Santa Monica

This picture is called 'Santa Monica' and is also by Lee Friedlander. In comparison to the image 'New York City,' the way the glass in front of the mannequin is used is very different. Instead of making it seem like the mannequin is out and about, the mannequin is clearly behind glass. The reflection shows the camera and the photographer. You can't quite make out what the mannequin is wearing in this picture, because the reflected image is much stronger in front of the mannequin than what is actually behind the glass.

New York City

This picture is called 'New York City' and is by Lee Friedlander. This shows a mannequin in New York City. It seems that the skyline is a reflection of the glass in front of the mannequin, judging by the glare on parts of the image. It is at such an angle, though, that one could almost thing that the mannequin is just standing in the street, like a person would. I like the contrast in this image. There is a lot of gray, but there are many different shades so that it is not boring.

I Felt a Funeral in My Brain

This photograph is called 'I Felt a Funeral in my Brain' by Rosalind Fox Solomon. This image is at a checkpoint in Palestine. You can see the emotion on the woman's face, even though half of it is covered by her hand. The bottom half of the face in the poster is covered by her other hand, which I think is an interesting, if accidental, coincidence. There are reflections of more people in the surface of the building the woman is next to. The arrow behind her seem to be pointing in the way she should be going.

Mirror, Glass, Water and Wine

This picture is called 'Mirror, Glass, Water and Wine' by Abelardo Morell. This image shows a glass full of what appears to be water in the foreground. Then, there is a mirror and two separate reflections. The one on the left copies the glass as it is and the one on the right shows the glass with a darker substances, presumably wine, in it. The ground in the mirror image of the side with the wine is reflected in the opposite direction than it should be, looking like it is a reflection of the reflection of the glass. It is a very symmetrical picture, but the small differences within the mirror are interesting. The grain of the floor also makes it a bit more appealing than if the grain had been sideways or straight on.

Ward 81

This picture is one from Mary Ellen Mark's 'Ward 81', a project that took place in a high security ward for women. Of all of the pictures from this project that I looked at while working on my paper, this was one of them that drew my attention the most. It is clearly a girl sitting on her bed in her room, a picture that isn't always inside of a high security ward. What I find interesting is the contrast between the walls. One wall says 'I wish to die' while the other wall is decorated in art and things that the girl, presumably Brenda, relates to. She doesn't look happy, but she doesn't look too distressed either. It seems like Mary Ellen Mark got to know the girl a bit before photograhing her, since bedrooms can really be a personal place. The walls of someone's bedroom are generally a good way to get some insight into who the person is. The girl is pretty much centered in the photo, but the corner between the two walls gives the photo more depth than it could have had. There is quite a bit of contrast in this picture, and it makes it easy for diferent aspects of the photograph to stand out.

Two Ostriches

This is an untitled picture of two ostriches taken by the Japanese photographer Hiroshi Sugimoto. One of the things that caught my eye about this picture is that the eggs are so much whiter than anything else. There are other white areas of the picture, like some of the feathers on the one ostrich, but they are dim compared to the eggs. Most of the things in the picture are different shades of gray, creating almost a uniformity. I like how the sky looks, though, with the different shades of gray going to black. There are clouds too, though they aren't as white as one would expect clouds to be. It seems that the eggs were made to stand out the most on purpose. Looking at it again, there looks to be a third ostrich, a baby one, standing next to the adult ostrich standing closer to the camera.

Moray Eel

I know this one isn't traditional photography, but it was on the MOPA website among other photographs. It is a picture of moray eels under an x-ray, taken by digital radiograph by Sandra J. Raredon. I think this is really cool because it shows what is under the skin of these eels. The bones are very detailed and you can see just how many tiny moving parts make up the animals. I think this is really cool because I am very into science and knowing how things work. Neither of the two eels are completely centered in the picture, which I think is interesting. The head and tail of the one are in the center, but the majority of it's body is off to the side. I know this is more due to the movement of the eels than to any conscious choice, but it is still interesting. The skulls of the eels and their tiny teeth are a little scary. If they were larger than the size they are I would not want to encounter one. I also think it is cool how the outline of the skin of the eel can still be seen, so we can get a sense of what exists on the outside of their bones.