This photo is an example of a backlight, with the light showing in the bottom right of the composition. It is also the main light being exposed to the photo. With how it’s placed, it makes the model (or myself) more focused, and as well making it more dramatic and awe-inspiring.
I picked this picture because of the glare in the eye, giving it innocence and there’s  nice contrast. The face is in 3rd point perspective and the light comes from the right and front.
I really enjoyed this photo due to its composition and the lights in it. The background light helps the image pop out by putting highlights around the figure. The key light helped by filling in the shadows to the face which created more highlights. The main light helped by giving the figure a good amount of light on it. I just like how this composition works overall.
In this picture, i really love how the shadows are. The contrast between dark and light are really nice in this image. We one lighting for this image which is the main lighting to cast the shadows.
The Fill light fills up the shadows so we can see more of the portrait and the back light fills the background with light. And finally the main light casts shadows on our subject(s)
Shot by me, I very much so enjoyed shooting Sam. The lighting illuminated her face well on the right side of the photograph. The way the eye is the focal point of the image also is of great interest to me. The subject is looking away, at a three-quarter view.
I really enjoyed this photo because of its composition. I also like how shooting against a white wall made the object look like a dark flowers. The way the photo was taken made it seem as if the objects were the shadows but in reality it was the object itself. I like how you can see some of the colors to the object such as the yellow and purple pedals.
I choose this photograph because the contrast of the subject (flowers) and background, the dark background easily outlines the shape of the flowers. Secondly, I can see that the light in this photo is side lighting which increases the distance between the subject and the backdrop, so the light falls on the flower not the backdrop.
In and out of the studio: Photographic Portraits from the West Africa is located at the Metropolitan Museum on the second floor, in the Mezzanine Gallery. As you get to the gallery you come across a big yellow sign that has an introduction of the exhibit. As you walk into the exhibit the room is filled with a row of photography going vertically on each wall. The walls are white so the only thing that stands out, are the photographs. The room is very dull and simple and had lots of negative space all around. There wasn’t too much information given. There were only a few photographs that had descriptions on them. There were different photographers that took photographs that were throughout. I believe the main concept of all the photographs were to capture the people of West Africa. It was to grab the attention of photographers who are into travel or history and can see for themselves the different things there is to see in West Africa. All the photographs were of people, their cultures, and everyday lives. As you explore more into the exhibit you see that the room has a mood of emptiness, like it still could have been under construction or something must have been missing.
The different things that are shown throughout the exhibit are photographs of people in West Africa. The photographs pertain traditions. We also come across different mediums that the photographs were made off. For example I came across a photograph that was very interesting. It was of several men sitting right by each other in their suits and the whole photo sort of looked like an x-ray because of the color aspect it had. The photograph’s medium was glass negative, which refers to two separate formats the collodion wet plate negative and the gelatin dry plate. Both of these formats consist of a light sensitive. What we do not see throughout the gallery is color; everything in the exhibit was kept simple and colorless.
Even though I found the exhibit and most of the photos dull, I did come across a photograph that caught my eye. It was a self-portrait of the photographer himself in his photo studio. He was sitting down reading a newspaper and starring right into the camera with a shocking stare. The photograph has a contrast of different tones of grey but you can see the lighting of the sunlight beaming into the photograph. The photograph was shot on eye level and was a close up of the photographer. Malick Sidibé taken in 1956 calls the photograph Self-Portrait. The medium of the photo is a gelatin sliver print, which refers to the photographic process used in printing paper. This particular photograph caught my attention because it had a colorful hand painted frame of different patterns throughout. It was the only color I came across throughout the exhibit. The frame was bright orange and was said, to be added to the photograph decades later after the photo was made in order to add traditional feel to the photograph.
The exhibit conducts photographs of portrait photography in the West Africa. We see many photographs of people in their everyday lives. In my defense, I believe the exhibit ties up well with the matter of the subject, which is culture. I think we are so used to seeing things that are so spectacular and eye catching that we never notice details. In this exhibit the photographers wanted us to capture the details and meaning of each photograph by looking at each one of them. I believe that all the negative space all around was purposely done in order to get us to focus on what the main subject was; which were the people of the West Africa. The emotional aspect throughout is very delicate because you have to grab a sense of a different perspective than what you are used to seeing in your everyday life.
