“Guatemala: Life After Genocide” 2009 by James Rodriguez
When looking at the composition of each photo provided for this blog entry, Rodriguez’s photo picturing two men carrying a casket was my first choice. The casket is a subject of its own in this photo. It is illuminated in a way that almost has it glowing in the photo, while sitting upon two more subjects almost completely shaded but not dark. The lighting in this photo is quite unique in the sense that it is coming from the front side of the subjects, but also shows some sort of smoke appearing with a halo behind the building. The form of both men works really well with this photo as well because of their synchronized motion. Overall, the positioning of everything in this photo works extremely well together, and the missing faces of the two subjects below the coffin helps translate the somber tone very well. The content of the website reveals that this photo shows a body from the Guatemalan war being identified and buried. After a long, gruesome period where thousands of citizens disappeared and passed away, DNA analysis finally became available to identify those who were lost.
Good descriptions of light. How do the building and mountain lines work to support the composition?
I think the harsh lines and structure of the roofing on the building provides a nice contrast to the blended mountains and clouds in the background. A lot of the time when we look at mountains, we often see sharp peaks and lines on a far away view, but here, the clouds take that away and create a more subtle background. This allows the viewers eye to stay more focused on the foreground.