COMD 2330 Digital Photography Fall 2015

Michael Kenna
Manhattan Skyline, Study 1, New York City, USA, 2006
http://michaelkenna.net/gallery_images/a6ecec24.jpg
http://michaelkenna.net/gallery.php?id=14

This photograph gave me the sense of how small Manhattan kind of is because of how cluttered all these buildings are to one another. The darkness from the buildings makes it seem like they are interconnected and that the light was shining behind the city scape, as if the sun was setting. It feels as though there isn’t much going on in the city as it isn’t shining brightly as Manhattan is typically depicted when it’s dark; although, the little specks of going through does show that this city isn’t a lifeless as I thought from a first glance.
This photo is heavily reliant on the contrast of light and dark. The photographer seemed like wanted to make it look like a painting or a cardboard cutout place onto an image of a river. It does make it seem as if the skyline is flat compared to the river foreground. The fascinating part of this photo is the little bump at the far right of the composition. This part is different because this bump doesn’t match the rest of the skyline’s straight edges and that it is much lighter compared to the rest, thus making it seem like there is something that the skyline is hiding. The flat skyline is balance out by the ocean in the foreground by having a more rich and dynamic look. This contrast helps create the feeling of emptiness, as it makes it look like a deserted city without any real light shining through. It can also be a sense of mystery, where people would question whether this is an elaborate cutout or not. I could hardly tell at first glance.

http://matthewpillsbury.com/photographs/self-portrait-with-jetlag-in-tokyo-friday-march-28th-2015-513-528am/

The photo I chose is called Self Portrait with Jet lag in Tokyo by Matthew Pillsbury. This photo stood out to me because I like how the photographer captured the city at night and was still able to balance the photo with the guy who appears to be in motion. When I first saw this photo, I was in awe by the city lights but then I realized the name has some significance.  According to Oxford Dictionary, jet lag refers to “extreme tiredness and other physical effects felt by a person after a long flight across several time zones.” The name of the photo is called self portrait with jet lag so, I think this has some connection with the photographer. I researched Matthew Pillsbury and found out that he lives in New York so I came to the conclusion that this photo represents the state of mind of the photographer travelling from New York to Tokyo.

I was also fascinated by the way the photographer was able to portray tiredness by using motion. Just by looking at this photo gives the viewer a feel of exhaustion. The title is very important, but the photo is also very strong on its own.  Although the guy looks drained, the city lights are brighter than ever and makes the photo come alive. This balances out the outside illuminated world from the inside, consumed world.

Pillsbury uses the framing technique to add depth to the photo . The window serves as a scene to draw the viewer into the photo. It also separates the busy city from the worn out guy. He also uses diagonals to give the photo a sense of perspective. The window ledges are used as dividers and also draw the viewer further in the photo. The city lights and buildings also create a pattern because of the repetition of lights.

http://www.michaelkenna.net/gallery_images/6d7bc15.jpg

“Central Park Reservoir, New York City, USA, 1998”

The photo I chose by Michael Kenna was taken of central park in 1998. The black and white photo consists of buildings overlooking a body of water in central park as seen through a fence. The grain and lack of color make it an appealing picture that gives a deep reaction since the main subject of the photo is distant and unclear. The fence that the photo was taken through creates a frame for the main focus of the photo and draws your eye towards it. Kenna also utilized the rule of thirds on this picture since the body of water and two distinguishable buildings are in the middle of the frame which gives it harmony. For the most part there is symmetry in this photograph since the rhombus shape of the fence lines up with the middle of the frame as well as the buildings that stand out. The contrast that the black and white creates in this photo also makes certain aspects of the picture distinguishable and stand out such as the plants at the bottom of the frame which are almost completely black and stand against the very bright grey body of water in central park.

Michael Kenna took this photograph, in the year of 1998 in New York City. The name of the photograph is Central Park Reservoir. I found his work style very interesting and unique in many aspects. The photograph is quite interesting and really caught my eye because it was taken through a wired fence from central park to capture the buildings of NYC right across the river. I think that the photographer’s purpose for taking this photograph was to show you a different angle of perspective of things. It seems that he wanted to capture the buildings in the picture to show you a different view, instead of showing you the whole fence in the picture. In the perspective that the photographer is trying to show us, makes the picture seem as if we were looking through a window from part of the fence rather than just showing us the whole image itself without zooming into the fence.

I believe Michael Kenna uses a couple of techniques in order to capture the photograph. One of those techniques is framing which is the use of some sort of window or door. In this case the photographer uses the fence to make it seem like we are viewing the image through a window. I think this is very interesting because you are seeing the image from a different perspective. Another technique that Kenna uses is Symmetry. This photograph can be folded vertical to show symmetry. I think that when using these sorts of techniques you can learn a lot from it. What I mean by this is that, when you use these sorts of techniques you can really grasp a much more different view rather than doing something simple as just taking a photo of the whole image without cropping into it. I think that these elements really help bring out the mood of the picture by telling a story. In this photograph I believe that the photographer was trying to make the mood very settle and give it an old vintage feeling to it.

http://www.michaelkenna.net/gallery.php?id=14