Exhibit Review: Patrick Faigenbaum- Kolkata/Calcutta
Kolkata formerly known as Calcutta is the capital of India’s West Bengal state. “Kolkata/Calcutta” the title given to a current series of photographs by Patrick Faigenbaum presented at Aperture Gallery in New York is an exhibition displaying a set of about thirty photographs taken by the artist himself in Kolkata and its surrounding areas. In 1995, photographer, Faigenbaum discovered India for the first time but didn’t take any pictures. However in 2011,sixteen years later, he got the opportunity to visit India with the help of his close friends and captured an incredible way of living. In the exhibition,the photographs illustrates a story within the city of Calcutta. The photographer follows and documents Chatterjee’s daily life. From the embroidery she makes to meals she cooks, Feigenbaum gives the world an inside view of a  life in Calcutta. The portraits of the neighborhoods and landscape in the area where she lives is captured in the photos, as well as her family. Most of the photos shows the culture and daily living of the people in Calcutta. Pictures of other artists and musicians are also included in the exhibition. The photos at the Aperture Gallery are placed on a white wall to create a simple environment, because most of the images are very strong on their own. The space used for the exhibition is very large, appealing to the viewer. About four to six photos are placed on the walls with a variety of colored and black or white. The entire series of photographs represents a  realistic portrait of a city and its inhabitants connected to their past and their present. The images in the series can appeal to people of all ages, although the subject matter might be clearer to most adults.
The photos in this exhibition focus on Feigenbaum’s deep empathy for the residents captured in this dynamic and humane portrayal of the street life of Calcutta. The idea of poverty rules as an important element in most of the photos. From the children playing in the streets, mothers getting water in a well and young men gathering to watch television after a long day shows the way of living for many of the residents of Calcutta. Beyond the glitz of new street lights and fresh paint lies a world of absolute poverty where people can barely afford to live. The matter of poverty is known worldwide but the kids and young women in these photos captives people to believe that it is a lot worse than we may think. The images consists of children barebacked playing in what seems normal to them with tree branches and dirt. Women who try to get water for their families while the men are working in the fields. There are stand pies for the community which suggests that many families do not have running water at home. This city doesn’t appear to be advanced in technology either and power might be limited.
The image labeled “The Santal Village of Goalpara, West Bengal, May 2014” is one I think is very effective. The rule of thirds is used to distinguish the horizon. The sky from the lake and the ground. The tree’s reflection is also shown. The photo also has a strong horizontal line and the slope and lake brounder created lines lines.
This exhibit is about the poverty experienced by the residents in Calcutta. The way the people go about their daily lives without the use of advanced technology and other luxurious things shows a different side to everything. This does have an emotional impact on anyone who sees because it brings to life what everyone tries to ignore. Poverty is real and it is happening around the world,  Many of the people in the photos didn’t appear to be hurt or sad but most had a an expression of acceptance. Most of those people were born into poverty and although feelings can’t be generated from real life into photos, many of the images were indeed effective.
The exhibit is a very small room; each wall has around four images of people. Some are in negatives and black and white. The subject is mainly of colored people during the 1960s. Malick Sidbé is known for his dynamic shots of Malian Culture.
The main subject for the exhibit is the Malian Culture. It shows how people dressed during the 1960s in West Africa. He took pictures of people dancing, swimming and even kissing. The images that he took show how people lived and what they did for fun during that 1960s era.
One image that I really liked is titled “Baptism at Jafuna’s. The image shows two ladies and one gentleman. They are on the right side of the image so the rules of thirds takes effect here. The image has a lot of contrast between dark and light areas. The background is just a wall but with the floor, it gives it a strong horizontal line going from left-to-right.
The exhibit shows how people lived in West Africa during the 1960s. The subject is Malian Culture. Sidbé managed to capture live moments of how people lived, acted, and what they did for fun. I don’t believe that these images have any emotional impact on me because it doesn’t show anything wrong with the people; it shows them having a good time.
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