PHOTOGRAPHER SARAH MOON – VISUAL ANALYSIS

´Very often l say to myself; l would like to make a photo where nothing happens. But in order to eliminate, there has to be something to begin with. For nothing to happen, something has to happen first.´ - Sarah Moon

For my, not so recent, assignment l had to do a visual analysis of a photographer l have gotten. But before l`ve jumped to my computer and started writing, l had to stop and observe the photograph. I had to see the mood of it, details, movement, perspective, but most important, l had to understand it in order to make a good analysis.

This photography shows a long dark street in which is another photography with a girl located in the middle of it. We could actually say that this is a photo in the photo. Sarah moon placed a photo of a girl in the urban environment, in reality. But in the girl`s photo we see a complete opposition. Because she is placed in the forest, which is her own imagination, away from the chaos in the world. This is shown as a contrast between reality and imagination. The girl stands still, her eyes are closed and her head is a bit lifted. That shows that she has no direct eye contact with the viewer and that she is in her own world of fantasy. The girl represents youth and her figure, as well as her background, is lightly illuminated. The girl, as well as the tree from her right side, are cutting with their vertical lane the diagonals of the street which are leading to the infinity. The image itself is placed in a space, actually a street with four stone doors. The depth of space is emphasized by a linear perspective that is based on the illusion that things that are far from us are reducing - the lines are linked to the point of view which is in this case at the very top of the girl's photos. With a linear perspective is created a true impression of a three-dimensional space that is emphasized by the relationship of light and shadow of photo. Image plans also monitor the depth of space. In the first plan we see the cobbled street, the second is the photo of the girl as well as the stone door on the right. On the left and right side are diagonally displayed elements which are connecting the 2nd, 3rd, 4th, and 5th plan of the photography.

The image is based on a dynamic relationship of the verticals, horizontals and diagonals. This diagonals of the street are cut of by the girl` photo which is in square shape. The center of the composition is a small bright circle in the girl`s background which gives the light to the whole image. The point of view is above it and it gives us a sense of height and depth of space.The picture of a girl has white edges, and in itself has a slightly wrinkled parts that gives the impression of movement, as if it is moving with a soft wind blowing. Girl and the trees are lightly breaking the appearance of the wind, because their activity is calm and static, as if they are actually standing on the street.

Compared to the central axis of the image, there is no symmetry but there is a balance of the shape. It is achieved by asymmetric balance. That balance is formed by the arrangement of shapes of different sizes and weights in different distances, regarding the central axis. In this case, the building and the floor, in relation to the central axis, are opposed to the girl. The atmosphere of the picture gives the feeling that the time has stopped and by that it drags us into the imagination in the middle of this dark street. The picture shows the dark and gray tones, but as we look at the girl`s photo, it has white tones – which shows us another contrast between white and black, light and darkness. If we divide the picture into two equal parts, it doesn`t show the symmetrical distribution of the left and right side. The left side, because of the position of the girl and the tree, represents a vertical composition. But with the horizontals of the photograph, which are breaking the verticals, left side gives the impression of a more complex composition. The right side shows a strong diagonal of the sidewalk and building, but the vertical of the stone doors is cutting it off.

With this conclusion l`m summarizing this visual analysis of Sarah Moon photograph. This is actually a photo in the photo. A square photo with a girl, which is placed in the middle of the street, is cutting the street diagonals and breaks the monotony of the boring street image. The photography shows a dark street in which there is a picture of a girl in the middle of it. The girl` eyes are closed and she doesn`t have a direct eye contact with the audience which shows that she is in her own imaginary place. The girl`s position is calm and static. And the only thing that is shown as a movement are slightly wrinkled parts of the photo and a group of leaves on the left side of the girl's head, indicating the signs of light wind. This clearly shows the interestingness of the picture because it looks like it floats in the middle of the street. The photograph clearly shows the contrast between light and darkness, urban and rural, reality and imagination.

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