At first glace this image captures an African American man and young child. To me it looks like a grandfather with his grandson, teaching him how to play the banjo. The color in this image looks very dark and mysterious. I believe this is portrayed because of how dark the two peoples outfits are and how you can’t see there faces other then the outlines. The shadowing around the man and the child makes it look as though they are the center of attention and are the main interest for this image. I also feel that the image is trying to portray a hard life. There are items placed around the room but the dark hard wood floors and plain background makes the room look bare. This makes me feel like they are not on the wealthy side. The room looks very small due to the line usage. Having the floor lines horizontal while the people are sitting vertically makes me see the people in a tiny room. Since the men are dark and the wall behind them are a white tone really shows positive and negative shape well. The colors look very masculine because the overall color pallet is dark. There are a few items in this image that show good texture. This includes, the mans pants, the wood floors, and the table clothe. Having this texture makes the image come to life. The gestural lines make the boy look like he is actually playing the banjo.
While analyzing this image I realized how it affects my interoperation of it. Due to the texture, lines, shape, lighting, shadowing, etc. I view this image in a particular way. Since it does have a dark feel to it I view it as somewhat serious and strict. I can almost feel myself being in that room with them, and hearing the man getting stern with the young boy while trying to teach him how to play this instrument. I interoperate the room being very cold and damp because the floor looks extremely dark and uncomfortable. Since there is not much in the room it also makes me feel as though the room is gloomy. The shadowing makes for the bottom right of the image not be seen. It is all dark which makes me interpret the image to be secretive. Before this class I would of looked at this image and just saw a man and young boy. I never would of analyzed it to this extreme. My interpretation of this image would be completely different then it is today. I believe I am more well rounded now in visual rhetoric then I was before, and analyzing this image makes me see how important it is to be educated in such an art form.
Jill -- with all the bright light around the two people, how is the room gloomy? What do you make of the softness of the lines, and the softness of the way the portrait is drawn? Where are the gestural lines you are talking about? What about the lack of eye-contact between us and the figures -- are they looking at us? What are they focused on? I'm very glad you're looking at images in a a new way.
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