The photo Hallway (1953) by Roy DeCarava gives off an eerie feel to it. All it is, is a dark photo of the end of a hallway. It probably wasn’t intentional to give off a macabre feel to it but when I look at it I feel like it would be perfect to use in something like Tell Tale Heart or a Guillermo Del Toro film. The way the hallway looks also gives of the impression that the house it resides in isn’t in a very classy house. It’s probably in a torn up apartment in a low class residential area. I assume this because the floor looks a little dirty and the wallpaper looks equally as miserable. The light fixtures as well look discouraging because they are small and don’t give off much light. So the impression that I get from this piece is, don’t open the door to the end of the hall. It may not be so friendly.
The overall composition of it would be defined as Low key and the focal point would be at the end of the hall which would make it also an extensive depth of field. The walls also create a kind of frame that draws the viewer to the focal point of the end of the hall and it is balanced enough that there isn’t much negative space – ones eyes are not bouncing back and forth from the carpeting to the floor – it kind of just lingers at that dark space where the two may collide. Then there is also the wallpaper which is divided and that also gives off the impression that the focal point is at the end of the hallway. Just these elements give it the sense that something may be lurking at the end of that hall…ready to strike.
This is a great example of a low key photo. while the light is bright, almost all of the tones in the photo are darker than the mid tone.
I don’t know if I find the image as ominous as you do but I do get a strong sense of confinement.