Period 5 -- Critical Analysis #12

2/13/2020

Today you will be writing about an image from artist McNair Evans' series Confessions For A Son.

Write 4 paragraphs, 5 sentences minimum per paragraph. Remember, refer to your "How to See" handout for analyzing a photograph--Your analyses will be graded on:

meeting minimum length requirements
depth of organization
evaluation of the content
grammar/punctuation

Read the Project Statement before you write:

Summary
Confessions for a Son juxtaposes photographs I made in 2010 and 2011 concerning the lasting psychological landscape of my fathers legacy with images taken by him roughly 40 years ago to explore a complex relationship between father and son and the disappearance of an American, agrarian way of life.

Statement
There was no man that my father admired more than his father, and no one his father admired more than the man who raised him. With tenderness of heart and warm humor my father met everyone as his equal.

Upon his death in November 2000, I was exposed to our family businesses insolvency. Dad faced a series of devastating fires, bad crops, perpetual over-extension and high-interest loans. Five generations of familial and financial stability fractured. While the economic effects were immediately obvious, the emotional implications lingered beneath the surface for nine years.

In 2010 I returned home to photograph the lasting psychological landscape of Dad’s legacy. Retracing my father’s life, I used photography to comprehend its events. Visiting the farms where we hunted, his college dorm rooms, and his oldest friends, I photographed his family members and businesses while researching his character and actions. I could not equate these.

These photographs narrate my journey between isolation and acceptance. Initially confused and angry, I grew to know him as a teenager, college student, co-worker, life-long friend, and father who lovingly withheld business realities. I witnessed shortcomings and successes and found empathy with a man who faced so much in his life. His sacrifices cost the ultimate price, and accepting that some questions may never be answered, I grew to love him again.

These works share my emotions after his death, my search to learn more abut him in recent years, and a journey of acceptance and forgiveness. These pictures are my way of saying its OK. Everything that happened is done and it’s OK. They are my way of taking ownership of everything that I felt, and all the anger and all the shame, and saying, “Yes, I felt that, and it’s OK to feel that, and I still love you.”

Gabby Beck

2/13/2020 11:45:44 am

The image shows a broken windshield of an old car and a book on the dashboard. The colors are sort of dull, but the cracks in the glass reflect the light. There is sunlight that comes from the window and shadows that surround the windshield. The only objects in the image are a book, the windshield, the dashboard, and all the controls for the car. The car seems to have either pelted by something or is just very old.

I like to look at the spider web design that the cracked glass makes. I think McNair Evans uses the rule of thirds because the windshield seems to be the subject and it is in the upper part of the photo. Evans takes the photo in a position like you are in the driver’s point of view. Most of the photo is filled up with the windshield and the dashboard controls but some of the dashboard is kind of blank. The photograph cuts off a lot of the car like the dashboard and windshield.

The photo gives off a tone of sadness and brokenness because of the shattered glass. Evans made this photo as part of a series, Confessions For A Son. This series was made to represent the life and connections of his deceased father and was a way to let go of his emotions. This photo reminds me of when we were driving in a hail storm and the glass started to crack as it was pounded by hail. I think the photo is beautiful in the way the broken glass shows the sadness, but the light that shines through it is the hope.

I really like this image because of the spider web like glass and the mixture of colors. I also like the photo because of its background story. It focuses on two lives, one that has already passed, and one that is trying to make things right. I would say that this photograph is successful because it makes us relate to the photographer and his feelings. I like that it has two meanings to it; a little sadness and a little hope.

Jacob Perez

2/13/2020 11:46:04 am

This is an image of a broken windshield with a hole in it. And the book under it is supporting the glass. I think one important color in this image is the book color of blue, this color makes the book stand out. The lighting being used is the one of a sunrise, exposing the book, windshield, and dashboard. I think the only thing happening is the book supporting the broken glass from completely falling.

This is a 1st person view of the image, it shows the perspective of a passenger sitting down. The rule of thirds is not being used in this image. The focal point of this image is the blue book under the broken windshield. There is close to no extra space. This image is somewhat pleasing to look at because of all the random way the cacks go.

I think the theme of this image is to express the emotion of holding someone up when they are in pain or, “Broken.” I think the story of this image is a man was driving and out of nowhere a projectile comes in and breaks his windshield and he nearly escapes death. He made this image to show that you can and should be there for people who are going through a rough time. This image reminds me when me and my mom were driving behind this big truck and a tiny rock comes flying and breaks our windshield. This image is very interesting to look at because of the story behind it.

I like this image because of its story and cracked windshield. The only thing about this image that could be better is make the image in night time and put a neighborhood lighting, highlighting the crack. This would give the image a more surreal feeling. I would say this image is successful because it tells a very real emotion message. Overall this image is amazing with its backstory and message

Andy Cubriel

2/13/2020 11:49:18 am

This photo is of a broken windshield. The windshield has two holes in it, and is shattered almost completely. Underneath the windshield is a book, titled “Church of God Assembly”, and it appears to be supporting windshield. You can also see the name of the car between the windshield, and it is a buick. You can also see part of the radio, and you can see the dashboard and the air vents. The lighting is natural light, and sunlight. This means no man-made lights are being used.

This photo is pleasing to look at. The things that need to be lit up are lit up by the lighting fairly well, and the light blue book looks nice in combination with clear and teal window. This image is not utilizing the rule of thirds, because the focus point is more in the center than off to the right or left sides. A shallow depth of field is being used, because only the objects that are immediately close to the object are in focus. The edge of the image is the buick logo that you can barely see, and it cuts off the rest of radio, dashboard, and windshield.

