Period 6 -- Practice Critical Analysis

8/24/2017

Each week, we will write a critical analysis on a work of photographic art. An image will be published weekly on our class blog. Spend time studying the image and then write a detailed analysis of the photograph. Publish your analysis as a comment to the blog post; this comment should show the student’s name, time posted, and word count. The analysis must be posted to the original blog post in order to be graded.

All analyses must be 4 paragraphs minimum, 5 sentences minimum per paragraph unless otherwise noted.

Students will write eleven critical analyses per semester, and the lowest grade per semester will be dropped.

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

Boyd Meltzer link

8/24/2017 12:39:10 pm

This image depicts an odd situation. An elephant has escaped a circus and is now in the middle of nowhere lying in the middle of the road. The sheriff has arrived on the scene. People have gathered around this elephant and are now spraying water on him in order to keep him cool and hydrated. The only development seen in this photo is an apparent driveway, a barely visible shack, and a road sign. The colors are very simple and subtle. They don’t contrast very much. The photo is taken in intense sunlight. It appears to be hot in the area of effect for the photo. A sheriff car is visible.
The focal point of this image is the elephant. It seems as if the stripes in the road lead straight to the elephant. Many of the elements in the photo are centered around the elephant. The image is somewhat balanced, with the road near the middle and grass and trees on either side. The subject is nowhere near close to filling the frame. There is room for many more elements in this photo. The edges of the image contain trees and grass.
The story being told is interesting and is meant to be captivating. The artist created this image almost specifically for the viewer to do a double take and have a closer look of the image. The image is intriguing. There aren’t many of its kind. The “story” of the image can be interpreted differently based on opinion. The point of the image is to be unique. It is a very special situation to be notified of this if one is a photographer.
I think that the image is very unique and I find this to be a virtue of the image. I like the content that was able to be included into the work. The photograph is successful, in my opinion. It is successful because the artist was able to capture a rare find. In addition, this image has most likely captivated the minds of others.

Will

8/24/2017 12:40:03 pm

This image is interesting because it of the randomness it depicts, and the questions it leaves unanswered. How did the elephant get there? Why are they washing it in the street? Where was this photo taken? I love pictures like this for that exact reason. The make me think and wonder certain things about it. I like the perspective of this photo as well, because the elephant is hard to see at first, making you winder how something that strange isn't the main subject of the photo. This is a very intriguing picture, and I want to know more about it's history.

Parker Brown

8/24/2017 02:39:15 pm

The image is a picture of a elephant who escaped from the circus. It looks like they somehow found a way to stop it, and they are now spraying it with water. It also looks like a lot of people came to come see the elephant. It is using neutral colors to focus the attention on the elephant and not a bright background. There are lots of people, an elephant, the sheriff, and people watering the elephant in the picture.
I think the composition is good. The road points upward, which helps people focus on elephant. The point of view looks like the picture is being taken while standing on something because the picture is taken from a high spot. The picture is taken at a forward and looking down at the scene angle. The subject does not fill the whole frame. The elephant only takes up a little bit of the picture.
I think the person who took the picture was just trying to take a picture of something strange and random. Since it’s so strange and random, it will be like nothing else, which makes it stand out. I don’t think there is a story in the picture. I think he wasn’t trying to make a story. I think he just got lucky by be at the right place at the right time to capture the picture. I think the image is definitely interesting. You don’t see an elephant escape from the zoo everyday.
I semi like it. I will look at the picture and think it’s kinda interesting, but I will lose interest pretty quickly. If I like a photo I could stare at it for a pretty long time just thinking about it, and this photo just isn’t interesting enough for me. I do think the photo is successful. It is successful in making it a very unique photo. People like things that are unique, so I think the photo is probably very interesting to a lot of people.

Jordan Bell

8/24/2017 04:10:53 pm

This is a picture of an elephant in the middle of the road. Surrounding it are people in what seems to be the middle of nowhere. The artist is mainly using yellows, greens, and blues in a ‘rural’ setting. The lighting is bright sunlight indicating that the picture was taken in the middle of the day. There are two buildings in this picture, one is green and both have a tin roof. A sheriff car and a white truck are parked not too far away from the elephant. The group of people onlooking the elephant seem to be pointing and talking about it.

