Contact Sheet of All of my Photos:

 

Yellow Photos

These are my yellow photos. To put together my yellow set, I eliminated photos with more focus on the background rather than the people, ones where the faces of people are unclear, double/repeated photos and ones for fun. I also tried to specifically include photos with multiple people, but still with strong emotion in their faces. Though there are some with stagnant people, I tried to narrow down to people in movement. I also tried to keep photos that utilized the lighting of the area.

 

Green Photos

These are my chosen green photos. For these, I tried to narrow the set down to either very old or very young people to emphasize both the different textures in people’s faces and the way they view the area, or, life due to their ages. I further dove into the use of light to emphasize certain parts or themes of the photos, such as the lamp lights in the fourth photo or the natural sunlight of the rest. I also took advantage of the lighting to emphasize tone/value in certain photos. As the original main focus for this project, I looked into the variety of facial expressions throughout the photo group, ranging from fatigue in the first two and last, to excitement or joy in the third and ninth, confusion in five, seven, eight and ten, and to the disgust of six.

 

Red Photos

These are the photos I chose to be my red. To put it bluntly, I failed to follow my statement of intent. But, despite that, I think I failed very successfully. Rather than using black and white like I’d planned, I kept color in my photos. I only got as close as I originally wanted, like Tatsuo Suzuki would, for my first listed red photo. And the debatably worst, I lost sight of my original intent, capturing the various emotions on the “Faces of China”. Instead, I changed the intent to center around how significant pieces of Chinese culture connect its people, choosing to focus on the traditional snack táng húlu and how it connects Chinese people of a variety of ages. Táng húlu is essentially a candied fruit kabob, usually made with Chinese hawthorn, but can be made with strawberries, orange slices, grapes and more, and it is prominent in all three of my photographs, being eaten by a very young boy in the last, a couple young adults in the second, and an older woman in the first. This shows how Chinese people, no matter the age are connected through the appreciation of rich Chinese culture, such as the sweet traditional treat.

Another part I thought added to the “story” of these photos together is how the lighting gradually gets dimmer from the last up. Where as the bright sunlight swallows the entire frame in the last photo with the child, the bright light eliminates only the background in the second and the entirety of the first seems rather dimmer altogether. I think this represents the aging of the people in the photos, how the life of the young boy was very bright as it was the start of life, then in the second showing how the surrounding area of the people are still bright, as if to show though the people are aging they are still adding to the “life” around them, then duller in the first representing getting closer to the end of life. Through this, the táng húlu as a symbol also shows that all throughout the course of your life your culture is a beautiful sweet part of you and your life that is to cherish.

Some features that I thought added to the connection of these photos is how they all use the triangle method, the middle line and the use of the formal element of line as well. Along with the satisfaction of three people creating a triangle in each, the middle line follows through using it. The formal element of line is prominent in all three, especially in the táng húlu and people’s arms. The vertical line of the treat in the first, the horizontal in the last and the V-shape of the sweet angled and mirrored use the element of lines, as well as the arms to make an angle in the first and last, pointing upwards in the middle towards the middle line in the first and directing your attention towards the boy and the snack in the last. One thing I would change about this set is the order of the photos, which I would change to be in chronological order of the story, going third, second, first, but overall I am very happy with this set.

 

This is the photograph I will fully evaluate.

As I previously mentioned in my analysis of my red photos, this photo contains many elements and street photography techniques. This includes the decisive moment, the triangle method, and the middle line, as well as the elements of lines, shape, texture, repetition and focus. Lines were used in this photo through the angles that direct your attention to the boy and táng húlu in the center. For example, the body language and arms of the women next to him angling like arrows towards him, the indent in the horizontal line of the top of their heads due to the young boy’s height creating a downwards arrow towards him, as well as the shadow gap between his legs which point up to him. These are the many different ways lines are used to direct the audiences attention to the center, which also demonstrates the element of focus in the photo. Some other elements this photo shows is texture within the rumpled jackets and the smooth reflective surfaces of the windows in the background and the candied surface of the sweet. It also shows repetition with the shape of the people’s circular heads as well as the circular fruits in the táng húlu, along with the window designs in the background and the rectangles of the wall next to them. The street photography methods clearly depicted in this is the middle line and triangle method. The middle line passes through the center of the boy, guided by the line of the window design above him and his jacket zipper through him down, of which the composition I was able to capture with the technique of the decisive moment. The triangle method, or the rule of threes was used also with the heads of the three people, creating an upside down triangle if they were connected with a line. Overall, I think this photo came out very well.

The definition of Street Photography is “photography that captures candid, unposed, and often spontaneous moments of everyday life in public spaces, such as streets, parks, and urban environments”.

 

Vision/Intention: The title of this project is “The Faces of China”. At the Hutongs, I will focus on zooming into and getting up close and personal with the faces of the people on the streets to capture their unique facial expressions and the feelings that create them. I want my audience to feel like they’re seeing and passing by the people I capture on the streets of China themselves. I want my audience to feel familiarity, reminiscent and slightly like an intruder via how close I get to the people in my photos and how familiar their facial expressions feel.

 

Mind Map

• Alignment/compositions
• Color variety
  • Contrast
• Strong emotions
  • Facial features lots
• Finding just the right moment
  • Fishing?
  • No hesitation
• Movement
• Lines towards focus
• Patterns
• OLD PEOPLE
• Storytelling

 

Hutongs Research – key words:

• Busy
• Narrow streets
• Crowded
• Low Buildings
• Close together
• Tourist spot
• Locals
• Tourists
• Old People ———
• Kids                                |—-> All ages
• Middle aged ——-

 

My 6 Chosen Techniques:

1. Triangles
2. One arm length
3. The decisive moment
4. Selective Focus
5. Line and Dynamics
6. Middle line

 

🔥Mood Board🔥

Tatsuo Suzuki is a Japanese street photographer that captures life in busy cities through close up photos of people’s faces in black and white. Because of the lack of color, her photos emphasize texture, especially in people’s faces or in architecture. She also uses this to emphasize tone/value of the lighting in the area. The focus on the texture in people’s faces also draws attention to the unique facial expressions within.

 

Here are some of her photos:

 

 

This is the photo I will fully evaluate.

This photo is an excellent example of Tatsuo Suzuki’s photography style. Like all of his photos, this one is in black and white to isolate the audience’s focus on the many elements he centers in his photos. For example, the element of light and tone/value is emphasized by the choice of black and white because it isolated the contrast of light and dark within the photo, where as having color would take the focus away from those elements and would be harder to see, understand and appreciate. Suzuki also went very up close with the main person in the photo, capturing the man’s very strong facial expression and the lines and texture of his face as a product of it. Some example of this is his facial hair and wrinkles, but also the glassy texture of his eye. The last element I think influences Tatsuo Suzuki’s style, probably most, is the element of focus. Whether it is the facial expressions of people, the number of them or the way they are connected to or contrast with their surroundings, people are almost always the main focus of his photos and I plan on taking interesting photos the way Tatsuo Suzuki does.