this picture uses its own neutrality to accentuate what

8/14/2019 This Picture Uses Its Own Neutrality to Accentuate What

1/5

Tis picture uses its own neutrality to accentuate what is dramatic about this naked man, surrounded by

what seems like ellow prisoners, handling his belongings or the guards to inspect.

Te very even lighting, neutral color balance and deep depth o eld are attempts at being unnoticed; so

the image looks as little constructed as possible. Te result is to give a eeling that we are looking at real-

ity, rather than a representation o reality. Te more naturalistic, the less stylized, and the more this im-

age will be remembered and elt as a act rather than a depiction o a concept.

However, other elements are less neutral. Te texture o the ground adds to the idea o extreme rough-

ness - linoleum would be comical, dirt would be exagerrated. Te concrete evokes the geography o the

prison but also the poor areas o cities, where buildings are unmaintained.

Te high angle distances the viewer rom the subjects, identication is not possible; however by mimick-

ing surveillance photography, the angle anchors the subject, even more than he already is, in the position

o a powerless individual.

Exposure normal with highlights on the subjects skin where they directly reect the light

Color normally saturated neutral balanceLighting sunlight rom the top very diused igh key

Subject size long shot

Depth o feld deep everything in ocus

Space telephoto space is compressed

Texture low graininess rich texture on the oor skin and clothing are at

Elevation high angle not aerial photography there is perspective maybe rom a rootop


2/5

Te low lighting, intimate setting, low angle and slouching subject all summon the image o an old per-

son in a moment o despair as he remembers, as he oten does, that time is slipping away. However this

picture displays a young person, thereby creating unease and puzzlement.

Te orientation o the lights isolates the two important elements (the watch and the ace). Te three

slightly desaturated primary colors (complementary redish skin, blue shirt, green wall) converge to-

wards the colorless but very bright watch, so as to guide to guide the eye both in terms o shape and colortowards the central element o the picture.

Te lighting is restricted to the subject himsel, which creates intimacy. Hiding the surroundings reduces

the degree o realism and allows the picture to be more symbolic.

Te ocus is shallow enough to emphasize the spatial relationship between the hand and the head, but

deep enough to reveal the expression on the subjects ace.

Te watch, and what it represents, is what is in the characters mind at the very moment. Tis is empha-

sized by the spatial relationship between the two, by the rich texture on the hand (giving it more mate-riality) and the graininess o the ace (making it part o the decor), and by their respective shapes the

head orms the top o a triangle o which the hand is the base.

Exposure underexposed except or the blownout highlights on the watch

Color cool desaturatedLighting Key is cool low intensity rom the toplet ocused on subject Fill is very low 41

Subject size medium shot

Depth o feld shallow hand only is in ocus

Space normal lens proximity o the hand increases perspective and make it look like a wider lens

Texture oreground is hightexture low graininess background is lowtexture high graininess

Elevation midlow angle


3/5

Tis sequence introduces the viewer to the notion o desire between disabled and non-disabled people.

Putting a disabled person in a picture that uses standardized codes or intimacy and eroticism creates a

challenging moment in the last shot when the wheelchair appears.

Intimacy is created through isolation and texture. Only the subjects skin and the wheelchair are observa-

ble, everything is only shape, because the lighting only gives a texture to the skin and the wheelchair. Te

normal exposure (on the skin) prevents any detail rom disappearing (by being blown out o swallowedby the dark) and helps maintaining the texture. Te high contrast and the graininess o the skin make the

characters more tangible, hence reinorcing the emotional aspect o the revelation o the wheel chair, as

opposed to a soter light which might have given a more clinical tone to the image.

Te close-up mixed with the tracking gradually reveals the condition o the man, rst showing romance,

then eroticism (but a very visible scar), then the wheelchair. Te long lens unies the subjects into one

plane; a shorter one would have disconnected the man rom the woman by increasing the perceived dis-

tance between them (see the eet o the woman).

Exposure normal areas o high contras created by the black o the hair and the shadows around the wheelchair

Color black and white photograph

Lighting key is to the let o the camera and is hard creating distinct shadows subjects are evenly but sharply litbackground is either overexposed or black 41

Subject size closeup

Depth o feld average subjects are in ocus but background is out o ocus

Space long lens the space between the eet and the wheelchair is compressed

Texture visible texture veins scar slight graininess only visible on skin and wheelchair

Elevation tracking shot rom eyelevel to lowangle


4/5

Tis picture establishes a place that generates anxiety and suspens. Te used walls, the hot mantels, the

plastic bag, the bucket and the bench all suggest a countryside setting. Moreover, it eels to me like an

eastern european setting, I wouldnt be able to pinpoint why though.

Te detailed textures and seemingly chaotic setup are transormed into harbingers o gloom thanks to the

crosses painted on the door and scratched on the wall. Reminiscent oDeliveranceand Hostel, the dis-

tant reality depicted here becomes scary because o the unusual way religious symbols are used: uselesslydoubled, painted through destruction (grafti and scratching) rather than construction (a classic wooden

cross or instance).

Te subject size is small but looking through the window, and threatens to walk in, gain in size, and

let the cold (represented by color) o the outside get in this warmer inside (however green in it is). Te

normal lens length and eye-level elevation both increase the possibility or the viewer to eel like this is a

POV shot.

Te light is even to let the color reveal the grunge and broken surroundings

Exposure overall low but varied window background is overexposed shadows and mantels are very dark

Color green tone balanced by blue window red object on table brown/orange o closet and dark cyan o plastic bag

Lighting shaded light bulb in the middle o the roo but highlight on the table and edges o the shadow under

the chair both suggest a harder light not quite sure

Subject size halway between long shot and ull shothowever camera might be panning then the subject is the room itsel

Depth o feld shallow 315t

Space normal

Texture scratches on the walls crackled paint on the bench broken edges o door rame

light is diused so texture comes rom color variation rather than topology o surace

Elevation eyelevel


5/5

Tis picture oers a visual representation o the relationship between dream and reality in a childs mind.

It also possess a mythical aspect because the child sleeping with one black eye open suggests that he is

looking at the world rom the vantage point o the dream-world.

Te high variations in exposure and color added to the complex reections take the picture away rom

banal reality and into evocation.

Te eyes are geometrically central to the picture; the child is both asleep and awake, looking towards one

o the reections. It is as i his journey in the train has all the qualities o a dream, and while asleep he

does not need to close both eyes to dream, or he simply can keep looking at the window.

Here the colors and play with exposure work at giving the viewer this sensation o a dream, giving them

an insight into the world o the child. Te blue light o the sheets, associated with night, competes with

the yellow (warmer) outside, telling the opposition between the calmness o sleep itsel and the agitation

o dreams.Te deep ocus allows the details to be visible; a shallower one would have replaced the landscape with

conusing spots o green, yellow and white.

Exposure overall normal but reections create large overexposed areas

Color dominant blue/green saturated Color goes rom the center white/blue to the outside white/green/yellow

Lighting light comes rom the window source is visible thanks to the reectionYellow hard light 81

Subject size medium shot

Depth o feld deep

Space normal

Texture smooth suraces but texture is still visible white clothing blue cloth very little grain

Elevation horizontal to the subject looking at the rails on the right maybe high angle

this picture uses its own neutrality to accentuate what

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