Heather Peterson week six

In Richard Avedon's fable "In Memory of the Late Mr. and Mrs. Comfort" created for the New Yorker in 1995, he primarily used model Nadja Auermann and a life size skeleton as subjects for his photographs. Color was brought into the photographs enhancing the feel, mood, and gestures of the collection. In this photograph, Avedon used muted, analogous colors to bring to life the tension created in the composition. With the vertical pull of the photograph, the light cast on the 2 primary figures puts an elegant veil over them in juxtaposition to the textured, rotted out background which they are placed upon.

Jessica Leep. Week 6

This photo by Greg Stimac of an older woman mowing her lawn is part of a serious of lawn pictures taken all over the country. The colors in this photo are muted and minimal. The red of the lawn mower is complimented by the green of the grass that surrounds it. The rest of the image is made up of faded neutrals which give the red and green plenty of emphasis although they are also faded. Because the color on fills most of the bottom half of this image, it gives the image a lot of visual weight. The worn feeling of the colors in this image emphasize the subject matter. The woman is older, her hair is graying, the lawn she is mowing appears neglected, the white paint on her home is dingy and pealing. Even down to her activity, which is a dull, redundant chore, the theme is strengthened by the treatment of the colors.

Sarah Lawhead- Week 6

juergen teller

This photo, titled Dropping Ball, was done by one of my favorite fashion photographers, Juergen Teller. The allied colors calm the eye, and yet they are playfully contradicted by the anticipation of the ball that is about to fall in the water. The eye is first drawn to the ball since it is dead center, (also the only complimentary relationship in the photograph) and illuminated by the flash. The composition continues to move the eye around the picture, to the hand which reaches for the ball, the highlights on the water, and back up to the ball's shadow. Lastly my eye notices the the diagonal lines in the wall paper, leading me back to the center of the frame. Interestingly enough the ball is the only thing in the picture which is entirely in the frame, and yet its obvious path of travel unites it with the other objects which (although they travel in an out of the frame) are also frozen in their movement- the water and hand. The composition of the picture magically ties together the movement of objects, color, and lines to glamorize an otherwise 'ordinary' situation.

Benjamin Leaf - Week 6

This is an image by Barbara Kasten from her series "Studio Constructs 2007-08". On her website, she states that her aim was to photograph a "transparent plane" and its shadow in order to create abstract images. I was immediately drawn to this photograph without having any concept of perspective, scale, or reality. The image is made up of strongly geometric patterns created by light and shadow, and many of the patterns meet at a focal point at the center of the image. The shadows and warped abstract patterns create a fascinating symmetry, bisected by a solid line traveling from the center of the frame to the bottom-left corner. The left half of the image may contain a mirror, as the patterns seem to resemble a slightly distorted version of the patterns on the right half of the image.

Kasten’s use of color in this image is very minimal. Colors are created by light; a warmer yellow fills most of the picture and is bordered by a cool blue. Because the picture consists of only two muted colors, tension is created through color contrast, composition, and the angular arrows of light.

I have always been drawn to symmetry and light patterns in photographs. Her other photographs in the series are equally fascinating but did not immediately pull me in the same way that this image did, possibly due to a more asymmetrical compositional and lighting style.

http://www.barbarakasten.net/

jonathan pivovar week 6

Peter Halupka is a (or was a) student of Columbia College.
The photo is of Neapolitan Ice Cream melting on a ledge in the natural light of the sun, the color is minimal, referencing only to very calm cool colors: The monochromatic gray-spotted ledge, the soft pink and creamy off-white, the over bearing brown that ties the shadow in with the main focus of the photograph.
The melting brick of ice cream falls into the center of the photograph, but the shadow creeping behind feels like the photo is asymmetrical.
I feel hungry when i look at it too long.

This photo is by Steve McCurry of monks in Burma. The use of color is minimal and striking, using complimentary red and green to contrast the monks robes against the vibrant grass. It is centrally balanced, though not completely se metrical using the crack through the architectural structure as well as the placement of the monks to anchor the viewers eye. I really appreciate the vastness of neutral color combined with rich splashes of hugh in the bottom half of the frame.

saw the new jcrew catalog and thought of my color class...muted allied colors and textures!  no other colors to distract us...fun composition, playful with the edge of frame...