Yimei Han
Prof. MichalsÂ
COMD2330/D190
6 September 2017
http://www.michaelkenna.net/gallery2.php?id=11
    The photograph “Poplar Trees” was shot by an English photographer Michael Kenna in Italy, 2016. The black and white image captured a scene of an array of poplar trees in the foreground, disappeared to the vanishing point with the blurry contour of mountains in the background. The photographer intended to attract the viewer’s eye by using the perfectly straight array of trees, then follow the trees to the far distance of the image. The “Poplar Trees” indicated the tranquility of this place. It gave me desolate and lonely feelings.
    The photographer applied one of the formal elements that leading lines to give a sense of depth in this photograph. It also directed the viewer’s eye to the outside of the picture which hallucinated the viewer, as if the image was infinity. The diagonal lines of the poplar trees presented movement which gave the viewer a dynamic feeling of this photograph even the subjects were still lives. Additionally, the patterns and repetition of the poplar trees added strength to the image that drew the viewer’s attention. It also pleasing to the viewer’s eye and created an impression of a large amount trees in it. Overall, the “Poplar trees” conveyed the mood of peaceful and calm.
You describe the formal elements of the photo well. I am surprised though that at the end of the first paragraph you state that the photo gives you desolate and lonely feelings and at the end of the second paragraph that the photo conveys peace and calm. It is one or the other. I find the photo because of its strong organizing geometry to feel reassuring. Any place with that much order has to be safe and calm.