The somber nature of Eugene Smith’s “Spanish Wake” is the first feature that leaps pout of the picture and remains both appealing and quite revolting throughout the observation. The picture features, quite expectedly, the wake of a man, presumably, the husband of one of the women in the background. The dead man is depicted at the forefront of the painting, with a strange yet calming expression on his face. Remarkably, even though the painting addresses a very sad and even tragic issue, namely, that one of death, as well as that one of sorrow, the people in the picture remain strangely composed. Perhaps, Smith intended to portray the rigid expectations of women to remain reserved even in the situations of tremendous loss and sorrow, thus, showing the strength of social expectations and requirements.
The image is cropped to place the youngest woman, possibly, the wife, in the center of the picture. Since some of the women are left in the far right corner, it could be assumed that some of them, have been left out of the picture. In addition, a significant portion of the setting has been placed out of focus, making it excessively difficult to locate the room in which the wake is taking place. To take the specified shot, the photographer had to be very close to the corpse and the women, which means that the photographer must have stood almost next to the people in the room. However, what makes the picture special is the use of the light., Located out of focus and somewhere in the upper left corner, it leaves the faces of the deceased and the wife brightly lit, which evokes sympathy toward the deceased and his wife. The specified emotion must have been the author’s exact intention given the overall sad and depressing look of the painting (Hall 15). Nevertheless, the shot seems quite candid, and the photo appears to be objective, conveying the tragedy of death and the pain that it entails for the loved ones.
Another painting that manages to capture the elements of everyday life and represent them in a new and unique way, “Hyères, France” by Henri Cartier-Bresson portrays a man cycling along the street shot from afar, with a piece of the curved stairs in the foreground. The photo conveys the essence of motion, which becomes immediately evident once a single glance is cast on the image. Specifically, the blurry outline of the cyclist helps to render the speed of him running along the street on the bike.
Remarkably, even though the image of the cyclist is far too blurry to capture his attitude, let along his facial expression, the atmosphere of haste and the busy life of a big city is rendered in the picture masterfully. Despite the shot being quite claustrophobic, portraying a part of a rather small and narrow street in a local neighborhood, it manages to embody motion and capture the need for movement as one of the main methods of expressing liveliness impeccably. The image is worth studying closer and more attentively, spending more time analyzing the intricate geometry of the piece (Hall 231). Namely, the use of the spiral staircase as the foreground for the photo allows introducing a unique geometrical structure into the picture, slitting it into sections and delineating the central part of it. In turn, the placement of the cyclist, which deviates from the specified center slightly, introduces even greater chaos into the picture, making it even more enigmatic and appealing.
The picture was clearly taken during daytime, with the sun being the key source of light. As a result, the picture looks natural and even causal. The photographer must have felt quite excited with the liveliness of urban life, which scan be read clearly in the photo, and which sis quite contagious since it makes a viewer also experience a rush of energy. The picture appears to be quite candid; moreover, when looking at it for quite long, one might experience a rush of memories from childhood, namely, the recollections of living in a small and dense city, where bikes were the primary mode of transportation. The picture can be considered quite successful; naming it “a Cyclist” could be appropriate since it would encourage the viewer to study the image closer, discovering new and inspiring concepts.
Finally, Gregory Crewdson’s “Untitled” picture deserves closer attention. Representing two people, presumably, a mother and a son, at the table the photo. What may strike one as unusual when casting the first glance at the picture is the abundance of colors and the extent of their saturation. Being evidently oversaturated, the colors in the picture look particularly, fake, leading to the conclusion that none of the elements, including people in the picture, is real. The specified effect allows appreciating the efforts of the author even more due to her ability to evoke strong emotions even despite the limited opportunities that the chosen medium, namely, the use of photography and Photoshop, represents. Nevertheless, the photo can be considered successful since it evokes a range of emotions, most of which can be attributed to the uncanny-valley-like impression that the mage creates. Overall, the picture represents a perfected example of the form, namely, the calm nature of the picture and its mundane exterior, and the function, which is evidently to create a feeling of unease.
Work Cited
Hall, Marcia B. The Power of Color: Five Centuries of European Painting. Yale University Press, 2019.