Observing Photography and Composition

While looking through certain photographs, the one that really struck my eye was Michael Kenna’s Wall Painting. It was shot in New York in 2013, and it is a monochromatic photo showing a gray building with an almost transparent pictures of roses surrounding it. At the center of it, there is a spotlight going from right to left, and surrounding the building are silhouettes of peoples’ arms waving around it. One silhouette shows a man’s head that’s smack dab in the middle of the building’s door, which is a darker shade of gray than the whole building itself.

When observing the photograph, it’s shown to follow some of the tips of photo composition by Steve McCurry. For example, in the photograph, it uses the first tip, which is the Rule of Thirds. The window that is placed on the top right of the building follows an intersection to the silhouettes at the bottom. The photograph also follows the fifth tip of composition, Figure to Ground. While it is monochromatic, it finds a sharp contrast between the background and figure. The figures are pitch black, and captures the viewer’s attention quickly, while the background adds a nice touch of light gray that isn’t distracting to the subjects and the viewer’s eye. On the topic of the subjects, they follow the eighth tip, Patterns and Repetition. When reading the photo from left to right, it follows a varying pattern of the subjects’ hands. One starts with a peace sign, then it flows through just showing the subjects’ whole hands. As the pattern goes on, the fingers are displayed to vary through size. One last tip the photograph follows is Symmetry. When the picture is cut in half, it shows a pleasing cut through the building’s door, and shows half and half of the subjects’ hands, showing two of them on each of the cuts.

http://www.michaelkenna.net/gallery_images/5670f32.jpg