Abstraction

Abstraction- Original Pictures

• I chose the piece Ophelia by Gregory Crewdson to write about. This piece is reminiscent of the surrealist movement in art history- things look normal but there's one big abnormality of the piece. The girl laying in the center and supposedly floating in water. The name of the piece refers back to a Shakespearean character in Hamlet who goes mad and kills herself. This photo looks like a more modern version of this cycle- going 'mad' and that leading to suicide. I really enjoy this photo for many reasons. The first is the lighting. I like how you don't have much light (seems to be night outside the windows) but there's a sense of something behind and to the right of the photographer being on by the shadowing and how Ophelia is lit. I also like how the photo is set up so that the staircase leads directly down to Ophelia; that along with the bluish glow she gives off (unlike all other lit things that look yellow) depict her as the subject of the piece. She is the abnormality and therefor the focus of the piece. This picture also has great depth of field, with everything in the foreground and background in focus. I like that the picture also had good exposure- nothing looks overexposed or anything. The picture also has great color- most of its dark and kinda grungy but the subject is in all white agains an almost black water, and has very pale skin with very red lips. There are also great splashes of color spaced across the photograph like the orange door (or something) on the staircase wall, the pink cloth hanging on the staircase rail, the pink pillow, the multicolored books on the shelves, the green blanket on the couch and the orange lamps. These add to the picture by giving it points of interest that you can look around at instead of having a monotonous piece. I feel like the composition is very balanced because of this and the way the furniture is set up on either side of her. Nothing is too cluttered and there isn't a huge imbalance between the left and right side of the piece,. Overall I think this is a wonderful picture and really draws the person into the moment. 

Humsns of UTSA

 What are your life goals?- "I hope to one day reshape society as we know it... I'm looking for other like minded individuals that I can trust to help me- people that aren't in it for the money, but the idea we share."

 What are you most excited for?- "Starting a family; I'm going to be a doctor, but my biggest goal is to have a family and kids."

 What do you want to do once you graduate?- "I want to travel! I'm going to the Grand Canyon and Disney Land over the summer but I hope to go to France and Canada one day since I speak French."

 What's your life goal?- "Finishing collage and having a good job with a lot of money and a big house in the country... I want a one story- I hate stairs- with no neighbors close by... A big backyard with a big playground and room for all of us- Cailey and the kids I'll have"

What are you most afraid of?- "Not being able to provide for my parents after I graduate... I want to give back to them."

Color Critique

I looked at Jennifer's Portraits for the critique. My favorite of her portraits was the Domino one. It was very clean and mainly black and white with well defined line formed by the shadow. The dots on the dominoes really popped out because of the fact that everything else was white, and shadows. The other Picture I really liked was the yellow umbrella. The rain droplets captured on the window reflected the yellow of the umbrella and the red of the table. The droplets were very sharp and in focus and in the foreground drawing your attention to those colors and the yellow umbrella they reflected. These warm colors were brought out even more by the cool greens and blues that were in the background. The fact that the background was a bit out of focus made the sharp droplets stand out more. She took some pictures of animals in nature such as a bird in the water and a khoi fish. The bird was white and really stood out against the dark background. The yellow in its beak also stood out and the bird had a nice s shape with its neck. The khoi fish picture had beautiful highlights and shadows, especially with the banana's growing in the left corner, even though the khoi looked a bit faded. She also took a picture of a white brick curved wall. It looked as though it had remnants of graffiti on it because of the worn etchings in the side and the faded oranges, reds and greens spread along the wall. Toward the edge the wall fades into an almost violet color that could either be a shadow or more leftover graffiti. The wall is really in focus, and you can see all the contours and carvings along with the colors giving it great texture. Overall I think she did a wonderful job at catching color in her work

Color

Composition

Asymmetrical Balance

Shutter Speed: 1/32 sec. Aperture: f/40

Diagonal/Zigzag Line

Shutter Speed: 1/125 sec. Aperture: f/16

Rule of 3

Shutter Speed: 1/32 sec. Aperture: f/22

Shape

Shutter Speed: 1/25 sec. Aperture: f/22

Closed Frame

Shutter Speed: 1/8 sec. Aperture: f/22

Converging Line

Shutter Speed: 1/5 sec. Aperture: f/9

Movement

Shutter Speed: 1/50 sec. Aperture: f/22

Frame within a Frame

Shutter Speed: 1/160 sec. Aperture: f/4.0

Curvilinear Line

Shutter Speed: 1/80 sec. Aperture: f/22

Alternate Point of View

Shutter Speed: 0.4 sec. Aperture: f/4.5