Category: HW1_Composition (Page 1 of 3)

Waiting for dinner – The lams of Ludlow street 2 by Thomas Holton

The picture depicts one of the boys in the Lam household studying while his younger sister waits for dinner to be prepared. The picture shows that although they were in one room, the curtain placed between the bed and desk separated the children. A hint to what their life outside of this picture actually was like: while the younger daughter lived with their mother, the boys lived separately with their father. The picture also shows that 5 years after the original album, the children are now in different stages of life, with the older brother in a more tumultuous period of life in regard to his schooling and studying while waiting for dinner. The younger sister was, however, just lying on the bed, waiting, unaware of the stress to come, as shown by the separation through a curtain. The lighting in this picture also helps match this theme and further personify it. The darker, blue tones on the brother’s side show the more stressed and tiring life he leads, while the brighter, orange light on the sister’s side shows the happy, innocent life she leads.

The two main techniques employed in this photo are the rule of thirds and diagonal lines. The positioning of the sister is such that the first thing you notice is her looking at the camera. The placement is at the intersection of the line on the curtain and the beam behind her. Although the photo does not use the center dominant eye method, it does use a variation in which the sister’s eye is placed near the intersection point of the rule of thirds, which creates the illusion that she is looking at you and draws you in further. The diagonal line created by the curtain with respect to the direction of the beams in the background creates depth in the picture. This is aided by the angle of the bed, which is parallel to the curtain but perpendicular to the beams in the back.

The image I chose doesn’t have a name, but it is by Suzanne Stein from New York Street Two. Two women, each dressed in the dark armor of black puffer jackets, stand in the middle of a wintry cityscape, within the silent layer of snow that shrouds the streets. One moves in the viewer’s direction, while the other turns away, creating a scene in which she and her silhouette gradually disappear into the snow and the buildings. The image tends to hint at their separate journeys and diverging paths, thus telling an untold story. The cold in the air reflects the icy nature of their interaction, but under the surface of winter, there’s more going on than meets the eye—a brief moment of mutual isolation in the middle of a lonely street in the city. This scene is like a snapshot of two different journeys happening simultaneously in a snowy city. Both are wearing black jackets, which adds to the contrast. It makes you think about where they’re going and what they might be feeling. The snowy streets and quiet surroundings make it feel peaceful, and they embrace the winter while going on with their life. But there’s also a sense of something deeper that we can’t see just by looking. It’s like a moment frozen in time, waiting for us to imagine the stories behind it.

For the formal elements from the Steve McCurry video, we can see that there is a “Figure to ground”. There is a contrast between the subject and the background which can be noticed clearly. The subjects wear Black puffer jackets while the streets are white and covered with snow. It contrasts both warm and cool tones which creates a visual interest and draws attraction of the viewers. The next compositional principle here I believe is “Diagonals”. The image creates a visual interest, that leads the viewer’s eyes through the image guiding them from one point to another. Lastly, I believe it has to be “symmetry”. It is because the image is providing a pleasing visual experience. It is aesthetically pleasing and impactful since there is a sense of balance in the image.