Period 5 -- Critical Analysis #13

2/28/2020

Today you will be writing about a photograph by artist Lori Nix. This image is from her series titled The City.

Write 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.

Remember, 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

Before you write, read the artist statement:

I consider myself a faux-landscape photographer. I build meticulously detailed model environments and then photograph the results. Through the photographic process, the fictional scene is transformed into a surreal space, where scale, perspective, and the document of the photograph create a tension between the material reality of the scene and the impossibility of the depicted narrative. In this space, between evidence and plot, the imagination of the viewer is unlocked, engaged, and provoked. I want my scenes to convey rich, complex, detailed, and, ultimately, open-ended narratives.

Several common themes prevail throughout my work: the constructed photograph, the landscape in turmoil, and danger married to humor. I present these elements as the raw materials of stories with messages, but without conclusions.

The photographs I create do not reflect the tradition of the grand idyllic landscape. Rather than showing the beautiful or heroic vista, I look to the darker corners of life. I am interested in the forces of entropy, in the ruins left in the wake of human pretense of grandeur. My scenes are usually devoid of people, and this emptiness becomes an important element. In this way, the impact of civilization is shown by what remains in the absence of humans. Evidence of humans may still be visible, but the cause for their absence is left unclear, allowing the viewer to complete the narrative.

In my current series The City, I focus on the ruins of urban landscapes. I have chosen the spaces that celebrate modern culture, knowledge, and innovation: the theater, the museum, and the library. Here the monuments of civilization and material culture are abandoned, in a state of decay and ruin, with natural elements such as plants, insects, and animals beginning to repopulate the spaces. This idea of paradise lost, or the natural world reclaiming itself, becomes more forceful as we face greater environmental challenges in the world around us.

Tomas Espejo

2/28/2020 11:30:07 am

In this photo the colors that are being used include green, blue, tan, orange, yellow, and red. The color green is being occupied by the grass in on the bottom of the train and also the grass in the background. Blue is the color of the windows and walls of the train. Tan is the color of some of the walls and mainly the sand, at the bottom of the train. Orange, yellow, and red are being used by the color of the seats.

There are a lot of things that the edges of the photo cut off. One thing that the image cuts off is the rest of the subway train. This is important to the picture because it's the main idea. The top of the photo cuts of the background city. You can’t really make it out, but it’s important since the city is there. The bottom, top, left, and right wall of the train don’t finish because of the edges. I think the photographer should have taken a better image.

This image can be described as beautiful, noteworthy, and interesting. I think it's beautiful because of the colors that the photographer has. I also like how the photographer made it seem that there is a city in the background. This photo is interesting because of how the city is incorporated in the image. It can also be described as beautiful because of its story being told. The image is noteworthy because of it’s story being told. I think that what happened is that the train crashed into something.

This photo was both successful and unsuccessful. It was good because of it’s amazing story being told. Another reason why it is a good quality photo is because of all of its colors that are being displayed in the photo. This image is nog good because the photographer is not taking a picture of all of the trains. And they didn’t even finish the= city that they made into the picture. My theory is that you should take a full side view of whatever you are taking, so that the viewer can get the full aspect of it.

Jacob Perez

2/28/2020 11:31:10 am

This is an image of a post apocalyptic subway. I see sand with some plants growing in them. I also see the outside as a desert area. I also see that the metal around the subway has corroded and rusted. The lighting used is natural from the sun.

This image is pleasing to look at because it makes you wonder what the world would look like after humans. The point of view of this image is a 1st person view. There isn't too much negative space in this image. Most of the spacing in this image is filled with objects and things to occupy the space. This image is not symmetrical.

The theme of this image is that without human nature and vegetation will take over. The story behind this image is there was some giant war of epidemic that wiped out humans. This then leads to the vegetation to take over and without care, metal rusting. Her intention was just to show what she thinks the world would look like without humans. This reminds me of a book called Enclave which was about a post human world.