I do not think it is pleasing to look at but at the same time it is not unpleasant to look at. Besides the elephant there is nothing that stands out to me about the photograph. The lines in the road direct the viewer's attention to the elephant in the middle of the road. The point of view is ‘third person’ taken above and away from the scene. The focal point of the photo is the elephant. It is framed by the surrounding trees and sky. The subject does not fill the frame and there is extra space. The edge of the image is trees, the sky, and the road. There is nothing cropped off that I notice.

The main theme in the photo is the elephant. The image tells a story of the elephant being lost, most likely running away from somewhere or someone. The artist created this image to show people something out of the ordinary and possibly exciting. This image does not remind me of anything and it does not challenge my beliefs. I do not think this image is particularly interesting or noteworthy.

As i said above I do not find this image to stand out to me. I don’t hate it but this is not my favorite image either. To me it is a regular day nothing really out of the ordinary and for some reason I am not to deeply interested in the elephant. The photograph was unsuccessful because it did not convey anything. The photograph was just documenting something that happened in what seems would be a small town. Maybe that was the photographer's point, to document, but I was looking for more.

Annie Mosis

8/24/2017 06:29:45 pm

This picture is taken in sort of a bird’s view. It shows an image of a elephant in the middle of the road being watered with a eighteen wheeler in front and two police cars. There are also many people looking at the elephant. Everyone in this picture looks distressed, probably because there is an elephant in the middle of nowhere. This picture is very intriguing for the eyes because it's not everyday you see an elephant not in the zoo.

This picture is very interesting to me because i dont think ive ever seen an elephant in the road. The artist also uses very warm colors to give kind of a calm vibe. Which is interesting since something very chaotic is going on. I think it's also interesting that the road and objects are directioning your attention to the elephant.

I think the artist's purpose of this photo was to capture something out of the ordinary and to stop and think about what's happening. We are so often looking at a picture after picture that we don't really think what's going on and the process that took to make that picture. With this image of the elephant it makes you second think whats going on in this photo. It also makes you question what process the artist took to gain these rare photos.

In this picture at first I thought this was just an ordinary picture of a small American town. But when you look closer there is an elephant. I think the artist intended to do this to make my point as I mentioned in the paragraph before, that we should slow down and notice the little things. I enjoy this picture and I appreciate the artist kind of surprising the audience that was willing to look at the image longer almost a little gift.

Matthew Weiss

8/24/2017 07:58:02 pm

This image is of an elephant, that has just laid down in the middle of a rural road. In addition to the elephant, there is a small crowd of people watching it. The elephant has seemed to have caused a sizable roadblock due to the crowd that it has attracted. In the forefront of the picture, a police car sits in the street. The image has for the most part, used very bland, neutral colors with nothing that really seems to pop out and nothing that really acts as an attention grabber. The only noticeable color is in the sky, and it only occupies a sliver of the top of the picture where the line of trees end.
The artist uses the lines formed by the road with perspective to direct attention toward the elephant to attract any attention that hasn’t already been directed toward it. The elephant takes up a very small amount of the image at the center. Around the elephant, there are trees to the right and off to the left, there is a field with a small road going through it, although not much of t as visible due to the way that the image was cropped. Off above the treeline on the right and behind the focal point of the image, a sliver of the blue sky is shown.
The artist would have wanted to provoke thought, although I don’t think one train was obviously implied in the image. In the same way, I don’t think there was one story that was intended, but rather just inspire thought to create a story. It inspires a story that ends up in the scene that the image depicts. I think that images like this result in everyone coming up with their own creative narrative.
In my opinion, while every now and then, an image can do this extremely well, the overwhelming majority of the time, I feel like these images simple lack direction. And thus the ability to tell their own story. Again, in this example, I feel that this image fails to tell a story or provide an interesting contrast among colors or objects. Overall I while I simply find this image to lack the ability to keep attention, as it lacks both direction, and contrast.

