Part 1:
Write a formal analysis of ONE of the following topics, comparing and contrasting the two corresponding photos.
The essay should include (a) a formal introduction identifying the two photographs and a thesis statement,
(b) a paragraph for each of the formal elements-composition, vantage point, lighting, contrast, focus-comparing both photographs, and
(c) a conclusion. It is due at the start of class on October 17 (2-3 pages, typed, double-spaced, 12-point font, 1" margins).
Option A: The Flatiron Building
- Edward Steichen, The Flatiron Building-Evening, 1906, platinum print
- Berenice Abbott, The Flatiron Building, 1934, gelatin silver print
Option B: Women in Modern World
- Aleksandr Rodchenko, Woman at the Telephone, 1928, gelatin silver print
- Jacques Henri Lartigue, Avenue du Bois de Boulogne, 1911, gelatin silver print
Part 2:
Formal Analysis of a Photograph
The following questions will help you in your visual analysis.
What is the SUBJECT of the photograph:
a. Is it a traditional subject-a landscape, a cityscape, a still life, a portrait, an allegorical or historical scene, or a documentary?
b. Do the figures or objects seem posed or caught "as they were"?
II. ANALYZE the formal properties of the work:
a. Composition:
i. Which forms catch your eye first, second, third...
ii. Where is the main activity taking place-in the foreground, the middle ground, the background, or a combination of these areas?
iii. Is the composition symmetrical or asymmetrical?
iv. How can you describe the space-as shallow or deep, static or dynamic, claustrophobic or open, rational or irrational?
b. Vantage point and angle of vision:
i. How near or far does the main subject appear? Does the photograph draw the viewer's attention to where the photographer was located?
ii. What is the angle of vision? Is there lens distortion? How does it compare with "normal" vision?
c. Focus:
i. Where are the areas of sharp focus? Where are the areas of soft focus? Is the depth of field shallow or deep?
d. Lighting:
i. Was the photograph taken outdoors or inside, in natural or artificia light (or in some combination of the two)?
ii. How did the season or time of day affect the lighting conditions?
iii. Where is the main light source?
iv. Flow can you characterize the lighting-as harsh, subtle, flat, dramatic, magical, or what?
e. Contrast and tonal range:
i. Where are the darkest and lightest areas?
ii. Does the print have high contrast, with large differences in tone from light to dark? Or does it have low contrast, with many sha of gray?
Forrn a CONCLUSION based on the aspects of the subject that the hotographer accentuated:
What do you think the photographer was trying to say in this image? What was the photographer's attitude toward the subject?