Among the numerous amount of images, from our list of photographers, a specific one caught my attention. The photograph is called the “Dust-Covered Snow Globe”, shot by Eugene Richards in New York, NY 2001. Like many of the other images in the gallery, it was taken after the 9/11 attacks. Though what sets this certain image apart, and why I found it the most interesting, is what’s inside the globe. What NYC looked like previously before the attacks is contained inside the globe. Because of the black and white filter on the image, it creates this very melancholy feel, almost as if someone was looking at a memory or the city looking back at it’s previous self. Conceptually the hand could show represent the city’s desire to go back to the past or the memory it’s holding on to.
The first element that I noticed in the image is Fill the Frame. No matter where you look on the image, there’s something taking up that spot. Whether it be the hand, the globe, even the buildings reflected by the glass. The globe looks as if it’s filling the space between the buildings. Replacing what was once there but with only a reflection of the buildings creates this Frame within a frame effect. Not only is he capturing the snow globe but also the missing buildings, in relation to the buildings in the snow globe. This maybe not be apparent when first looking at the photo but when looking at the buildings, they guide your eye toward the globe, creating this Leading Lines effect. The same when looking at the globe first. The buildings on both sides guide your eyes toward the edges of the photo. Another element this photo contains is Figure to Ground. Many objects in this photo create this contract among each other. The globe and the hand, the egg and the globe. The hand and the buildings etc.
Excellent! You nail the meaning of the photo and why it it is a powerful image. The tragedy on 9/11 as a radical break. The day before was suddenly a nostalgic memory of a simpler time.