This is one of the many pictures with the title “The Lams of Ludlow Street” taken by Thomas Holton. According to the website description the picture’s show the life of a Chinese family living in New York City’s Chinatown Neighborhood. The picture’s specifically focus on the Lam family. A family that lives in Chinatown and their daily lives. The photograph seems to have a mood of excitement and amazement. The child in the picture seems to be excited to be looking at such great heights of a city. The photograph really emphasizes the view that is being looked upon, as if being above of everything with this amazing view of the city. There is just a simple and innocent sense of wonder. That is the type of vibe I get from this photo. The scenery gives the photo an intense yet innocent mood, because of the sense of wonder being witnessed from the child. These are the reasons as to why this photo has caught my attention more than the rest. Thomas Horton has it so the overview of the city is the sharpest part of the image, thus making it the main focus. The light in the image seems to be evenly distributed, so light doesn’t seem to be much of a factor in the image other than it’s day time outside. The viewpoint of the photo is from a birds eye view. The photo also seems to have shallow space, since there are so many buildings close to each other, excluding the view of the little girl. The tone seems to be mainly Full scale with many tones of grays and whites. The line of the photo I believe is a diagonal point of view. The visual element’s of the photo are captured within the frame to give off an intense, and exciting point of view.
http://www.thomasholton.com/
I love this photo. You describe its mood well. I think in the context of the series of photos it takes on a more complex meaning than it has by itself. I read it as the city and its richness will belong to the child. The parents have sacrificed for the future of their children.
One small thing to be clear on is that shallow space means that everything is the same distance from the camera. This usually means that the subject matter is flat like a wall with graffiti.