Friday, September 20, 2013

6 Favourite Photos

The first photo I selected was this one right here because there's always something interesting about how water works and looks and how it reacts on the human body.  When thinking about this in the context of rain or a shower it tends to have either two emotional appeals; either it's relaxing and calming or it's depressing and destructive.  Given the dark mood of this photo I would have to go with the later.  The reason why I chose this photo is because I feel it gives off a feeling that I'm sure many of us have felt before when we just stand in the shower with this looming cloud over head.  It's that feeling that no matter how much "cleansing" rain falls on us, we can't shake the negativity we feel inside.  The harsh contrast of light and dark on the figure make it clear that she is in a negative state of mind and feeling that paralysis of what is foreboding her.

This image was chosen because I felt it had a very powerful visual of how man-kind overruns nature.  It's a typical display of man vs nature done in a very simplistic but powerful way.  Behind the man you can see the road stretching off far into the horizon, covering over any plants of living things that once flourished beneath it.  In front of the man as he pulls is a large patch of grass, soon to be demolished by tar.  It is something to be noted that the man's expression is lethargic - this paints the scene as mankind being careless or unforgiving to the earth and just wanting to cover it with a tarp of its choosing.

 This photograph I found strangely interesting.  There's a couple of different imageries that come to mind when I see this photo.  The first off being the vast amount of streamers spewing from the girl's mouth onto the floor as she's hunched over - this would be a common indication for someone vomiting - but instead of acids or fluids it's streamers.  The Second is the burst of confetti scattered above her head, and to me this come across more as someone's head exploding.  The reason why I find this photo so interesting is because despite the grim first thought reaction there's all this colourful paper scattered about and the scene itself is bright and cheery which leads me to believe that it's not anything along the lines of body fluids coming out of her but leads me to believe the photographer was trying to insight that perhaps it is her imagination coming out of her (given that the model is a small child and not an adult this come as a quicker train of thought to me).

This image here speaks great volumes to me and is something that all of us are very aware of.  The image of a woman slumped over a line of coffins and the fact that the news is hot on the issue of Syria right not makes it easy to understand what this photo is trying to convey.  The amount of war and innocent lives being slayed each day is a dizzying amount and it's tragic that such a thing is happen and that people who've done nothing wrong are suffering and this photo here portrays that lost, that despair perfectly.


I find myself often drawn to fashion photography and this one is literally a black and white of symbolism.  In the foreground is a white figure which tends to symbolize innocence, purity, hope or any other arrangement of positive feeling, while in the background there is a black figure - commonly portraying hate, perversion, despair and so on.  The black figure has it's hand clamped around the white figure's mouth - which would show that she's trying to silence her, keep her from speaking, or suffocating her.


This last photo here I find as a very grim reminder of things going on in the world that we - as Americans - tend to be unaware of and struggle to full understand the feelings of grief and despair that others have gone through.  In this photo a group of men walk down the street; in arms their children wrapped in plastic or clothes signalling that they are dead.  It's clearly written across their faces the sense of turmoil they are all feeling and the sense of lost within them, just trying to figure out the next step.  The photo clearly points out the earnest feelings of death and lost.

1 comment:

  1. It is a shower and a very poetic description but I got to say I am a fan of a good shower always makes me feel better. Have you tried a good bath the wash away the blues? The road picture is good but for my liking the picture is a little heavy handed. And come on roads we've always had roads would a harden ground of old trails be better?

    Last on isn't bad but how does the picture drive home those feelings? could it be the fact that the people are facing right into the camera? or how close the people are to the camera?

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