean? You can kind of come up with stories for it and it’s cool to look at. I like this photo.

dana

1/10/2020 09:43:24 am

The photograph produced by Jerry Uelsmann is of a house that looks like it’s growing from a tree. The image is only in black and white but everything looks very clear and well exposed. The lighting looks as if it were a cloudy day but yet enhances the overall quality of the image. There are houses that surround the house that is on the tree trunk and these houses look like they are made out of bricks or cement. The houses don’t look modern because of the structure and materials that were used. The main house looks quite old but doesn’t look completely wrecked because the windows are intact.
This image is pleasing to look at because of the author’s decision to place the house as the main focal point and the center of the photograph. The photographer chose to capture this image with the house being straight in the middle and having it face the front to also be able to capture the rest of the houses, trees and environment in the background. Although the photographer chose to include more houses and trees, he still took the photo with some of them being cut off. I think that this image is contrasting overall because there are many contradicting ideas in it. For starters, the hill that is on the right is going down and it gets more steady after it crosses the house. The sky is light gray and clear while as you go down, everything gets darker and busier. Photographing houses surrounded by so much nature is also paradoxing because we explode the earth to get all of our materials.
I think that the author is able to be very expressive through the image if you look at it from an environmentalist kind of way. I believe that the house is growing out of the tree since trees themselves are used to make the structure of our houses and buildings. Because of them, we’re able to live a comfortable and stable life. I really like this image because there is a lot to look at closely. The more you look at it, the more patterns you find. This image reminds me of how we are slowly killing our planet just to make ourselves live longer and have simpler lives. The trees that we cut down have been there for generations and are proof that history and so many events in the world have happened and yet we still cut them down. Not taking priorities in consideration. The roots in the image I believe represent the time that the tree has been growing for and how it belongs there.
I really like this image because I’ve taken several meanings from it. For starters the environmental ones. I also really appreciate the different shades and colors although it’s all in black and white, especially at the bottom of the image, where the roots are. I think that the author was successful in creating this image not only because of themes or hidden meanings, but because of how the house is intertwined with the tree trunk. The house almost looks like it’s either fading away or rising up. There is a lack of clarity by the door and bottom of the house and that makes us question what the image is really about.
Uelsmann uses composition to do this effect of intertwining the tree with the house and is very good at doing it although it looks a little fuzzy. However, this effect makes the image better. He influences the mood of the image by making it even a little creepy because we don’t know for certainty if it’s going up or down. It’d be more scary if the tree or the earth was swallowing the house and destroying it on the way. This image was created by Uelsmann putting all the pieces together in a dark room.

Anaya Zachery

1/11/2020 01:30:21 pm

This image depicts a tree that appears to have a house growing out of the top of it. The image is in black and white, so all the colors appear very similar. The house looks very old. Many of its windows are broken and it looks old and uncared for. Most of the lighting is probably very natural, it looks to be a cloudy day.

I think this image is pleasing to look at, the color scheme is pretty appealing. It’s also an interesting photo, and definitely not something you see everyday. The focal point is definitely the house/tree thing, as it is in the center of the photo. The depth of field is moderately shallow, as we can see a large amount of the house, but not a whole lot of the background. The subject of the photo doesn’t completely fill the frame; there is quite a bit of negative occupied by the roots of the tree and structures in the background.

I’m not completely sure what meaning the image is trying to convey. However, I think the artist may have wanted to leave some sense of ambiguity to the meaning of his photo. It could have something to do with growth, because the tree’s roots are a pretty prominent part of the photo. Another idea is that it could also be conveying meaning related to the ruins that the house has been left in. It almost gives a sort of eerie feeling, with its colors and the way everything is abandoned.

I like this image, and do think it was successful. Normally, I would deem a photo as successful if it effectively conveys the artist’s intended meaning, but in the case of this photo, I think it was successful by being more mysterious. I like that it leaves room for the audience to draw conclusions naturally on the meaning behind the photo. I also think that the techniques used are interesting. I haven’t seen many photos created in this way, so it’s always neat to see new methods.