Gillian Thompson

8/25/2017 09:46:53 am

In this photograph, the perspective of the imagine is from farther up. Kind of giving off an Aerial view. I can see many unusual environmental elements in this photograph. I would say the lighting in this particular photo is a soft lighting. It is minimizing shadows and is reducing contrast. This image confuses me , but intrigues me. The not knowing of what is happening in the photo draws me even more to it. In the image it appears an elephant has escaped and is in the middle of the street surrounded by a few cars and lots of people. It appears that they are giving the elephant water.
I like the angle this image was taken because it captured the whole situation. This photo is very unusual in the way that the setting is in a very neutral colored area , most likely country/woods yet there is an elephant in the middle of the street. The main focus of this image is to lead the viewer's eyes to the elephant. It captures people's attention. Since most people will be drawn to it out of curiosity they will want to know the story.
I think the photographer created this photo to show people the uncommon event from an outsider's view. In my opinion he was successful with the technique he used because I was definitely interested to figure out the real story behind this photo. The only thing i would say i don't necessarily like is lots of dull colors in the image.

Claire Williams link

8/25/2017 11:32:02 am

This image is of a scene in an American road. There is a group of people outside of their cars observing an elephant in the road! It is mainly using the colors green, yellow, white, and grey for the road. It is brightly sunny outside so it looks like it is the mid afternoon. There is a sheriff’s car in the road with the door open, a large truck, possibly an 18-wheeler, behind the elephant. There is also a pickup truck with its’ door open right next to the elephant.

I think that this image is pleasing to look at because it is interesting to me, and I can spend a lot of time looking at all of the different elements featured. The point of view is third person and it looks like the photographer climbed up somewhere like the telephone pole to take this photo. The lines are most intriguing on the road. It looks like there is a driveway coming into the road leading to where the elephant is so the lines lead you to the main part of the image. At the edge of the image, it looks like there are trees and fields so they have been cut off a little bit.

I think the main themes in this photo are chaos, interest, and confusion about what is going on. I think there is definitely a story being told here. The elephant escaped from a circus near by and was seen in the middle of the street. I think that the artist took this image because he thought this was a peculiar thing happening and that other people should be able to experience it through his art. This image reminds me of a dream I used to have when I was younger that an elephant chased my car after we went to the circus!

I honestly enjoy this picture because it has a lot going on that interests me and makes me want to observe every part of it. I also think that the photographer was very successful. This image is depicting something out of the blue. When something irregular and funny like this happens, people like to know more about it and be able to experience it. Overall, this was a fun, light hearted photo that was very successful in drawing its observers in.

Kylie Bruehler

8/25/2017 11:50:55 am

When I first glance at this image, I notice there are trees surrounding the area where the photo was taken. There is a scene happening down below on the street. There is a white car with the word ‘Sheriff’ written on it. Looking farther down the road, I notice the main part of scene. There is an elephant sitting in the road and surrounding people. The elephant is being watered. I assume from the people surrounding, that the elephant has escaped from somewhere. Possibly a zoo. I am guessing that the surrounding police and figures are trying to get the elephant to safety. There are bright colors used in this photo. There is a light sky and the grass is a greenish yellow vibrant color.

I think that the photographer might have wanted this picture to set a theme of confusion or chaos. You don’t see an elephant in the middle of the road often so it is also telling us a story that is rather odd or different. The story behind the photo could be many different things. The photographer might have been out somewhere and witnessed this happening. The picture really causes the viewer to think and I think that is what the photographer wants us to do.

The photographer might have also taken this picture to give us as viewers an idea. The scene of the elephant might have meant something to the photographer personally and he/she wanted to share the feelings. The photographer might have been trying to tell us how the elephant felt. There are many things pictured in the photo and it could be looked at from a few viewpoints. The photographer is taking this from a third person point of view. They might have taken it from up higher than the ground level. It appears to be looking down on the scene.

The photo makes me feel sort of confused. I don’t think it is very pleasing. The colors are nice and bright but in my opinion, not much is seen. The scene of the elephant is very small and it takes longer to notice the major focus of the picture. I do understand why the photographer took the picture and I do believe there is an interesting story being told by the picture.

Payton

8/28/2017 11:55:32 am

This photo is a picture of an elephant in the middle of the road. There are also some people around it most likely everyone stopped to see what was going on. There is water everywhere around the elephant. The colors aren't too colorful almost desert like, colors like green and yellows. The lighting is bright like it's the afternoon. There are people and some buildings but it seems pretty rural. There are people just staring and the elephant. It's not very pleasing to look at just because it looks a bit odd but It is a very interesting piece of work. It looks like there is an arrow pointing towards the elephant. The photographer might of been on top of something. There is a lot of foliage around the street. It is not very symmetrical but there is a road in the middle of grass. There is extra space like grass and trees. The themes are that an elephant somehow got into the middle if the road. Yes there is a story being told in the photo. I can't really know what the photographer's intentions were but they probably heard about it and thought it was cool. It is very interesting to look at. I do like it, the color scheme is a little dull but i like how the elephant was there. I think it is successful.