I do like this image for a couple of reasons. One reason is it's amazing how two people can make a miniature replica of an image with such accuracy. Another reason is I like to post human movies, books, and images. This photo is successful for one main reason. The accuracy and precision and also the time it takes is just amazing, making his image incredible.

Gabby Beck

2/28/2020 11:43:00 am

The photo shows an abandoned subway in the middle of the desert. The subway walls have rusted showing how old the structure is. The color of the seats are still pretty bright and the light is coming in from the outside. There are no people and the structure looks pretty old so this might resemble a post apocalyptic situation. There are some taller buildings in the background, though.

I like the rusted colors and the bright orange and yellow seats. The photographer took this photo from an angle that looks like they are looking down the subway when coming in from a side door. Everything inside the subway seems to be in focus but the farther away it gets, the more out of focus it is. The photo is framed by the walls of the subway and the lines on the ceiling lead you deeper into the photograph. The image cuts off the front half of the subway and the desert sand and the seats.

This image is actually a diorama of an abandoned subway. The detail in it is so fine and precise that you can’t tell the difference. The theme for Lori Nix’s photos is a post apocalyptic situation where nature starts to take over human structures. This picture reminds me of the movie Holes because it took place in a desert and two kids ran away and stopped inside a boat that was left over after the water had dried. I love the detail that went into this and how it still retains the memory of humans that used to roam there.

The one thing that I find that is the best of this photo is the little sign on the side that’s supposed to read, “Take a break from life.” It is ironic that it’s there because all of the humans have taken a break from life literally because they’re dead! I like this photo not just because of that but because of the effort, detail and lighting in it. The effort and detail combine to make this hard to tell from the real subway. I like the darker shadows under the seats and in corners and I also like the lighting that reflects against the windows.

Alissa Welsh

2/28/2020 11:49:22 am

This picture was created by Lori Nix, which is from her series titled The City. It looks like it was taken in an abandoned subway. The subways floor is filled with sand and small plants, the roof looks rusted, through the open doors I can see tall buildings, the sits in the subway look dirty, there is a board on the side that has some letters on it. The colors that are being used are red-brown, orange, yellow, green, black, white, grey, blue, and pink. Nix chose these colors to give it that abandon vibe.

It’s pleasing to look at since on the first glance it looked so unnatural and the buildings even looked pink for me, but when I started to focus more on the details. Nix took this photo from an standing up point of view. The focal point is the inside of the subway. There are multiple lines that guided me around this image starting at the bottom right corner going up then around and down. The image crops off the rest of the boar, walls, and city. roof, sand floor, and seats.

The theme of this image is mystery. It is a mystery because when I look at it it leaves me questioning, what happened to the subway and where are the people? The story behind this image is that Lori Nix and Cathelin Gerber made small models that take them 7 months and take pictures of them after their photoshoot. They throw the model away and start a new different one. This picture reminds me of the Zombieland movie since it looks abandoned and like if humans don’t live anywhere near.

I like this image since it gives that illusion that it’s bigger than what it actually was. Nix did a successful job by making, well at least me, question if that's what the world would look like with no more humans. I also like this photo since it isn’t something normal that you would see today. Like who would see a subway filled with sand and to the view of the city. When I first saw this image it what I would think what the city would look like after an invasion.

Suly Welsh

2/28/2020 11:50:19 am

BLOG #13 | 2/28/2020

'The Subway' from the series titled The City by Lori Nix.

This image exhibits an abandoned subway. It's this photograph of a section from the subway. We can see a city after a sea of sand. The subway cart is also filled with sand. The metal in the cart is decaying and rusting and a few plants are sprouting from the sand, so it seems to have been abandoned for quite some time. There are no humans in the image, there's only this old subway cart. This image uses very warm colors like the tan of the sand, the orange subway seats, and the rusty red from the ceiling of the cart.

