Wednesday, September 1, 2010

Way of Seeing


Dorethea Lange, Street Demonstration, San Francisco 1933

The bodies of the protesters break this image into (horizontal) thirds. For example, the first section is above their heads: the area where the signs are. The middle section is defined by their bodies and the bottom section is the ground beneath their feet. The photo is also spilt into thirds vertically by the police officer.

The subject is the police officer in the center. Being in the foreground makes him appear larger than those behind him--his face is also shaded where as those behind him are lit (except for the shadow created by their hats). While the demonstraters create the background, one stands out as he is staring directly at the camera--which is a pose the police officer might be expected to take as a way to create authority over the photograph.

An interesting element of this photograph is that it makes the view move from right to left, rather than left to right (as we discussed in class, this is the natural way for Westerners to view images or text). The faces (except the one staring at the camera) are looking towards the left which makes the eye move towards the left.

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