Thursday, November 6, 2014

The Photographic Critique Two


When I first see this photograph I think of Theme Parks long gone, such great tourist destinations as Astro World in Texas or Cypress Gardens in Florida, all the fun things that those places used to offer that cannot be found anywhere else; it really is a sad reminder of better days gone by. The photograph is of a roller coaster named the Jet Star that fell into the ocean after Superstorm Sandy devastated Seaside Heights, New Jersey in 2012; the image was captured by Mel Evans in 2013 shortly before the structure was removed from the ocean. The backdrop of the rising sun is quite nice and provide a unique perspective upon this symbol of disaster, the surf breaking on the beach also provides a sense of motion to the photograph; the main focal point is obviously the coaster itself however all of these surrounding elements add to the image. I like the emotional response of loss or tragedy that this image provokes, it is quite an effective reminder of what transpired here; on the other hand I do not like the little tiny cloud in front of the sun, it detracts a small amount from the entire image, however that is just nitpicking.

The Photographic Critique One



When I first laid eyes upon this photo my first reaction was to think of how cute that this polar ear was with his paw outstretched at that angle, almost as if he was waving at the camera. The photo was taken in Svalbard Norway by a photographer named Colin Mackenzie. There are two main elements I noticed in this image one is the polar bear waving in a friendly manner, the other more subtle element is the landscape; if you look around you can clearly discern that the landscape is clearly eroding and being destroyed, this may be caused by us causing me to feel guilt for humanities role in the destruction of this animal's natural habitat. I like the subtle message that the photograph carries with it, I however do not like the different water coloring it feels like something is wrong. I like the photograph as a whole and I feel can be quite powerful when presented in the correct manner.