I am a big fan of symmetrical composition in images or any kind of neat structure of a scene. This is not the case for this image. The point of view is from inside the subway cart as if the viewer was standing on the corner of the cart, looking in. The cart takes up the whole image, so there's no extra space. The rule of thirds isn't being following because there isn't one object that's the central focus, the whole subway cart IS the center of attention.

The theme of this image is the modern world after humans are gone. We don't know what happens or how it happens, but the world is basically human-less and these images depict different locations of the world after they've been abandoned. This reminds me of any dystopian young adult book. The Maze Runner, Divergent, The City of Ember, etc. When I was younger and I would read those books, I'd imagine the cities to be like this. It's a whole concept about how the world will end up after we are all wiped out since there already so much manufacturing and waste in the world. I see this as a social-change movement more than anything. About how much of the world we have taken over, and it'll all rust away when we're gone.

I do like this image a lot. I enjoy reading about dystopian societies and I like how this is a very strong visual that relates to them. I feel really uncomftorable when I see it because it shows a potential future for our world, and I don't like it. It's a very powerful image because of how ugly all the rust in the cart looks, and how there are still plants growing despite it. I see this as a message saying that even when we are gone and leave the world in such a mess, there is still life growing and the world will keep moving.

Andy Cubriel

2/28/2020 05:55:22 pm

This image appears to be of a subway car in a desert. The floor of the car and all of the seats are covered in sand, and there appears to be several abandoned belongings on the seats. You can see several high-rise buildings in the background, and there is a tattered poster that says “ Take a Break from life”. The main colors used are rust brown, and bright yellow and red. The bright yellow and red and orange are there to create contrast, and probably help to spark interest in the image. There are also some plants in the image, which implies that the subway has been abandoned long enough for them to grow.

This photo is pleasing to look at. It has a lot of cool tones, and the exposure is pretty nice. This means it does not strain your eyes to look at. I would say that the rule of thirds is being used, as the sliver of the city that you are able to see is located in the left third of the photograph rather than in the middle. The lines in the image are the handrails, and they direct your focus toward the seats, and the city. This image crops off the rest of the city in the background.

One theme or idea that I notice in this image is the word ‘Desert’. The photo is of a subway that has been deserted in the desert with items that have been deserted by their owners. Not to mention the sign telling you to “Take A Break From Life”, suggesting that you should desert your responsibilities. This image reminds me of the time that I went to the coast with my grandfather, and no one else was at the beach. The story, that I see in this image, is an attempt to show us how quickly we can forget about things, like the subway or the items on the subway.

Overall, I like this image. The composition of the image is really good, and the colors are nice. Also, the image does not hurt your eyes to look at. You can also read a lot more into the image than you need to by looking at the background objects. I think that this photo is successful. The photo looks very clear, and the colors are nice. Also, the artist put a lot of effort into making the photo, and it surely must be gratifying to the artist to get to see the finished product.

Kate McDaniel

3/18/2020 07:23:00 pm

This image is of an old, rusted, abandoned train car, sitting in the middle of nowhere, with sand and plants all in it. The colors in this image are orange, yellow, beige, silver, green, and blue. The orange and yellow are incorporated in the colors of the seats. The beige is in the sand. The silver for the color of the train car. The green for the color of the plants, and the blue for the poster on the sky.

The image is pleasing to look at because to me, it looks really cool. It looks cool because it’s a different type of photo. This image has a cool angle to it and I like that about this photograph. This picture is framed. It is framed by the train car.

There could be many questions about this image. Which could include, how the train car got to where it is, what year is it, what happened to the train car, and why it’s there. There could also be many ideas that come from this photo. Such as there is no one there to take care of the world, or no one is left on earth. This image is able to bring so much attention because you can think of so many ideas and questions.

I like this image because I think it looks cool. It also brings a lot of questions to mind. I think this image looks cool because it is unlike other images. I think this photo was successful because it was appealing and it was cool to think about. Overall, I like this picture.

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Period 5 -- Critical Analysis #13

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