Look at the two works below of artist photographic master Imogen Cunningham. What is the dominant object in the photo? What are the subordinate elements in the photo? Describe how your eye travels around the photo? What keeps your eye from trailing off the photo in any direction?
Now study these photos. If visual hierarchy describes the order in which the eye perceives what it sees in a photograph, describe the visual hierarchy of both of the photos below. Please write your answers in the comment box.
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| Imogen Cunningham-Flower |
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| Imogen Cunningham-Kahlo |
As a class you will create a "Saratoga Story", a reflective, theme based book about your personal experiences with Saratoga HS. To do this project, you will work in grade level groups. Each group will have a list of words that will prompt ideas for you to build conceptual photos around.
Your goal is to create a series of photographs that capture a set of emotions triggered by words. Your subject in the photograph is up to you. For example, if your word is 'acceptance', you might want to take a picture of a friend who is a very accepting person. These should not be snapshots, but rather, well designed shot-no one looking directly into your lens with a big goofy smile (that is a fail).
You may also shoot objects around campus, or buildings, plants, books, other artifacts of campus life and experience.
Each group will generate many photos but you will select 1 per person for the final 'book'.
Grade levels will look at provided words, add, subtract, develop concepts and generate a final list of 6-8 words (based on group size) you would like to explore with your grade level. Grade level small groups of two will each agree to cover 2 of the words and will come up with a shot sheet of possible ideas to show Mrs. L before your shoots. Then each student will venture out individually to start collecting shots. If a photographer needs another student to set up a shot, then other students can of course help out and play the role of models/actors. But I would want you for the most part to practice your photography individually after generating the group concepts.
Photos should all be black and white.
Photos should eliminate as much 'junk' around the dominate focal point as possible, focusing only on the subject at hand, and including only secondary objects in the shot that support the dominant object. These photos should demonstrate a growing understanding of dominance in composition.
Photos are all due Sunday Evening 8pm and will be uploaded to the classwork folder called Saratoga Story.
Your groups and words are:
Juniors: (Group, Individual, Peers, Loud, Quiet, Storm, Sun)
Group 1: Jessika, Taylor T
Group 2: Ryann, Jimmy
Group 3: Carolina, Andrew
Group 4: Alison, Patrick
Seniors: (Memory, Leaving, Change, Concern, Apprehension, Stress)
Group 1: Tomas, Brooke
Group 2: Daniella, Jason
Group 3: Caitlin, Neel
Sophomores: (Challenge, Understanding, Weak, Strong)
Group 1: Corinne, Rahul,
Group 2: Samantha, Jason Yang, Erin
Group 3: Yaseman, Nina
The dominant object of the Flower picture is the polinator, and of the woman in the Kahlo picture. In the flower picture the flower petals are the subordinating objects leading the eyes down back into the polinatior. In the Kahlo picture the chair and the walls in a way are the subordinating object, with the chair leading backwards to the woman and the walls leading downwards to the woman. On the flower picture I start at the polinator and look around at the petals each easing me back to the polinator, the fact that the petals curves inwards keeps the eyes on the picture. On the Kahlo picture I first look at the woman which leads me downward and then to the chair on the left.
ReplyDeleteIn the first photo, the center of the flower (pollenator) is what draws my eye the most. Its the darkest thing in the photo and just slightly off to the left. Then my eyes goes to the curved petal in the bottom left corner and around all the petals. For the second photo, I immediately see the women's face and her expression, then her drapped clothing leads my eye down to her hands and the basket her arm is resting on. Her hands and the basket have a lot of detail on them from the lighting.
ReplyDeleteDOMINANCE is an object or colour that stands out in relation to rest of the picture. large objects tend to dominate the picture, and therefore is what your eye is naturally drawn to; SUNBORDINATE in the other hand it's something of lesser importance next to a more important or relevant thing.
ReplyDelete1. Dominace: Pollenator.
Subordinate: The petals of the flower.
1. Dominandce: Frida Khalo.
Subordinate: The background.
The dominant object in the first picture is the center of the flower. which is the black part, the whole flower supports it. When I see it, I start from the top-right conner to the bot-left conner and then to the middle. I think I see the light part first
ReplyDeleteSame for the second picture, I see the woman's face first, and then the other parts of the picture
In the flower, the object that directly draws your attention is the stamen of the flower (the big stem thingy). After your eye sees the stamen, your eyes travel upwards to the big petal and then down the sides as the greyscale grows darker. the dominant object in the flower picture is the stamen which is in one of the lower zones (maybe 2-3). The rest of the image, save for the bottom corner which is not an important part of the picture, exists in the lighter zones (5-7) so you notice that first. the edges of the photo are darker, so your eye never completely leaves the photograph. In both photos, the visual hierarchy goes from around the middle (the stamen and the face), spiraling outwards as the zones progress (u in the first, down in the second).
