Lipstick

When we were given this assignment and I went back and thought about it, I quickly thought of this photograph that I saw hanging up in my friend's room years ago. The thing that I thought was interesting is that when remembering the photo, I had no recollection of that man being there in the background. It wasn't until seeing it again that I remembered...obviously it was because the woman is the main focus of the picture. A lot of people wrote about liking black and white photography and for me it's not so much that I like or prefer black and white, but something about it just makes the photo seem more authentic or something. I like that the woman is doing something in the picture that is adding color to her appearance, and yet there is no color in the photo.

The more I look at this photograph, I keep thinking about new things that it could represent and I think that's what makes a photograph more interesting...if it keeps you guessing. I guess it's possible that the man could be looking at her put her makeup on...or looking because she is wearing a dress and her legs are open...not to have dirty mind!

Grace Kaminski

Vintage Photos

I went to Flea Market last summer and many old vintage photos were sold at one of the places there. It was $1 each and I bought five interesting old photos.

It is so interesting that those photos weren't even taken by any famous photographers, but they look really cool and artsy and nice. Maybe it is because of the color and oldness of the photos, but I feel like those vintage photos are sometimes look even better than those nice photos taken by famous photographers. Maybe it is because the person who took the photos is more attached to the photo, or the personal relationship of the photographer and the models make them really nice and more memories and feelings are attached to those photographs.

The Flea Market was at Brooklyn, but one of the photos was actually from Cincinnati. It's so interesting to see how far a photo can travel and I really like the memos that is left on the back of vintage photos.

- Yue Nakayama

Lines

I think I was attracted to this photo for several reasons. First, I love the colors in this photo. They are soft and organic to me. The asparagus which is the focal point is interesting because the color is unique to the rest of the photo. The photographer also moved in, and the texture of the asparagus is visible. I like how the asparagus also provides lines that lead the viewer throughout the photo, as does the grate-like item the dish is sitting on top of. The walls seem to be some kind of wainscoting, which again adds lines and texture to the photo. I also like the fact that you are able to see through the doorway, and that the doorway is vertical when everything else in the photo is horizontal. Additionally, the angle is interesting and provides a new perspective. I enjoyed how this image incorporated several of the elements of photography we discussed in class.

-Paige Skuse

Times Square Snow (Rob Gardiner)

I’m drawn to this photograph partially because I love the intensity of the blacks and whites and the sharpness of the contrast between them, and partially because I admire work that can focus intensely on a single subject and still suggest the presence of an enormous world beyond that subject. Even though the background is nothing but a dark blank, my attention is still drawn to it by the fact that the man is facing towards it rather than towards us, suggesting that there is something to be seen or known or felt hidden in what would otherwise have seemed like so much emptiness. Just by turning the man in a certain direction, the photographer makes the dead space feel like a subject in its own right, and I find that fascinating. I also think this is a case when violating the rule of thirds actually helps, since placing the man dead center makes it easier for my eyes to slide past him and onto the background, although the bright, curved line of the snow on his hat brim eventually does loop my attention back to him.

-- Kate Morley

Railroad Tracks with a Twist

Upon seeing this picture I was immediately drawn to the curve in the tracks.  I leaned into it, as though I could look around the bend.  I considered the way that this was a twist upon the often-seen photo of railroad tracks disappearing into the distance.  I think this picture works because it breaks the typical conceptions of leading lines by guiding the viewer to look around the frame rather than across it.  I also think that, if this photo were in color, it would have less of an impact.  The black and white puts further emphasis on the curvature of the tunnel, accentuating the ceiling lights that parallel the tracks and lead the eye around the bend.  It also has the added attraction of acting almost as an optical illusion, which I find fascinating.  At first, I thought that the tunnel curved closer to the left edge of the photo, but after some careful measuring, the rounded mouth of the tunnel itself is almost square in the middle.  Because of the illusion, however, I was not immediately aware that this did not follow the rule of thirds, rather, it took some effort to sort it out. ~Jessica Mazur

Soho Nights

My favorite things to see photographed are people (vintage and modern), fashion, sports, and actions/movement. I'm particularly focused on this photograph because of the smoke coming out of the woman's mouth, the shadows on her upper cheekbone, her stone-like almost frozen in time expression and the man's head tilt.  I feel like the photograph could be unfrozen and life at the Soho Pub would just continue forever. I really enjoy the black and white aspect of the photo, especially how black the black is and how vibrant the white is. I hardly focus on all the people in the background, but without them the photo would be incomplete. I do however focus on the man in the center of the couple and I enjoy how I can't quite tell if he's in the middle of the couple's negative space or not. The object up front on the right, I think it might be on the counter perhaps a glass containers for those long scone things that get dipped in coffee. I like that I don't know what the glass container is or what is held.

