One of the twenty-five photographs taken by Thomas Holton titled “The Lams of Ludlow Street.” The description on his website for his work “The Lams of Ludlow Street” tells people that he experienced and saw what a Chinese family living in New York City’s Chinatown is like. The photograph taken in monochromatic gives the viewer a feeling of looking to the past. The people in the photograph are hidden by close so any emotion for the people is taken away and focuses on the scenery. The scenery gives the photograph a calm and serene mood like looking at the sun rising/setting in a mountain range.
Thomas Holton uses visual elements to help set the mood for this photograph. The viewpoint of the photograph is eye-level and slightly diagonal. The use of lines as visual element is present within the frames of the photograph. The lines such as curved for the ladder, clothes, clothes lines, and the people. The photograph is full scale which gives it the feeling of looking at a monochromatic photograph of the past. Another visual element is that the lighting is directional-diffused light which shows soft-edged shadows. The focus and depth of field in the photograph is selective focus and shallow depth of field because the sharp part of the photo is where the people stand and the soft focus is after the ledge. Lastly the space and perspective within the photograph is shallow space since the buildings are relatively close to one another. All of these visual elements are captured within the frame of the photograph to give the mood as calm and serene.
You accurately describe the light in this photo as directional-difuused. Holton’s camera is pointed right at the sun. the sun usually creates direct light but my guess is that here there is some haze, resulting in a diffused light.
When describing photography, we generally use the term black and white to describe monochromatic pictures.