A Woman at Convent Avenue Baptist Church, 1977

In Dawoud Bey’s photography, what caught my eye was this photo: “A Woman At Convent Avenue Baptist Church, 1977.”

This piece of photograph looks very powerful. It reminds me of an event that is very important, that you would actually need to look fancy and in this image, the woman wearing a hat brings that modification that there is a special event going on. The mood for this photo looks very serious because I know of how a formal church would act and there is professional manners inside the church due to respect. It looks as if everyone is quietly sitting down and patiently waiting for something, so they appear to look calm as well.

The photographer used very nice framework, Bey put the woman’s hat in the center. He also balanced the woman in the middle with one person next to her on each side. There is also a shallow depth of field, the woman in the hat is on focus while everything else is off focused. There is great contrast of light on the top left to the top right, bringing the hat out more in hierarchy. The dark contrast is everything else giving a focal point to the beautiful hat. The vantage point view is in eye angle position. This image looks as if you are actually sitting directly behind this woman.

These elements give this photograph a significant feel bringing happiness in this picture as well. I feel this way because when you go to a church, you are supposed to feel welcome and in this image, even though you do not know if these people are related, Bey gave a peaceful feel by putting them together in this image. The man on the left has his head slightly lifted high making him look like he is relaxed.