Photography Blog Evaluation – Street Photography Triptych

1st picture:

This is a scene of a man exiting the subway passing a crowd of people. The subject is captured in a close up square portrait shot. The image is highlighted in very soft grey tones, reflecting a feeling of exhaustion and nostalgia as if came from an old picture.  This is important to the story of the image because it details the connotation people associate with work and being on the subway, which is usually negative and dreadful. The photo feels very active as on a subway things and people are always moving around trying to get from one place to another. The subject who is framed surrounded by people looks focused yet frantic trying to move across the space. It feels chaotic because of the number of people to compliment the theme of work and exhaustion as similar ideas. There is a close lens in this photo to create a perspective that draws our attention to only the man’s face. The other faces and people are concealed but not blurred, showing how the framing wants only the man to be seen. The surroundings inside the train are also hidden and cropped out possibly to take focus to the similar tones in this picture. This image gives me the impression of a man who just wants to go home but has to pass through all the obstacles around him. This could make the image feel relatable and as mentioned earlier, exhausting. The low contrast of the image makes all the soft tones feel so similar to one another and creates this element of unity and repetition in types of shades and color. This scene portrays a theme conveying how no matter how difficult all your problems will be at the same time, you just have to get through it, as the people blocking the man represent the unified issues.

These elements of framing, tones, low contrast and soft saturation create a nostalgic shot that feels as if it was pulled from an old movie to capture the fast paced actions of a man passing by a crowded space in the subway as the perspective of the camera displays a shot across all the people, giving the viewer a glimpse at the ideas of exhaustion and how work and daily life can be tiring.

Before shot:

2nd picture:

The second picture displays a man on the warm side of a scene, spotlighted by the harsh light as people in cool colors in a softer scene walk by. Color is important in this photo because the use of orange and blue shades captures the theme of complimentary colors and how the contrast one another. The harsh orange also differs in the softer saturation of the blue tones in the other sides. The composition of this image makes use of the idea of halves and dividing two themes like warm and cold across from one another. The framing of this image originally is more focused on the brick wall and the man, but it was cropped to create a rule of halves between these two sides. This photo gives me the impression that the man in isolation is waiting for someone or something to happen. Under the warm tones, these shades to me are associated with the feelings of impatience, stress and worry. The man’s behavior seems worried as well because of the expression he makes and the hands in his pockets showing his nervousness and his inability to wait. The immediate impact this image has on me with the two contrasting shades gives me ideas relating to the saying how the grass is greener on the other side. The man waiting and seeming worried portrays the idea that under the intense light he yearns to be with the others who are not seemingly isolated in this image and are under cooler tones.

These elements of tone, contrast and framing work so well together to capture a story of a man under warm light, perceived as a person who is struggling to hold together under the warm lights as he looks out in comparison to the abundance of people in the cool seemingly more peaceful light.

Before shot :