I centered my piece around witnessing major events in US history. I thought it would be fun and help my curiosity on how it would feel to be apart of something so big.
First I started with an image from the Library of congress. On there I found an image about the first plane in NC. I then added a picture of me and a cat (not mine) for a little comedy touch. I tried to math the tone of the photo and add textures to make the image interesting and time appropriate.b
Old is New Again- Sanura Ezeagu
ReplyDeleteLooking at this photograph, it is visible that the environment is outdoors on the beach, the focal point being the lady staring at the plane. There are numerous textures in the photo that relate to the wet plate collodion. The composition is done very well, and making the bottom under the crack of the image darker than the rest pulls it all together. There is a very strong focal point, being the person in front watching the flight tests happening on the beach. The subject is off to the left while the plane is more towards the right, as well as one of the wright brothers on the very far right which balances out the photograph very well.
Right when I saw this image, I was able to tell that it relates to the Wright brothers and when they first flew the plane at Kitty Hawk. I interpreted it as more of a bystander who just so happened to be walking her cat on the beach, but seeing that the subject is wearing noise canceling headphones, they are meant to be there. I see the meaning as witnessing historical moments in time and being part of significant moments we all learn about. I think the subject weaning all black somewhat adds to the significance as that is also what the Wright brothers wore when they were flying the planes. I enjoyed that cat and I find it a little funny that a cat is at what I presume is Kitty Hawk, I just enjoy how those two relate.
The overall work is very strong when it comes to the wet plate collodion.
There seems to be just the right amount of debris and scratches on the photo. The whole tear down the middle is a strong touch to the image, giving it that worn out effect and how the physical photograph was handled. I also appreciate how the colors were changed from the original photograph to match the wet plate collodion rather than keeping it black and white. I think the advantage was that the beach image already had a short depth of field and the texture over the whole image helped with adding that to the subject, although I do think blurring the subject a bit would have added more emphasis to that. There is a very sharp edge when the jacket meets next to the sand and if it was given a bit of motion blur, I think it would look more natural to the image. Other than that one detail the overall image is very strong when it comes to the wet plate collodion.
In conclusion, this is a very strong piece that represents the wet plate collodion very well. I very much enjoyed how it was correlated to a significant moment in history and it just so happens that the Wright brothers is one of my favorite historical stories that I feel doesn’t get enough recognition, so I think that was a key component to this. The textures added just the right amount of emphasis to this, there’s not too much and not too little and everything is well balanced when it comes to the composition. You did a wonderful job.
-Mayson Young