Allison Todd - Museum Visit

Kendall Art Museum

Description: This photo may seem simple, only consisting of a wristwatch. It is placed on the carpet and has a hard spot light pointing from above. All of the details in the watch, as well as the carpet, are easily visible to the viewer. You can see the different hands of the watch, the lines in the wristband and all of the differences in the carpet coloring. The background is completely blackened out, so behind the watch nothing is seen. The foreground also begins to blur into darkness. The focus as a whole is not very large, as it is only as it is only as tall as the watch itself.

Why: This piece stood out to be because of the attention to detail it holds. The lighting and focus keeps all of the elements in focus very crisp. The technique of lighting that is used grabbed my attention.

Techniques: The image uses an obvious rule of third with the main focal point being in the right third of the photo. It also uses lighting as a way to guide the audiences’ eyes into the light and away from the dark background. Selective focus is also a way the photographer directs the viewer to a specific location in the frame. It is easy to know where the viewer intended for us to look in the photo, which makes it less confusing.

Interpretation: I think this piece is trying to signify how much we focus on time in today’s world. Everything that we do is based off a time schedule and we rarely do things out of whim. We don’t know if there is anything else actually in the frame, but around it has been completely blackened, which makes us only looking toward one thing: time. Plus, placing it in the rule of thirds makes it appealing to the eye as time may seem like something that is always a good thing for us.

Judgment: I like the crispness and harsh light that is used in the photo. I think it may kind of be a little cliché, not so much overdone as anyone could take this photo. I do think it is a good photo, but depending on the message they are actually trying to give, it may be beneficial to add something to it for more originality. (If the message is we are focusing too much on time then may it is okay, but I don’t think it would hurt to make other things blurred in the background). It is kind of difficult to decide exactly what they are going for in this photo, but it does pay good attention to detail because it is so sharp, and that I do like.

Inspiration:

I got inspiration mostly from the sharpness and the lighting in the previous photo. I liked the way they portrayed so much detail in the photo and I wanted to do the same in mine. The words toward the center of the focal point are crisp and visible, as the detail in the watch were. Another inspiration I took was from how they directed their light to make a clear subject.

My photo is somewhat different as the subject is not appearing isolated as the watch did. There is a little more motion in the background, but still nothing is visible enough to make out what it actually is. Also, the light is coming more from the side. (Unfortunately, there is a small glare towards the top that was unintended).