Digital Photography 1
Homework 1
Thomas Holton The Lams of Ludlow Street
- The image is a casual portrait of the Lam family, some of which are eating.
- The intention of the photo is unclear, though it is very serious it could mean a number of things. It shows the family in a very casual setting and seems to just focus on the subject in focus.
- The emphasis is on the young man sitting on a chair; he appears to be eating and staring intensely at the camera. The subject appears to be front-lit with very little shadow in the picture.
- The selective focus helps the image because it focuses on the expression of the subject in focus. It also helps that the viewer is eye level with the subject in the focus.
- There is a High Contrast in the image that focuses on the brightest area of the image, which is the main subject. The image shows a deep space but still focuses on the far end of the space.
- The image reveals the two children in the front of the deep space out of focus, both are at different distances and the one closest to the front is the most out of focus.
- The image makes the viewer serious and focused. Also it shows calm in an area where there are many other things going on. No one else in the image is focused on the camera except for the main subject.
- The picture relates to the other images in the series because it uses the same selective focus as in some of the other images and shows the family and the space they live in as the main subject.
the eye contact with the central subject in the photo is I think the most crucial element. As you state the photo is taken from eye-levle drawing us into an intimate relationship with the main subject. The use of shallow depth of field isolates him and re-enforces him as the focal point. As you state, the series shows the family’s life and the space they live in. In the photo you selected, I am struck by how tight that space is.