Critiquing Photography Challenge
Descriptive
My photograph of body wash is descriptive because the sole purpose of the picture is to show viewers what the product looks like and what scent it is.
Explanatory
My photograph is explanatory because it shows the viewer how to cook and flip a grilled cheese.
Interpretive
This photograph by David Alekhuogie is interpretative because it allows the viewer to draw their own conclusions about what he is commenting on.
Aesthetically Evaluative
My photograph is aesthetically evaluative because it uses the sunlight to show off the clouds in the bright blue sky.
Ethically Evaluative
This photograph by Gordon Parks from 1956 in Alabama is ethically evaluative because it is commenting on and exposing the effects of racial segregation.
Theoretical
This photograph by Ori Gersht is theoretical because the controlled shutter speed and exposure used makes a commentary on how art is made.
My Best Photo
For this assignment, I think my best photo was the aesthetically evaluative photo I took of the sun and the clouds. I think I used the lighting to help define the clouds and cast a glow over the whole picture. I struggled with the lighting aspect of the Dozen Photos Challenge, and I think I was able to learn from that and use the lighting to my advantage in this photograph.
I struggled with categorizing images for this assignment. Some photographs fit obviously into certain categories. Others I would look at and struggle to determine the best category. Some photographs I knew fit into a category, but I struggled to explain why I thought it would fit. For the photograph I chose as "Interpretative," I struggled to explain why without saying "it is up to the viewer to decide what this photograph means."
In the future, I will make sure to always think about what kinds of photographs I am trying to capture. Framing a picture differently might change the entire meaning of it so this is something I will take the time to notice and think about before capturing my photo.
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Part 2: Comment on another student's blog
My comment: "I really liked the picture chosen as the best photo from Kayla's blog. The framing of this picture is really aesthetically pleasing. Having the sun shining in the blue sky on the top right of the tree helps to create the shadows from the tree on the walkway. All of this adds a lot of detail and movement to your photograph. There are so many aesthetically pleasing aspects to keep looking at so it draws my eyes all around the picture. I think you really used the lighting to your advantage here to help define your photograph which is something I struggled with in the Dozen Photos Challenge so I am definitely taking notes!"
Link: https://kaylayapportfolio.weebly.com/blog/critiquing-photography
Multimodal Presentation
For my presentation, I chose to look at Sally Mann's work. She mostly takes black and white photos of people and places in her life like her children, her husband, rural landscapes, and self portraits. Most of these black and white photos are ethically evaluative or interpretative pictures as they make social commentary on different aspects of life like growing into a woman, the innocence of childhood mixed with darker themes, and issues of race.
Reviewing Mann's work changed my perception of photography because I was able to see how social commentary can be captured even in the most spontaneous of photos, specifically the work titled Immediate Family of Mann's children. In my day-to-day life I have mainly only used photography for descriptive or aesthetically evaluative purposes. Getting to see how Mann has used her work to be ethically evaluative was very eye-opening and has made me think more critically about the photos I would like to take in the future.
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Part 2: Comment on another student's blog
My comment: "I think you did a fantastic job introducing Martin Parr and the types of work that he is known for. You also did a great job explaining the composition of his photographs, the overall intention and meaning behind them, and critiquing the work. Similarly to my chosen photographer, Sally Mann, Parr takes ethically evaluative photos that make the audience think and reflect on society. However, he does this in a very different style than Mann. Most of his pictures seemed to be bursting with color while Mann's were all black and white. Additionally, Parr's photographs were aesthetically evaluative while still making social commentary while Mann's were more singularly focused on the ethical evaluation. I think viewing your presentation on Parr's work gave me a new perspective on ethically evaluative photos. I think most of the ethically evaluative photos that I have viewed in my life were darker in composition and theme while Parr found a way to be ethically evaluative while maintaining a lighter feeling. Overall, I think you did a great job, and I enjoyed learning about Parr's work."
Link: <iframe title="vimeo-player" src="https://player.vimeo.com/video/931771366?h=665c3419dc" width="640" height="360" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
https://nadel59.wixsite.com/nadya-ellerhorst-art/post/critiquing-photography-challenge
I think that you did a great job with this presentation. Not only did you thoroughly explain what is shown in the images but you also connected it to the different critiquing categories from class. The only thing I would say that could've been done better is not all images identify what type of photo it is or if it did, it wasn't clearly stated. This artists' work is emotionally stimulating because when I looked at the images it made me feel sad especially the one with the girl laying down on something that says doom as well as the image of the two boys, and one's nose is bleeding. It makes me think of child abuse the way they are looking at the camera. Learning about this photographer and their work really put this class into perspective because most of the times when we look at pictures we just think its pretty or it's a good photo or it's not, but these photographers really photograph images that have meaning and can be interpreted. This will influence my work in the future because it forces me to dig deeper and find the true meaning of the images that I take.
Isabella Leite
I really enjoy the photo you chose as your best photo. The descending sunshine, clouds, top of car, and stop lights add a lot to the photo, and make it very pleasing to look at. I can see you used back lighting to compose your photo, and I think this was a good choice in being able to capture an aesthetically evaluative photo. The colors in the sky of this photo draw my eye to it, and the many stop lights add a certain movement to the photo as well. This image makes me feel as though I'm driving at sunset, and struggling to see with the sun so bright ahead of me. If I were to improve this image, I would adjust the depth of field so that we as viewers are able to have a more complete view of the scene.