While viewing all the photographs used to choose from, Wall Painting stood out to me the most because of how it wasn’t like the other photos. The photograph was taken in 2013 and just like the other images, it is also in black and white. All of the photos taken by Michael Kenna give off almost the same feeling of home and safety to me because of New York being my home and always seeing vast amount of people around such as being in Time Square or the busy streets of Brooklyn when walking to school. The mood from this specific photo was a bit different than the rest because unlike the other photos that are photos of the skyline or bridges and scenery of New York, this one has to do with the hands of the people of New York. The simple gesture of reaching for the sky and the peace sign we all know is what drew me in and make this photo successful and to my liking.
From the elements we had went over in class, I’d say the photo definitely has the elements of figure to ground, where there’s a distinct tendency to separate the dark figures against the lighter background. The use of figure to ground works great within this photo because I get the sense of happiness and unification when seeing the hands in the air and the peace sign.
As well as figure to ground, Kenna uses diagonal lines to draw our eyes to the foreground. The use of diagonal lines gives off a sense of movement, making my eyes move from left to right across the photo which is considered natural when using diagonals. A feeling is set off as well with the diagonal cutting right underneath the frame-like box above the hands and i believe that is also whats giving me that sense of happiness because I can easily picture the people jumping around because the lines make me, once again as stated above, feel movement.
http://www.michaelkenna.net/gallery.php?id=14
This is a photo of a painting and as such it is hard to separate out the photographer’s choices from the original artist’s decisions. Certainly the photographer frames the painting in a certain way to emphasize the reaching hands. the diagonal beam in the painting that you point out certainly adds to the movement of the original composition and to the photograph.