Up Close and Personal #10

Something I have loved photographing long before I took this class, is of food.  I always catch myself taking my camera phone or digital camera to get a cool picture of the food I'm eating at the time.  A photograph I took in the Reading Terminal Market and didn't use for my project is this close up of chips.  I really love the detail the picture gives of the chips and the translucent bag surrounding it.  I found a photograph that seemed to replicate that photograph of chips but in a different way.  The photograph i found uses light from behind the detail of the chips to be extremely visible.  The one I took allows the light to bounce off the bag.  I also really like the colors that both pictures entail.

 Mine

http://www.pxleyes.com/images/contests/junk%20food/fullsize/junk%20food_4b7980ef0d72f.jpg

Between the Lines #9

I really loved this photograph my sister, Jessie, took.  The vantage point is really striking with the light coming through the leaf.  I really wanted to replicate it with my own twist.  After i saw the photograph my sister took, i noticed a similar picture taken and posted on Pinterest.

 Hers

Pinterest http://media-cache8.pinterest.com/upload/156992736980519136_lbokBm94_f.jpg

Mine

Relax

I found the above photo on deviantart.com. It's by thepurple-horse. 

The photo below is one I took. 

Although my photo has two chairs and clearly has a different color scheme and lighting compared the first one, there are actually several similarities. First, both of us decided to photograph adirondack chairs. However, neither of us decided to photograph the entire chair, choosing to take a picture of the bottom portion. Also, these photos rely heavily on texture--the texture and grain of the wood. Thepurple-horse also focuses on the texture created by the water and water droplets in her photo, while I use the texture of the grass and brick. 

Piddle Puddle

I found this photo on Pinterest by Nellyb. 

I took this photo in an attempt to emulate it. 

Now, both photos are reflections of trees; however, mine is in color while Nellyb's is in black and white. The decision to make the first photo black and white makes sense because the tree has no leaves, while it is logical to make mine color because there are leaves on the trees. One does not have deep colors to portray, while the other does. Also, even though the pictures are roughly the same dimensions, mine has a distinctly horizontal look and Nellyb's has a distinctly vertical look. I believe that the lines in the photos dictate these illusions. The circle of my puddle is horizontal, while the line of the sidewalk edge in the first photo clearly leads the eye up, giving it a vertical look. 

Motions in Emotion

 The above picture is a photo I took of friends embracing each other. The picture below belongs to Cristina Garcia Rodero and was taken from one of her portfolios on www.magnumphotos.com

Both of these pictures display specific human emotions. While it is not hard to capture somebody's emotions on camera, I think it is hard to portray it accurately. With the use of motion (and the lack of) I feel that these two pictures display the photographed emotions very well. Usually when someone is sad they mope around; an action that is very slow and meditated. When photographing a sad person with a fast shutter speed you remove blurriness from the photo. By doing so you truly pause the person at a moment in time and highlight their slow movements and portray their overall mood very accurately. In the same sense, when people are happy they generally tend to move around a lot and be very active. By photographing happy people with a slower shutter speed you are able to show their movements and in turn are able to more accurately portray their mood and actions. Together, these two photos show exactly how important motion is in photography, especially when capturing certain moods.

Double Frame

 The above picture was taken by me in my dorm. The picture below is in response to my photo and was taken from Guadalupe Rosales' work on the homepage of www.iheartphotograph.com.

Aside from the presence of a person in Guadalupe's picture, these photos have a lot in common. The doorways, lighting, and framing all bare a strong resemblance. The part of the relationship between these two pictures which I found most striking though was the framing. Both photos use double framing to draw you to the subject of the photo. In my picture I use the edges of the wall leading into the hallway to give the viewer a sense of the subject. Guadalupe does the same thing by using the open doors in his picture. Both of us then take it one step further by using yet another frame within the broader of the two to highlight the subject of the picture. While I used the window of the door to frame the outside world, Guadalupe used (what looks like) an empty picture frame to do the same thing.

Vantage Point

 The above photo is a picture of John F. Kennedy's hands that was taken by Cornell Capa. The picture below is a picture I took of a miniature statue given to be my Latin teacher/adviser during my senior year of high school.

Both these pictures rely heavily on vantage point. By utilizing vantage point correctly, one can make their subject seem much more important, larger, smaller, etc. than what they actually are. In Capa's picture he uses vantage point to make Kennedy's hands seem huge, giving Kennedy a very important role in the captured scene while showing him in a way that also makes him seem much bigger than he actually is. By utilizing vantage point in my photo I made my one foot tall miniature statue appear life size. By doing so I not only increased its significance, but also made it appear to be human.

Misplaced Graffiti

The above picture was taken by me in Philadelphia. The one below it is another picture belonging to my friend Kate from her Flickr account.