-Tali Lekorenos

Convergence

This particular photo encaptures me because I love black and white photo as well as photos that have a vanishing point.  I enjoy all the footprints in the sand and how they get smaller and smaller into the distance.  I like how it also a diagonal vanishing photo, instead of the normal vertical photo.  Thus it takes up most of the negative space.

-Wilson Fraser

vanishing point

I have always liked perspective drawings or photos. Photos more so because when someone can take a picture that perfectly demonstrates the theory of perspective, it is truly a great photo.  This i like in particular because of the sidewalk vanishing into the horizon line, and with the building on the right breaking up the negative space, which would have been blank ocean otherwise.  Also how it seems that that the building's lines are in line with the same vanishing point as the sidewalk.

-Jeff Ford

I left my shoes at your house.

I have always loved black and white photography over most other forms. The biggest reason for this is because I feel like a person has to look closer at the photo and really think about it more to be able to appriciate it. With this picture i found it interesting that shoes could have shadows without people in them. The composition, for me, has a great balance of black verses white without being too crowded and busy. It also kind of looks like the shoes make their own horizon line, without actually having one to focus on in the picture.

-Miaja St. Martin 

The Early Subway Life of Shanghai White-Collars - Ming Tian

This is a documentary photo by a Chinese photographer. It nicely captures the modern city life in Shanghai, the economic capital of China where business and consumption is skyrocketing. It is fairly interesting to read the facial expressions of people in this photo, and with them we more or less find similar stories of life in our own. Therefore, this photo reveals the truth of our emotions and reflects social reality.
The two lines in the picture created by the downward elevator not only indicates the location of the crowd, but also divides the crowd into different parts and make the organization less chaotic.

- Kaini Zhou

Matt Stuart

     This is a very interesting shot because of the use of shadows, leading lines, and rule of thirds. The sidewalk crack is a leading line that allows the eye to go from the foreground towards the pigeon and even further to the pedestrian's feet in the background. Also, the man's legs are framing the person in the very back. One more thing that I noticed was that the pigeon's foot is in a spot that draws the eye to it according to the rule of thirds. There is also an interesting use of shadow in this photograph. Each figure is producing a single shadow and all shadows are reaching towards the top right hand corner.

-Ashlee Dickson

"Hyères, France" (1932)

I chose this picture by Henri Cartier-Bresson because of the composition- the way the railing on the staircase leads the viewer's eye around the picture. It starts with the diagonal to the right corner but then changes. The photo is also interesting because of the man on the bicycle captured by the slow shutter speed.
- Sara Bencic

Stinkbug Eggs (2010)

Martin Oeggerli for National Geographic took this photograph of the eggs of a stinkbug, which are attached to the leaf where they are laid. I love this picture because by capturing it up close so much pattern, texture, and detail is revealed that would not be seen otherwise. I also like how Oeggerli used the pattern of the eggs to create a line to lead the eye up. 

-Belkis Schoenhals

Dali Atomicus (1948)

"Dali Atomicus" by Philippe Halsman

I find this photograph very interesting due to the movement the photo possesses. Philippe Halsman developed what he called "jumpology". It was the thought that when you ask a person to jump most of their attention is put on the act of jumping and therefore who that person really is, is displayed. I think that Halsman's work incorporating his psychology aspects with photography lead to very interesting images.

-Eliza Dobbins

Shooting the Apple (1964)

This Photo was taken by Harold Edgerton. I find it fascinating for the high speed requirements of the photo and for incorporating (although you couldn't tell by the photo) a strobe light. He was one of the first photographers to use multi-flash imagery, making what was not originally able to be seen by the eye, seen. Other examples of his work include all the stages of an athletes motion and a drop of water dropping in a puddle.  - Emily Schreiber