Analysis number Four

http://www.anseladams.com/ansel_art/yosemite.html
Ansel Adams, Moon and Half Dome

Subjects: The moon over a sheer cliff face

Elements:
- Negative space
- Black and White
- Distance from Camera to Subject
- Figure/ground relation (shadows become subject)
- Sharpness/contrast


Ansel adams is a very well known nature photographer. His work is exclusively black and white, and occasionally turns natural objects or images into alien scenery. In his image Moon and half Dome, Adams captures a still in Yosemite park that looks like a fantasy landscape.

The black and white is exceptionally helpful in making this beautiful landscape so enchanting. By taking away the earthy tones, this rock face could be any color, any hue, any material. It makes the snow more of a highlight than a major feature, and helps the landscape to be lost into shape (in a very good way).

The amount in this image is impressive too. To shoot this he had to be very far away from his subject, allowing the majority of the

Analysis Number Three

Migrant Mother, 1936
Dorothea Lange

Primary subject mater: A mother and her two children

Form:
- Black and white
- Distance from camera to subject
- Focus
- Point of view
- Relation of Elements within the Frame

The 1936 masterpiece Migrant Mother by Dorothea Lange is a classic image from the depression that shows a family doing what they can to get by. This image captures the defeated spirit of americans during the dust bowl and depression. The mother in this image allowed Lange to photograph her multiple times from different angles, and many of the photographs have become popular. However, the one I chose in particular is the most emotional.

This is probably due to the fact that it is the closest exposure of the set, and the mother and children are right there in your face. Even without seeing that the trio are in a lean-to tent the mothers expression and the way her children desperately cling to her makes their situation seem very dire.

The fact the photo is in black in white, regardless of conscious choice, is a huge buff to the mood of the image. Everything seems washed out and bleak, adding to the hopelessness in the woman's expression.

The depth of field appears to be shallow; the focus is entirely upon the mother and her two sons. Both the foreground and the background texture of the tent are out of focus. This makes the viewer a little uncomfortable and eventually empathetic; there is nothing else in the image to look at but the subjects.

As a random aside, this was obviously highly intentional. If you look closely at the pole in the foreground you can see some primitive 'photoshopping' that partially removed a mysterious thumb. This thumb would distract from the subjects and allow an outlet from the uncomfortable image, so someone attempted to mask it.

The subjects are front and center, in a clear cut portrait. The composition is very standard, central, and strong. This once again brings the viewer face to face with this suffering stranger.

As for relation of elements, the two children are faceless and therefore anonymous. They depend upon their mother for survival, and are attached to her. The mother's expression is very inward, as if she has little concern for the camera before her. In truth the woman's expression itself could be listed as a subject.

Analysis Number Two

VJ Day Kiss
A photograph by Alfred Eisenstaedt

Important Elements:
- Candid Photograph
- Distance from camera to subjects
- Black and White
- Depth of field
- Composition; central subjects.

The subjects in this photograph are a sailor and a nurse. The soldier is dramatically kissing the nurse in a movie-like embrace.

This is a classic image from 1945, on Victory over Japan day. It is a candid shot which captured the spirit and feelings of the whole of America on that day. The war was over. The shot signifies both the strength of America in undertones and more importantly, the excitement felt by the nation as a whole to be done with war, to be victorious, and to be together with loved ones again.

The manner in which the returning sailor is kissing his nurse is not something that is typically socially acceptable (even in modern times) without special occasion. Their pose shows a feeling of elation and happiness that completely trumps inhibitions, and even the people around them are smiling at the scene.

The fact that the image is in black and white removes the distractions that would be caused by color, regardless of whether or not the image could have been photographed in color. It is a very busy street scene and even in black and white the scene gets a little cluttered near the man's shoulder.

This is helped by the somewhat shallow depth of field, however. The main subjects are in sharp focus but the other faces are only slightly blurry; just enough to keep them from being distracting. Likewise, the fact that the photo is very frontal and the subjects are central makes them pop from the background.

The strength of this image isn't necessarily technical aspects, although it is a very sound image, but rather in the emotional impact. Eisenstaedt is renowned for his in-the-field shots and considered the father of photojournalism. This photograph could not be reproduced in a studio with the same aura of pure joy shown by the subjects.