elizabeth wray

9/11/2017 12:07:25 pm

This is an image of an elephant that has somehow ended up on the street. The colors are warm and bright. There are many greens like the trees, yellows, like the unwatered grass, and grey, like the asphalt. In the image, there are people all around the elephant. Police cars and sheriffs are walking around the elephant and seeing what’s going on. The subject in this picture is the elephant.
The picture to me is not very pleasing to look at since i’m not the person that likes an animal being locked up. The picture is definetly very interesting to me though as this is not something that happens often. The picture doesn’t fill the page. There is lots of space in between the elephant and the border of the photo.
Some themes in the picture may include, interest, the people are interested in what is going on. Confusion, the people and the elephant are confused. The people because elephants aren’t normally in streets, and the elephant is confused because he doesn’t know where he is. The frame crops off a little street that the elephant may have traveled on to get to the bigger street where everyone is.
I do like the image because I think that it is interesting to me and maybe to other people.

Natalia Orquin

9/11/2017 12:09:28 pm

Observing this photo for the first time I saw all the vegetation that surrounds the screen of the photo. I love how the picture depicts the elephant. At first glance the observer would probably not notice the action going on in the image, but at a closer look we can see how the elephant is surrounded by nature and humans. The vibrant color of the trees disguises the elephant and the white marble color of the car contrasts the scene of the photo. We can see how their are people who got out of their cars to help the elephant.

The image is mostly aesthetically pleasing and is symmetrically balanced but the road on the left hand side corner is rugged and looks pretty ordinary. The photographer captured the image in a 3rd person point of view. He looked into the scene but was not involved in the action. The lines of the image are the oad which direct the observer to the focal point of the image. The focal point of the image is the elephant surrounded by nature. The subject of the image is just a small part of the bigger picture with a lot of extra space surrounding the elephant.

The ideas shown in the image explicitly show the good of humans and the humble aspect of the human personality. People spent time out of their day to go and help the helpless elephant in a time in need. The story is told in the image because you can clearly see how people left their car doors open to run and help. Another theme of the photo is how now a days society is constantly filming everything instead of helping. We can see people taking pictures and filming the elephant as bystanders instead of helping on the scene.

I actually really enjoyed analyzing this image because I love the environment and animals. Anything that has to do with animal cruelty or animal awareness is sorta my thing. This photograph is successful because the message gets across to the observers and is easy to understand.

Lucas Prado

9/11/2017 12:25:58 pm

The a sheriff's car is off towards the bottom of the image. Going up the road, there is a truck alongside an elephant. The elephant lies on the side of the road in a small puddle of water. The puddle comes from a group of people using a hose from a truck behind the elephant. The people The rest of the image is mostly rural wilderness, with tall pine trees across the whole background and a few shacks and small houses.
The point of view in this image is third person, taken from a slight elevation above the elephant and the people. The main focus of this image is the elephant lying in the side of the road. This is due to the road starting at the foreground and leading a person's eyes up to the elephant. The subject of this image, however, is only a small part of the whole image, with most of the image being wilderness or sky. Towards the bottom left edge of the image there is a small gravel road, perhaps a driveway, given that it’s too small to be a country road. Near the middle of the corners of the image there are two small houses or sheds, both painted a bland green.
The main story that seems to be told behind this image is that an elephant ran away from people, or perhaps that people found the elephant lying in the road, exhausted. The main intention of this image seems to make the viewer do a double take and look closer. The viewer (such as myself) probably does not notice the elephant at first, but when looking back again sees that this is no everyday occurrence. Obviously, this image doesn’t question any beliefs that people may already hold, its merely an unorthodox occurrence.
Personally, I like this image and do think that it is successful at getting the viewers attention. Because the image is uncommon, it makes the viewer more interested in the photo, making them look more closely. Thus, if the photos goal is to get the viewers attention or amusement, the photo is successful. Additionally, because one spends more time to look at and appreciate the absurdity of the photo, one appreciates the photo more. Since I appreciate the photo more from looking at, I think that it is successful.

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Period 6 -- Practice Critical Analysis

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