Sarah Weber- November 18

This is an image by Hillary Strack.
The lighting in the upper right hand corner touching the trees looks like the time of day is either early morning--sun rise or late afternoon sunset. This image is a C-print obviously printed expressively and intentionally to give a sense of tone and mood.
The analogous background and foreground create an ambiance of stillness while the subject, a deflated plastic jumper, is so vividly colored. A jumper is essentially a giant plastic toy. This image speaks of the isolation children sometimes feel around adults and the hardships of reality interrupting childhood ideas of play. There is a mournful loss of innocence in the sad deflated toy. The red/blue, orange/yellow combination in the image is almost intoxicating in saturation perhaps alluding to the over stimulation of American culture. The blue green foreground and background have this pull towards a sickly reality. The background looks like a community affected by the economy or perhaps hardship in general. This image is lonely-- there are only the remnants of humanity. The affect of man-made plastic on Earth's environment and the heightened color of "green" is something that connect in this image.

Marie Weston - October 28

http://www.zoestrauss.com/zoe.html

I don’t know very much about Zoe Strauss or the projects she does but I do really enjoy the peculiar range of images that she groups together. I remember talking about her work a little last year in my photo class when her project “The Week of the Perfect Game” was up in the Modern Wing. The almost-collective opinion was that the images in the series were too uninteresting and didn’t feel as if any effort had been put into making them. A lot of Strauss’ images are taken with flash, or some other type of harsh, possibly unflattering lighting. She also photographs flat objects like signs, or text scribbled on buildings, or an arrangement of photographs on a wall. I think Strauss’ stark images actually form a dialogue about the way privilege plays a part in fine art photography and I really appreciate how far she takes the reductive quality of her photographs.

This particular image actually feels a bit different from her other ones in that there actually seems to be a range of space in the image and a cohesive color scheme. But when surrounded by the other types of images (close up objects, street portraits, etc.) it still feels like a cohesive part of a series. The image definitely seems to use color realistically, but the green cast from the florescent lights and the fact that we can’t see the sky makes the image feel more expressive/dramatic. But the ovens in the fore-to-mid ground are color balanced correctly. In this case the green cast from inside the building completely adds to the allied color palette: the yellow oven, and orange and green trim around the windows, even the sidewalk in the foreground seems to be a little bit green and orange and yellow at the same time.

Shreya - November 11

An Island within an Island.

At first glance this image by Gabriel Orozco appears to be a simple photograph of a dreary Manhattan skyline. However, looking at it just a little bit longer causes the playful sculpture in the foreground to quickly materialize. Orozco has cleverly arranged planks of wood against a parking barrier to make them imitate the skyline in the background. Part of the reason it takes a second longer to see the sculpture is the use of allied colours within the image. The shades of blue in the background and the shades of brown and beige in the foreground create a camouflage effect in the photograph. Also adding to this is the neutral grey of the pavement and sky. This makes the mirroring of the shapes cause a subtle aha experience, adding humour to an otherwise gloomy day. The eye tends to move back and forth from the arranged wood planks to the skyline through the kind of arrow formed by the barrier between land and water. The image functions as a reminder to its viewers of the small subtle worlds that can exist within larger ones.

Jen Swanson - Nov. 11

This photo from Shen Wei, Julie, Almost Naked (2005), depicts a woman of Asian heritage posing nude while seated on one of three gold and black leopard print chairs. The woman stares pointedly into the camera; although her body language (one arm hugs herself across her breasts) is modest, her direct gaze and one hand positioned strongly on her knee gives the viewer the impression that she is a confident person.

The colors in the photo have a similar dichotomy. Pink and purple gauzy curtains hang behind the woman from ceiling to floor. There is a comforter in the background that has pinks and purples as well, giving the viewer a sense that the bedroom belongs to a teenager or very young woman. However, the three leopard print chairs give the impression that it's a woman trying to understand her sexuality. The curtains and the chairs give a dynamic contrast to the photo.

In the background we see a picture tacked to the door featuring a woman in a provocative pose. The background of this picture is green, a color that is repeated directly below it in the comforter and then the leaves on a fake flower that sits on one of the leopard chairs. The woman's skin tone is of similar tone to the leopard print chairs, and is well lit by a flash.

The pinks and purples vs. blacks and golds, the long lines of the curtains vs. the horizontal wavy lines of the leopard print, and the modest vs. bold pose of the nude woman effectively give this photo several contrasts for the viewer to consider.

Sarah Weber- November 11

http://www.mscherrer.com/index.html

This photograph has an emphasis on framing. The off center mirror adds another dimension into the photograph by showing more space. The frame inside of the mirror adds a third dimension that directs the viewer's eye. Inside the mirror one can see there is a bed that is messed up. The colors are analogous to colors outside of the mirror. There also is a hand that comes in between the frame of the mirror and the frame of the painting leaving more clues of humanity inside the photograph. The purple floral print wallpaper boarder activates the purple flower in the forefront of the lefthand side of the photograph. Also, the floral print on the bedspread and the flower in the glass vase are diagnol from each other activating a dialogue of similarity. The common themes are wood and floral. The colors that repeat most often are the purple, brown, blue and white. The colors and decorations remind me bed and breakfast place in New Mexico or Arizona. The light switch on the right hand side also leaves more clues of humanity because one switch is off and the other is one. A flash was probably used and located to the right of the animal skull telling by the direction of the shadows.

Sarah Weber- November 4

www.caseymcgonagle.com

The subject of this photograph has this distant look in her eyes as she looks off camera. She has two small cuts on the inside of her top lip. Her expression, to me, reads of loss or grief. The use of color is minimal and I would say that color is not something that is super important in this photograph. Mainly, if it was in black and white I think it would still be as affective if not more. That being said the use of color adds warmth and realism into the photograph. The viewer can tell the subject is in her home by the subtle pattern on the back of the door in the right background. There is some wood paneling along the window on the right. The light source looks like a combination of natural light and strobe because the subject's shoulder in the left corner is well lit, there is a strong shadow created under her hair onto her cheek and her right cheek is well lit also. The grey of her shirt is cool while the wood paneling and her hair and skin tone is warm.

Sarah Weber- October 28

www.erinjanenelson.com

This color photograph has a relationship with painting, abuse and the coloration of bruises. The colors inside of this photograph become as important as the rest of the missing form. We, as viewers, are given a limited pallet to observe and draw conclusions from. The darker colors in the right bottom corner of the portrait are reminiscent of what true shadows would be on the human form if in fact the light source is stemming from the top upper left. The paint adds this level of texture making this piece look more like an object or a painting than a photograph except that the duplication of it is a photograph. The black eye reminds me of Nan Goldin's self portrait in which she also has a black eye. The use of the paint covering the rest of the figure feels like a mask. People often hide their emotions and issues behind makeup, clothes, color, false smiles, etc. I think the paint functions the same way. An exterior bruise like a black eye is not something one can hide easily and the rest of the "mask" is chipped away letting viewers see in. An interior perhaps metaphorical "bruise" is not something others can see. The dilation of the pupil in the eye suggests a low light perhaps with a flash. The color relationships I see are red/blue, and green/yellow.