Based on what I know about compositing, the artist had to take photos of both the tree and the house and use photoshop techniques to put them into one image. This creates an interesting effect. I think it adds to the overall mystery of the photo. I think this looks like something I would want to try to do. I think it’d be useful for many different types of photography.

Elise Miles

1/12/2020 05:44:04 pm

The image is of a house with roots, rooted into the ground. The colors are black and white. The lighting is light because you can see every detail. The objects in the image are the house and some background buildings. Nothing is seeming to happen in the image, just the house standing there.

The rule of thirds is not being used because the subject is in the middle of the image. The point of view is from directly in front of the house. The depth of field is deep because there really isn’t any blurriness in the image. The focal point is the house. The lines are the roots coming from the house. There is extra space around the subject. The edge of the frame crops off the sky, roots, and buildings.

The theme of the image is dreams. The story behind the image is probably the artist had a dream about a house rooted to the ground for a long time. The artist made the image to show people her dream. The image reminds me of the movie in which everything was covered in tree roots. It does not question my beliefs. The image is noteworthy.

I hate the image. I hate it because the roots creep me out. Also the fact that the house is very old. It sort of looks like a tree that is becoming a house which make me feel the creeps. Also that the subject is in a desolate place in the wilderness.

The photo is successful. It is successful because the photo shopping is really good in it. It really does look like a “tree house”. Also that the image highlights how old the house is with the shattered windows. Overall I hate it but it is very successful.

Ryan Shields

1/12/2020 09:56:51 pm

This image is of a big tree trunk that kind of molds into a run down house. The house just looks sad and forgotten with broken windows, rubbed off paint, and rotted out wood. The image is blck and white, most likely to give a sense of eeriness and to show that the house is old. The image is a bit darker with more shadows. The objects in the image are the house tree trunk and a hilly background dotted with houses. In the image there is an eerie, rundown, forgotten house tree thing.

The image is pleasing to look at because it looks interesting. The rule of thirds is being used and the photo was taken looking straight at the door of the house. A more medium depth of field is being used because the house is in focus and the house is in the middle ground. The focal point is where the tree starts to mold in with the house. The image isn’t framed and there are lines in the picture. The lines start at the end of the roots and your eyes follow them up to the house. The image is balanced and mostly symmetrical. THe subject fills most of the frame. At the edges of the image there is the background. The more positive space is on the second story of the house and the most negative space is in the field back and to the left of the house.

A theme in the image is erriness, most of the things in the image are kind of creepy and weird. I don’t think a story is being told. I think the artist made this image to make something scary. The image does remind me of a movie called Monster House. The image doesn't question any of my beliefs. I think the picture is interesting.

I like the image because it looks kind of creepy. I think the photograph is successful because it’s cool to look at.

By using compositing the photographer was able to create a creepy image from two separate images that weren’t very creepy by themselves, and therefore altered the mood/feeling of the image. I think the image was created by taking a picture of a tree and a picture of an old house, and then combining the two together.

George Welch

1/13/2020 12:31:39 pm

This image is of a house that is rooted in the ground. The house doesn’t look like it’s in a good location. The image is very dark and mysterious. The sky is very cloudy and blocks out a lot of the light. The house also looks very beat up and run down.

This is a pleasing picture to me. The rule of thirds isn’t being used in this image. It is clear immediately that the artist uses a lot of dark lighting to give it a mysterious vibe. The image also has a very large depth of field. And the focal point is where the tree and the house meet in the middle of the image.

The picture has a very mysterious and eerie vibe to it. I think the image was made for the artist to express themselves in a dark way. I don’t, however, think that there is a story being told in this image. This kind of reminds me of a nightmare or where a horror movie would be filmed. It does look pretty beautiful and creative.

I think this picture wasn’t very hard to create. I think that there are two different pictures that were composed together. The first one of a tree stump. The other of an abandoned house. I think that the two were digitally put together by the artist.

I like this picture. I am a fan of scary, eerie photos/videos. I like how the two pictures flow together. I think this photo is successful in giving a very eerie feel too. To put it bluntly, I like this photo.

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