The photo I chose was taken in Shanghai Longtang-Pu Tuo District in China. I chose this photo because photos of China that are often shown in the media are pictures of technology and happiness and bright colors. However, not many show the other portion of China. This photo is a representation of part of China that doesn’t contain prosperity. The photographer Hu Yang took this photo and the other pictures in his essay, to document five hundred families in the current community of Shanghai. He hoped to portray living conditions after modernization and the Open Door Policy. It documents the living conditions and aesthetic portions of the people in this area. My initial thought of this photo is the pollution that has an influence on the people in the area that the photos were taken. It doesn’t show the “prosperity” that one would think of with modernization. Instead you see a tattered background and tattered people.
This particular photo taken by Yang takes place in an alleyway in Shanghai. With the black and white background, you are not easily distracted with and object that has a bright color. Instead, your main focus is of a woman walking through the filth of this lower class community. The woman strikes me as a witness and victim of pollution and hardship. She is walking through with slightly tattered clothes. It seems that she has not benefited from the governments modernization after their recognition as a sovereign state after World War II. This woman represents the portion of China that still struggles.
The woman in this photo walking towards us through the alleyway is looking in the direction of a burning pot on the left side of the picture. The focus of the woman’s gaze is towards this burning pot and our attention is drawn towards it through vectors of attention. As we focus our attention on the pot we notice is emitting smoke in a rather large quantity. I think that Yang had a very positive idea on how to best illuminate the alley. The burning pot and the smoke that is barreling out of the top and filling the alley, gives the audience an opportunity to notice the rest of the photo. The direction of the smoke is flowing back in the direction of the woman that first drew our attention to the pot. As you follow the direction of the smoke, you start to focus on the background. Through visual hierarchy your focus throughout the photo shifts. As you look deeper into the background you notice the scenery surrounding the woman and the polluting pot. The sidewalk is cracked and chipped and uneven in many places. You can notice the people in the background. These people are also consumed by the smoke and filth.
To me, this photo gives people a chance to make their own inference of the photo and its meaning. The obvious objects in the photo, the woman and the pot, but you are able to look through the smoke and see some of the bigger picture.
This particular photo taken by Yang takes place in an alleyway in Shanghai. With the black and white background, you are not easily distracted with and object that has a bright color. Instead, your main focus is of a woman walking through the filth of this lower class community. The woman strikes me as a witness and victim of pollution and hardship. She is walking through with slightly tattered clothes. It seems that she has not benefited from the governments modernization after their recognition as a sovereign state after World War II. This woman represents the portion of China that still struggles.
The woman in this photo walking towards us through the alleyway is looking in the direction of a burning pot on the left side of the picture. The focus of the woman’s gaze is towards this burning pot and our attention is drawn towards it through vectors of attention. As we focus our attention on the pot we notice is emitting smoke in a rather large quantity. I think that Yang had a very positive idea on how to best illuminate the alley. The burning pot and the smoke that is barreling out of the top and filling the alley, gives the audience an opportunity to notice the rest of the photo. The direction of the smoke is flowing back in the direction of the woman that first drew our attention to the pot. As you follow the direction of the smoke, you start to focus on the background. Through visual hierarchy your focus throughout the photo shifts. As you look deeper into the background you notice the scenery surrounding the woman and the polluting pot. The sidewalk is cracked and chipped and uneven in many places. You can notice the people in the background. These people are also consumed by the smoke and filth.
To me, this photo gives people a chance to make their own inference of the photo and its meaning. The obvious objects in the photo, the woman and the pot, but you are able to look through the smoke and see some of the bigger picture.
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