Alex Webster is the name of the photographer. I choose Alex and one of his projects on Diaspora Japan. The idea is about the dispersion or spread of a people from their original homeland. In this case is people move from Africa to Japan. I feel like home when I look at the photograph. The subject possesses a hair bun, engaged language and culture. I love this photo because of the confidence that can be seen in the portrait.
Experiences of people of African descent living in Japan is what the photographer is trying to say in the photograph. The purpose of the image is the positive look from them. I believe the author chose this shoot for a thumbnail of the interview series because of the elegant look from him.
Three of the formal elements we discussed in class that are most important in the photo that I selected are symmetry, figure to ground, contrast of light and dark. The photographer’s use of those three compositional principles is dynamic. That composition carries the feeling of the that makes you look at it repeatedly. Symmetry is nearly perfect because the subject is right at the center. The “Line of Symmetry” is the imaginary line where you could fold the image and have both halves match. In terms of landscape, a person is a character, and a city is a background. About contrast of light and dark, the light on his face creates the perfect contrast with his dark eyes. His hairstyle interrupted the color texture of his eyes and was a window to the soul. Hierarchically, my eyes start looking at his face, follows his eyes downward, then up towards his hair, then downwards to the white balcony behind his shoulder which merge seamlessly into the colorful city behind him.
This is a flattering causal portrait. Note how soft the light is on the subjects face.
You mentioned the symmetry of the composition. I think that is reinforced by the dark tones on the left and right on the background while the center of the photo is lighter in tone.