Zooming In

November 01, 2005

Postcard Analysis: Jamaica Kincaid

The name of the image on my postcard is "Jamaica Kincaid," and the photograph was taken in Bennington, Vermont by Annie Leibovitz.

Studium

The photograph is in black and white. There is an African American woman standing in the center of the photograph. She is wearing a sun hat, a plaid shirt, what appear to be jeans, and boots. She is holding a hose and a shovel in her hands, and the hose is running. She is looking straight at the camera, but is not smiling.

Behind her is a garden, full of plants, and even further in the background are trees, but these trees are out of focus. The out-of-focus trees contain a lot of white, as opposed to the plants in the garden which are mostly gray toned.

Punctum

This photograph was taken not too long ago, as the woman's style of dress is modern. It was taken on one of those nice summer days when it is not too hot out. I say this because the woman is out gardening, connoting that the weather is warm, but she is still wearing long pants, which indicates that it is not scorching hot. It is a weekend day, specifically a Saturday or Sunday morning, because that is when most people do their gardening. The sun is shining brightly on the out-of-focus trees, indicating that it is not going to set anytime soon, therefore it must be the morning. I imagine this photograph to have been taking in a small suburban town because the quality of the garden is superior and there appears to be plenty of yard space for planting.

The woman has just taken a moment away from her work to pose for the camera. This is evident because the water is still running out of the hose, indicating that she is in the process of watering the garden. Also she is holding a shovel in her hand, which shows that she was working on digging a hole as well. She looks to be about 50 years old, judging from the wrinkles in her face, but is in good physical shape (she is not overweight and she has a nice, tall posture).

It is hard to pinpoint her attitude in this photograph. Her eyes are somewhat squinted and her mouth is closed forming neither a smile nor a frown. It almost looks as though she is about to open her mouth to say something. Her posture is relaxed, as she holds the hose loosely in her hand. When I see her I imagine her having a leisurely morning. She is just out in her yard enjoying her garden and taking in all that nature has to offer. She seems content with her life. She is at a point in it where she can relax and get back to life's little pleasures, such as gardening in the morning.

This image reminds me of family, as I can imagine her grandchildren coming to visit her later in the day. It has a comfortable feel to it, perhaps because I grew up with a mother who enjoyed gardening during the summer. In my experience, those gardening days were relaxed. No one had anywhere important to be...we could spend however much time we wanted doing anything we wanted. This photograph reminds me of that feeling, and the fact that it is in black and white even further simplifies it. When I look at it, my eyes do not struggle to interpret all of the different colors, they only have to work with black, white, and shades of gray. I think that Annie Leibovitz did this on purpose to create such an effect.

Posted by lcissullivan at 10:15 AM | Comments (4)

October 30, 2005

Anna Deavare Smith

I picked out a photo of Anna Deavare Smith taken in New York City by Annie Leibovitz.

Denotaion (Studium): This photo was taken in black and white. The photographer framed upper body of a woman wearing a black shirt. The top botton is unbottoned and the viewer can see her neck and a little part of her upper left chest area and a shoulder. In the photo her right hand is raised half way through and her palm is facing out towards the camera. Anna's index and middle fingers are straight and pointing out. The other three fingers are bent down. Anna has black curly hair which is tied back and some shorter hair left out and not tied back. She has her mouth wide open that you can see some of her bottom teeth over her lips, eyebrows raised and eyes closed. Her head is leaning down to the left side of her body. There are some fine wrinkles on her forehead and neck. She is not wearing any accessories. The background of the photo is plain gray.
Connotation (Punctum): Anna's facial expressions suggest that she may have been singing when the photo was taken. The way her hands are posed could mean that she was waving (gesturing) while she was singing. She is very open and free to express herself because her hair is not fixed and she is who she is in the photo. Anna is a middle-aged woman because there are wrinkles on her forehead. She cares about her looks because she has a make up on her eyes. As a viewer I get the feeling that she is independent and strong since she is not afraid to show her hand and "reach" out, not hiding it behind her body.

Posted by lcisbold at 07:08 PM | Comments (0)

October 29, 2005

"Delta Debutante Club" Postcard Photograph

The postcard that I chose in class was titled "Delta Debutante Club" and was taken in Greenville, Mississippi. At first when I looked at the photograph I noticed the white gloves that all of the women had on and the flowers that they were holding in their hands. This characteristic of the photograph gave a sense of uniformity among the women. The flowers were held by the women in different positions, with some being more upright then others. The women also had different hairstyles showing that the younger women had their hair pulled half up and let half down and the older women had their hair worn down. Also the style of the dresses varies in this photo. The women on the right of the photograph have white dresses, one which is short sleeved and the other three with thick straps. The women on the left have on light colored dresses one with thick straps and the others with thin straps.

What can be connotated from this photograph is that these women are in a type of pageant and are somewhat wealthy, because of the dresses that they are wearing. The background of the photo shows a lot of trees and an open grassy area, which shows that these women are in the country. All of the facial expressions of the women are different. Some have serious faces, meaning that maybe they are not very excited about the debutante and don't really care. Two of the other women have a semi-smile, basically put on just to take the picture and get it over with. One woman is the only one who is actually smiling, and seems like she is happy to be there. The women all seem like they are not really friends, but are just placed in order to take a picture. A sort of dark fabric is laid out on the floor in front of the women with the light colored dresses on to show that they are of more importance. This means that these women were the ones who had a winning place in the debutante.

This photograph by Annie Leibovitz captures the personalities of the women that she photographed. They basically show the outcome of debutantes, like how some of the women are excited and some just put on a show for the camera. A happy vs. complacent tone can be connoted from this photograph, just from the facial expressions of the women. They dominate the photo so that the background doesn't have as much importance. The imporant aspect that I gathered from this photo was that the women are important, because of being a part of the debutante and the fact that they have a photograph taken of them.

--Yasmin

Posted by lcisperez at 02:33 PM | Comments (0)