The artist made this image to help himself understand his feelings about his father’s death. He also used it as a coping mechanism to help himself get over the death. This image reminds me of this summer, when I had to help my grandfather fix his car. The radio and the air vents look similar to the ones in his truck, and I had to help him fix the air vents, air conditioning, and the brakes on his truck. I think this image is beautiful because it is able to take something broken, and turn it into a nice piece of art.

Overall, I like this image a lot. I like it because the artist was able to use the process of making the photo, and the final product as a way to help himself cope with his father's death, and eventually move on. I also like this image a lot because the artist made the photos for himself rather than for an intended audience. I think this photograph is successful. I think it is successful because the artist himself got something out of it, which is what I find most important when dealing with art and photography.

Suly Welsh

2/13/2020 11:50:50 am

BLOG #12 | 02/13/2020

Image from the series 'Confessions For A Son' by McNair Evans

This image displays a broken windshield (with a hole at the bottom center and top left) and a church book laying on the dashboard. The car seems to be parked and is facing a brick wall, so the viewer can see a blurry brick background through the windshield. The image has some natural sun rays shining down on the window and part of the dashboard. Most corners of the image are darker with shadows since the sun doesn't reach it. You can see the reddish color of the bricks, the black dashboard, the brown wooden board under the dashboard, the blue from the church book, and the blue tint at the top part of the car window. There are no people in the image, so we can only infer what events have taken place in this image.

The composition is nice to look at because it's centered enough, so it looks neat in that aspect. The fact that the image is of a shattered window makes it a bit unnerving to look at, but it's still a very symmetric image. The rule of thirds isn't utilized in this image because the main focus is in the center of the image. The broken windshield is centered and the church book is centered as well. It appears that the viewer is inside the car from the passenger seat looking out. Everything is clear in the image except the brick wall in the background, but it's out of focus and it's visible behind a screen of broken glass so...

This image is already a very powerful one by itself. A broken windshield can mean so many things, but the two holes suggest that it was probably hit. It leads me to believe that someone must've been feeling some profound emotion (or just wanting to practice their homerun hits?), so the car would've most likely been hit by this person. We can't know for sure what this image is about but we can get a sense that it probably has some negative notions to it. The fact that it's a shattered window can symbolize brokenness and can't hint at aggression, violence, anger, stress, etc. The fact that there's a church book right in the middle of the image and there is a ray of light shining it can hint at healing, atonement, absolution, etc.

I thought the image did a really good job of capturing the lowest points in people's lives and being vulnerable and ready to change for the better. The shattered window reminds me of being at my all-time worst and feeling as if there's no hope. That emotion which makes you want to scream and break a window. The light seems a mellow yellow instead of the bright light, so I'm assuming the image was during the setting of the sun. This makes me think of the end of the day whenever you are so tired and you just want to take a nice and long shower and just be with the people you love. The church book makes me think about faith and having a purpose in life. So, I enjoy this image because (for me) it depicts being at your worst and having that vulnerable moment but also having the ability to turn it around in your favor.

Tomas Espejo

2/13/2020 06:17:12 pm

The colors that are being used for this photo include yellow, black, blue, red, and a little bit of white. Black is being used by the inside car paint. Blue and white is being chopped by the book. Yellow is being used by the reflection through the glass windshield. Finally, red is being used by the bricks in the background.

A lot of the pieces of this image are being cut off by the edge of the frame. For an example, the other half of the windshield, is being sliced off by the right side of the photo’s frame. The other parts of the car are also being cut off. But the whole frame is preventing us from seeing the rest of the vehicle. The background, outside of the car, we can't even see because the photographer didn’t give us enough frame.

This photo is questionable because you could wonder how the windshield got to be like this. This photo also can tell a story because of the events that happened in order for the crash to happen. The photographer didn’t give us enough frame to see the background. I can go on and on about how many questions I have about this photo because of how small the image’s edges are.

This image can be successful, and also very unsuccessful. This image is good because it can tell a story, and by doing that it has a lot of questions. Another reason why this photo is good is because whenever you look at the windshield you begin to wonder how it gotta be like that. This photo isn’t good because the photographer didn’t give us enough room to analyse the background.

Alissa Welsh

2/17/2020 10:32:17 am

This picture was created from McNair Evans' series confessions. It looks like it was taken inside a vintage car. The windshield is broken with a book called CHURCH OF GOD GENERAL ASSEMBLY. I can see the control buttons for the AC and radio and the AC. He is using a very shallow depth of field. This image looks like it is using window lighting.

The image is nice to look at since it reflects emotions. Evans took this picture from the space between the two seats at the front. What mainly got my attention was the shattered window. The blank space is at the bottom right corner. The lines to go around would be dashboard then up and through the shattered window and then back down.

The theme of this image is weak, vulnerable, fragile, easily damaged, and brittle. I think that it's because shattered glass symbolizes negativity and broken promises, though it could also symbolize positive like freedom. The story behind this image is that Evans is taking pictures recurring his father's life to show how he lived, and even though after he passed away left the family in debt, he forgives him. This image at first questioned my belief if glass windows are strong because it takes weight to break them and when it breaks, its shatters which I don't see any shattered glasses. The car in which the picture was taken reminds me of one of my grandma's car which I used to go on.

Looking at this picture I think Evans is showing his pain on how he felt after his dad passed away. I liked this image because there was a time when I felt like shattered glass. So looking at this image connects with those emotions. I think Evans did a successful job reflecting his emotion through the image. I would like to know if the shattered window was a setup or something that happened and he recorded it by taking a picture.

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Period 5 -- Critical Analysis #12

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