The picture I took seemed odd to me because it was in a random ally. This struck me as weird because all other graffiti I'd seen in the area (Italian Market) were on walls or murals completely dedicated to urban artwork. In Kate's picture the graffiti she chose to photograph is on a wall. While the graffiti on the wall itself is not odd because the entire wall is dedicated to graffiti, the placement of the wall in front of a particularly plain building is striking. I chose to explore the relationship between these two pictures because of the subject matter (graffiti) and the importance of the contrast they both had to their surroundings. By being placed in two very plain areas, the art in both pictures is not only emphasized, but highlighted and appears far more important and appealing than they would be had they been surrounded by similar works.

America?

 The above picture was taken by me at Gino's Cheese Steak in Philadelphia. The quotes in the picture say a couple of alarming things: "This is America. When ordering please speak English," and "I am mad as hell! I want my country back!" The picture below is from a group of controversial pictures released a while back of American soldiers torturing middle eastern prisoners. I found it again recently and took it from www.infowars.com. This photo is in response to the one I took.

Throughout history we have been spoon-fed to believe that America is a great country based on racial tolerance, fair and equal treatment of all, and the belief that all men are created equal. The relationship that these two pictures share is that both go against America's alleged values. Racial intolerance is displayed in the picture I took, strongly contradicting what we are made to believe about acceptance in our country. In the picture I took from infowars.com, American soldiers are seen torturing Iraqi prisoners. This picture also goes against our idea of acceptance and all men being created equal. What is most alarming about these two pictures though are the smiles that each American has on their face. These two pictures alone forced me to rethink my support of my country and ask myself: what are the REAL values and beliefs of Americans today?

Colors

 The picture below is a picture I took from my friend Kate's Flickr account. It is in response to the above picture I took in Philadelphia.

While the subjects of these two photos don't have much in common, the colors represented through them are very similar. Both pictures have very similar and vibrant shades of green, red, orange, and yellow. In both pictures the presence of such lively colors help to create and ultimately strengthen the photos themselves.

Battle Wounds

 The above picture was taken by Nan Goldin. It is in response to the picture below which shows cuts I got on my hand and arm after a rough Saturday night.

The relationship between these two pictures is that they both portray the aftermath of clearly violent events. The only difference between our battle wounds is that mine have scarred and are now permanent, whereas the woman pictured will most likely recover (physically at least) after a few weeks.

Kids

The top picture was taken by me in Philadelphia's Italian Market. The picture below it was chosen in response to mine and is from amateur photographer Mat Opaw and his Flickr account. Although taken from two different vantage points (his being up close and personal, while mine is more from the perspective of an outside spectator), both photos capture children doing what they do best: playing.

Birds of a Feather

 The picture above is a picture I took of locked up bikes next to a motorcycle on the streets of Philadelphia's Italian Market. The picture below was taken from amateur photographer Kim Yokota's  post in the blog: TO Flickr.

These two pictures show many similarities. However, the one I find most striking is the fact that various forms of the same vehicle is given in both pictures. In the picture I photographed, the motorcycle is placed side by side with two of its bicycle predecessors. In Kim Yokota's photo, a toy car is parked on a city street next to many of its real counterparts.

Water Works

This photograph I took is of a water statue on campus. By taking an up close shot, focusing on the water I was able to capture the ripples the water formed as it ran down the slab. This second photograph that I found on the internet is of water ripples. It is taken at a different angle than my photograph and the sun is beautifully captured on the left side of the shot.

Sun Light

I took this top photograph of Thomas, and you can clearly see Pfahler Hall in the reflection of the windows. I like how the sun brightens up the left side of the photo but at the front it is darker. The shade from the tree contributes to the darkness of the right side of the photograph and the tree is seen in the window reflection as well. At first glance you might not notice that the building is a reflection, this gives the photograph a surprising element.

I found this second photograph on the internet. It also shows a reflection on a tree in a buildings windows. This photograph is up close and does not show the whole building like my own photograph. The photo is bright near the bottom from the sun and shows more darkness near the top. The natural sun light is as important aspect of both of these photographs.

Fire hydrant

I took this top photograph of a fire hydrant outside of Thomas. I centered the fire hydrant in the middle of the frame but also wanted to show the statue in the top left. This photograph on the right I found on the internet. It is taken at a similar angle however shows less detail and surroundings than my own photograph.

Railraod Tracks

I took this first photograph, standing on a bridge in Philadelphia, which is apparent in the angle of the shot. I wanted to included both the railroad tracks and the water and position the pathway down the middle of the shot. The top right corner is very light and I really like how the white light moves across the sky.

This photograph I found on the internet is similar to my own photo. The railroad tracks are the center focus of the shot in this photo and the angle is more level than mine. I like the combination of water and railroad and there is even a path way between which seems to fade away as the photo moves out.

Reflections

I took this photograph above, and was able to capture the house in the reflection of the building. I like the solid cubes the lines that the building make and they act as a frame for the house.  

I found this second photograph on the internet. I really like the sold cubes in this photo and the bold colors make each one stand out. The reflection in these windows of another building can be seen which is similar to mine own photograph.