I resonated with the photography from Christopher Gregory-Rivera in the Hurricane Maria section of his website. I see a photograph which shows a woman and a little girl sitting together within a blue frame. The frame is sitting above a blue couch with a wooden wall behind both the frame and the couch. The main subject of the photograph is the woman and the little girl. I believe that Christopher Gregory-Rivera is trying to give the message that even after the horrible aftermath of hurricane maria, beautiful pictures such as that can be saved and remembered throughout the storm. The photograph gives me a sense of happiness because the woman and child could be remembered. I also love the contrast between the frame and the background.
Three formal elements that I noticed in the photo that I selected are Patterns, Figure to ground and a frame within a frame. You can see a pattern with the background of the wooden wall and the couch. You can see a frame within a frame with the picture frame. Figure to ground, you can see a big contrast between the picture frame and the wall. I feel like the compositional principle of frame within a frame adds more charm to the image.
This photo does show a sweet family photo. I think, after our lives, what we all hope to rescue from a storm are the irreplaceable photos of our family members and friends.
The pattern of the wood that you point out makes me think that this family is living with plywood walls. While I don’t know this for a fact, this makes me think that a year after the storm, they are still living with the temporary fixes and that their home has not returned to what it was before the storm.