ReplyDeleteThe first thing that catches my eye in the shot of the flower is the center of the flower, which I believe is because that is where the contrast is. Then the same thing in the photograph of the lady posing. The subordinate objects in the flower picture are the petals and the basket in the shot of the posing lady. The reason our eyes don't stray from the photographs are because the main focuses are centered in them.
ReplyDeletePicture 1) The pollinator in the first picture is the dominant object in this photo, the darkest and most focused point.
ReplyDeletePicture 2) The dominant object in the second picture is the chair, her wrap almost seems like a substitute for a leading line.
The dominant part of the photograph is the polinator and the subordinate part of the photograph is the petals that lead the eye from the center of the photo to the oute portion of the frame. The center portion of the photo keeps my eye from traveling to the bottom left which the photographer doesnt want the person to look at.
ReplyDeleteThe focal point of the photograph is the womans body and facial area. The woman is centered in the photo which makes the eye naturally want to look and her and what she is doing. The tone of the photo makes the viewer think that she is very stressed and lived to see many things in her time. The outer portion of the photo is not very important so the photographer keeps the outer portion very dull and bleak.
1. the dominant object in the photo is the pollinator. the subordinate objects are definitely the petals of the flower. the strongest subordinate object is the darkest petal. The tone of the photo is very light and it makes it seem like a happy setting and photograph.
ReplyDelete2. the dominant object in the photograph is the womans upper body and face. the next subordinate object is the white in the background. The tone of the picture makes it seem like the woman is stressed or sad. it makes it seem to be a unhappy mood and photograph.
Flower - My gaze starts at the darker bottom left corner, then follows the petals and ends up staying on the middle thing, which is obviously the dominant object. The way the photo is set up, my eyes don't trail off; they keep being drawn to the center object because the other subordinate elements (the petals) lead to the middle, which is also the darkest part of the entire photo.
ReplyDeleteKahlo - From what I can see, there are two main focal points in this photo: her face, and the area around her hands. The folds in the fabric in between make my gaze flow between the two, while the background elements on the outer parts bring my eyes back when they start to trail off. The two dominant areas also have the highest contrast in the entire photo, with the face being the lightest part while the shadows near the hands are almost black.
A common element between the two photos is that the lines all lead to the dominant objects, and the dominant objects themselves are either the darkest or the lightest part of the image, while the rest is nearer to the middle of the tonal scale.
As for tonality the flower darkens at the top of the polinator catching your attention because everything else is a lot lighter. From there I move downward through the polinator going from darker to lighter, traveling up a petal but always going to back to the tip of the polinator because of how much darker it is in comparison. The Kahlo picture is kind of the opposite, because the face is much lighter I am much deeply attracted to it, with my eyes also getting distracted to the bright wall in the background. The chair is another factor that brings my eye downwards. Yet the fact that the woman's face is lighter, front and center that makes that much more noticeable.
ReplyDelete1. in the first photo the dominant object is the pollinator. The photo is focused around this object, and it is the darkest part of the photo. The subordinate elements of the photo would be the petals of the flower, they do not draw as much focus but they are still important to the composition and tonality of the photo. The tonality of the photo starts centered and then moves outward from dark to light respectively. Your eye first looks at the center of the photo and then travels outward at the petal. I think the curves of the petals keep your eye from trailing off of the photo. Therefore the visual hierarchy of this photo starts with the pollinator in the flower and then moves to the petals. So the varying tones of the different colors affect the visual hierarchy.
ReplyDelete2. In the second photo the dominant object is the woman's face, because it is the brightest and lightest part of the photo. The subordinate objects of the photo would be the rest of the body and the chair. Your eye starts at her face and then moves down across her body and the last thing you notice is the whicker chair in the corner. The visual hierarchy of the photo would first be her face and then the rest of her body and then the chair. Tonality plays a role in this because you first notice her face because it is the brightest part of the photo, the lighter colors draw the eye first and then the darker colors second. The composition of the photo is very centered but your eye doesn't trail off the photo because her face draws you back.
1.in the flower picture my eye goes to the center of the flower first and then travelts outwards along the lines of the leaf and then back to the center along the leaf again.
ReplyDelete2.in the picture of the woman the tonality and balance of shades is used to get as much detail out of the picture. and also to direct the eye towards the woman and her emotional feelings.
For the 1st photograph the main dominant point in the flower is the stamen since my eye goes directly to it in the first moment and then goes around the other less central parts of the flower. In visual hierarchy the central focus of the photo is on the darkest part the stamen showing how much tonality can impact visual hierarchy in black and white photography.
ReplyDeleteOn the 2nd photograph my eye first travels to the face of the woman in order to get the first idea of what the photograph illustrates and is about. Right after the central focus of visual hierarchy travels towards the bottom of the photo to receive more detailed and important information which will reveal the main message of the photo. The dominant object of the photo is the face of the women where she wears detailed necklaces and the second one is the dark shades near the wicker chair on the bottom of the photograph, which can represent the day time at which the photo was taken, but this is only where my eyes are directed after I know the main idea of the picture.
