In this image by Ming Smith i see a American family celebrating the holidays outside their house, The image is blurred out and you can't really see what's going on however you can tell they're celebrating because the smallest child in the family is holding a sparkler and you can see the flames coming off it which makes the photo more interesting and stands out more because it catches your eye because it enlightens the photo because the rest of the colours are sort of gloomy and boring. Personally another thing that stood out to me was in the middle of the photo above the child is the flames which have come off the sparkler and it reminded me of a miniature firework because of the way it is laid out like some sort of super power that a character would have in a game or movie because of the way it looks like it is heading towards the right side of the photo. Even though the image is set in New York i could kind of tell that it already was, this is because the contrast of the photo which reminds me of any old American Christmas movie and the way they're dressed also gave me the idea that they're American.
In my opinion i would say that Smith knew what she aiming to capture was when taking this photo, i believe he wanted like a theme of 'happy families enjoying the holidays' and he done really well perusing that idea and making it into a really good photo but also done well changing it up, making it different and taking it outside the box because of how the image is blurred but you can still tell they're celebrating as you can see the whole family together with sparklers which indicates they're celebrating. I also think that Smith planned this photo out really well because personally i think she had the basis of what is happening in the photo which is a family celebrating the holidays but also took it in her own way making it blurred out and the sparklers stand out. Without researching the photographer and looking at other photos you could guess that maybe the family didn't what to be photographed to the public or maybe even Smith felt uncomfortable exploiting her families privacy of who they are and where they live. Personally i would say the main thing that upset my expectations about this photo is the fact you can't really point out and explain key details of what's happening in the photo with things such as if the family are enjoying themselves and what's happening in the background behind the family apart from that i think this photo by Smith turned out really well, different and unique.
This photo by Smith makes me feel happy and how important it is to really cherish the happy times with your family, especially in times such as the holidays when you should celebrate and have fun with them which one day you will never have and will all just be memories to tell in the future. The photo gave me a sort of home alone vibe, this is because of the contrast of the photo which is like a 'typical' American Christmas movie contrast but not only that but the way they're all dressed up nice and how they're celebrating the holidays. The photo also gives me a 4th of July vibe which is independence day in the United States which is i'm pretty sure they're celebrating because traditionally people go outside their houses light fireworks and sparklers with their family. When looking at the photo and comparing to other normal family pictures of celebrating independence i could really tell that Smith has the eye of an photographer, this is implied by the fact that you would normally take the picture with the family smiling and and huddled together but in the case of Smith she took the photo in her own element of what she think is appealing and making it her own and separate and rare to the others. If i could ask three questions to Ming Smith the first question i would ask is: why is the background of the photo blurred?, this is because i think it would've made the photo more appealing and leading, another question i would ask is: was the photo timed perfectly for the sparklers and flames to be like that? and the last question i would ask is: why did you take the photo from this angle?.
After watching the short film and researching the website i learnt a lot, the main thing i didn't know is that most of her photography is to do with black people and how there wasn't much privileges for black people. For example Smith liked to take photos in a place called Harlem where most black people lived and shared the same experiences also Smith talks about how her first photo exhibition was held in a black barbershop which obviously wasn't very popular back then but even so many of her favourite photographers came to visit the exhibition and really enjoyed it and admired her photos. The film also tells you about why she started photography and who inspired her to start photography. This photo represents creative use of light in many different ways, for example the whole theme of the photo is dark and gloomy however Smith uses the sparkler as a source of light to enlighten the photo, she also uses the flames coming off the sparkler as some type of pattern which also adds more light to the photo.
The Practical Part Of The Assessment
These are the first four photos that I have chosen the series of photos relating to Ming Smith's 4th of July photo. I chose to take these photos because they imply different aspects of Ming Smith's photo, these aspects are the light and how blurry it is which disguises the background of each photo. I took these photos with my phone (iPhone SE) however I used the live setting while taking these photos, the live setting makes the shutter speed slower and shutter speed determines how long your sensor is exposed to light. After I took these photos I used the long exposure effect on the photos, which captures all the movement that happened while taking the photo and creates the blur. All of these photos were taken indoors with different sources of light and later on i'm going to try and take ones outside and maybe even try remake Ming Smith's one.
These photos are my second attempt at making my photos look like Ming Smith's 4th of July photo. I took the second series of photos at nigh and on the street because I felt like it is more relatable to Ming Smith's photo, especially the two on the left because even though you there is still a blur effect from the shuttle speed, you can also see the buildings and the light from the windows and just like Ming Smith's photo you can tell what's going on. The two photos on the right are pictures of my mum throwing a light up dog toy to two dogs, at first I wanted to get the background but then I just decided to focus on the movement of the dogs and the light stream from the toy. All of the four photos were taken on the live setting and edited on the long exposure effect however the first one doesn't have the long exposure effect on it, this is because the movement of the cars were too fast for the photo and if I did put it on long exposure they would just come up as a red stream, which is still a good photo but you can barely see the stream because the photo was taken on a phone.