Quiz+Response

I chose picture number eight.

This picture is black and white. I see a girl with little or no clothes on lying on an unmade bed. I see two windows and a man whose hands are up and he has little or no clothing, too. The man has something on his back that is wing-shaped. There are distinct lines in this picture. The windows make parallel lines with each other and the pattern on the blanket is a replication of the windows. This is because it’s white squares then black squares and the windows are light squares and then dark squares. There is movement in this picture shown by the blurred effect of the man and the rich values of black and white.

There are different elements designed in this photo. The windows also create a rhythm because they are repeated objects that create the eye to glide over the picture. The focal point of this picture would have to be the lady lying on the bed. This is because she is in the center of the photograph and she creates confusion as to how she is feeling. There is balance between the amounts of light vs. dark in the photograph. The even amount of light and dark creates movement of the eye to different parts of the picture.

The picture gives a contrast of tones and feelings. I feel as if the man is an angel because he looks like he has wings on his back. The woman on the bed looks distressed by the way her hand is placed on her forehead. The movement of the angel looks like he is going towards the woman, maybe taking her away to heaven. The darkness around her body and face give me a negative feeling. On the other hand, the light windows and towards the right of the picture give a hopeful feeling.

I feel like this photograph is successful. I feel this way because of the different elements in the picture. The rich values bring out different moods in the picture. I think the author wanted to show hope in a not happy setting, death. Death is usually perceived as scary or sorrowful, but this picture comes across being hopeful. If the lighting was different, it may have given a truly different feeling. Others may have a different perspective because we are really unsure of what it going on in this picture. The lady may be just sleeping and the man may just be her husband. Either way, I feel that since it can be interpreted differently, that gives it more of a reason to observe it because it leads to wondering.