Imogen Cunningham-Flower dominant object is the pollen thing in the middle. The subordinate elements are the petals surrounding and framing the pollen. When i first look at this photo my eye is drawn to the pollen in the middle, or the dominant object. your eye doesn't seem to trail off from the center of the photo because the petals on the bottom of the pollen seem to be darker and the rest of the petals seem to frame the center. Also there is not much going on in the background, it is cropped for the viewer just to look at the flower. The visual hierarchy the most is looking in the center and not on the outside because the tonality is is lighter in the center of the flower than the outside.
ReplyDeleteImogen Cunningham-Kahlo dominant object: her face subordinate elements: in the background nothing making the viewer focus on her. My eye travels from her face to the rest of her body because the tone in her face is sweet and pure. Your eye doesn't travel because there isn't any thing in the background to focus on instead of her. The tonality of the photo is the farther you look away from her the darker it gets, the lightest is on her face.
The dominant in a photo is the part of the photo that stands out, it could be larger than other objects in the photo or it could be a different tone than the rest. The subordinate part of a picture is the part that doesn't stand out and command attention.
ReplyDelete1) in this first picture, the center of the flower (Specifically the top of it) is the dominant object. your eyes then go to the bottom of the center and then the petals. The petals direct you attention back to the center of the flower because they slope up and towards the center. That and the difference in tonality makes it the canter point
2) In the second photo, the dominant object is her face. From there, my eyes go to her jewelry that is around her face. then my eyes go down to her hands because that seems significant, and the tonality is the same as her face. My eyes then go to her shawl because it is also a different tonality that attracts my attention.
The flower has a good tonality. For one, the darker sides of the photograph attracts my eye first which means the bottom left corner and the petals around it. My eyes then follow the gradient from dark to light across the flower. The leading lines of the flower though keeps my eyes from leaving the photograph as the right side petals curve back in a bit. The leftward leaning stamen in the photograph also influences my eye to go left as I pass the stamen going right. I like the symmetry and the tonality and they effect the image hierarchy.
ReplyDeleteThe Frida Kahlo photograph has good tonality and contrast. I am able to see the Frida Kahlo face first because of the brightness of the face in contrast to the rest of the photograph which is rather dark. Then, the leading lines in the photograph cause my eyes to follow her neck and arms down and back up through her other, slightly bent arm to the face. So that is good composition and blocks in my eyes. The face is also on a third line intersection in the upper left hand side. So that helps too.
In flower one the dominant object is the pollinator, because it has really high contrast in between the pollinator and the petal. The subordinate elements in the first photo is the petal in the back, because it is not really in focus. The first thing I saw in this photo is the pollinator, the petal behind it is really bright, so it makes the pollinator pop out.
ReplyDeleteIn the second photo I think the dominant object is the clothes and her hands, and the subordinate elements is her left face. the first thing I saw in this photo is her right face.
Flower
ReplyDeleteThe dominant element of the photo would be the black part of the middle, because it contrasts with the white pedals around it. A dark element of a photo that is primarily light tends to draw attention towards it due to the breaking of uniformity. For example, if there is a group of 15 people and 14 of them are wearing white and 1 of them is wearing a bright neon, an outsider viewing the group would immediately lock on to the person wearing the neon. The subordinate elements of this photo are the pedals, because they are not the dominant element. Using the above example it would be the people dressed in white.
Kahlo
Obviously the dominant element here is Kahlo herself. The subordinate elements include her jewelry and the basket that she is leaning on.
In both photos, the eyes focus instantly on the dominant element, and after sufficient observation of that element, then shift to the subordinate elements and then focus on those.
In Cunningham's picture of the flower, I first noticed the pollinator in the middle of the flower. My eye was led there because, besides the dark left hand corner, it is the darkest part of the photo. The petals around it all led towards the center, and it seemed to be the balancing point of the photo's tones--the left part of the photo is the darkest and right part of the photo is the lightest, so my eye moved from the pollinator, to the pedals, to the left then right corner of the picture, and finally back to the center for balance between black and white. In Cunningham picture of the woman, the first thing I noticed is the woman's face. My eye then moved to the door behind her, and finally the wicker chair before moving back to the woman. I noticed that the whole picture sticks to grays--there are no extreme lights or darks--but the woman's face and the door behind her are the lightest part of the picture. Those two parts of the photo compete for my attention and they seem to give off a feeling of hope.
ReplyDeleteIn the flower picture, the pollinator in the middle is the dominance. Not only is it placed in the center of the photo, it is also the darkest part of the picture. The subordinates, which are the petals all lead into it, which brings your eyes to the center.
ReplyDeleteIn the picture of the character, the woman is the dominant, especially her face which is expressionless, yet gives you a powerful impression. There is a parallel tone with the light coming from the door and the tone of her face. I also noticed the basket in which she's leaning on.