Analysis of an Image Composition

     

       This iconic image, Raising the Flag On Iwo Jima, is one of the most celebrated photographs of all time. Visual imagery and historical culture are uniquely meshed together, making it a long standing symbol of American pride. The composition of the image projects powerfully into the mind’s eye.

A simple line, the flag pole, is what effectively unites image. The composition of this diagonal line directs the eye from the soldiers to the flag, connecting the two different focal points. When first glancing at this photograph the group of soldiers is seen first. As the eye reads the lower portion of the image the particular angle of the pole leads it up to the American flag. All attention is then placed on this flag, helping to complete the story being told. The diagonal line used indicates dynamic motion. The forward energy of the soldiers is channeled through this line and helps the audience grasp the movement in this image.

Positive and negative spaces are prominent in this photograph. The vast, empty terrain in the background, as well as the open sky, provide a negative relationship with the foreground. The shape composition in this image is well conceived. The use of the soldiers and the flag as the foreground contrast nicely with the placement of the negative space. The background provides a barren stage for the conjunction of compositional elements and historical representation.

The lighting in this composition also helps to place emphasis on the subject matter; the foreground has a deep contrast with the background. The negative space serving as a backdrop is filled with a white light that is centered in the composition. This is the lightest tonal value in the photograph. The placement of this white light nearest to darkest tones of the image transform the image and enhance its the black and white photographic style.

Visual weight is achieved through the balance of the foreground and background. The heavy and densely weighted soldiers are placed in a way that balances with the open space behind them on the horizontal axis. The open negative space behind the foreground is much bigger than the soldiers. Because it is so much bigger, a sense of equilibrium is created and this equilibrium of the horizontal plane creates balance by position. If the heavy placement of the soldiers was in the center of the image, all sense of balance would be thrown completely off. The position of the heavy and lighter weights are what effectively balances the photograph.

Revision of Assignment 3

Few artistic works are recognized worldwide like Starry Night by Vincent Van Gogh. It is an iconic painting that captures the emotions of all who observe it. Created by Van Gogh in 1889, this painting inspired a new style of artistic representation and fully embodied the post-impressionism style of art.

When first glancing at this painting, the denotative meaning of it is a starry night sky. The audience immediately sees a sky of whirling clouds, shining stars, and a bright crescent moon. The colors are visually appealing; the texture of the painting and the contrast of colors help captivate the eye. The swirling sky directs the viewer around the painting, creating a sense of fluidity. Once you look past the literal representation of the painting, this stylized depiction is meant to convey Van Gogh’s deepest thoughts and emotion. The connotative meaning of it depicts the unstable mentality Van Gogh was in when Starry Night was created. The dark colors contrasted with the brightly lit windows emphasis the opposing states of his mentality. It is widely speculated that Van Gogh was bipolar; he would constantly switch between violent rages to more subdued states of mind. In fact, he was quoted saying “it is good for me to work hard. But that does not keep me from having a terrible need of—shall I say the word—yes, of religion. Then I go out at night to paint the stars.” Van Gogh threw himself into his paintings to help cope with the constant battle of his mind. Starry Night represents his ongoing struggle with overcoming his mental illness. The haunting night sky was his way of immortalizing his constant hallucinations onto a canvas for all time.


This painting is iconic. Not only is it one of Vincent Van Gogh’s most renowned works but it is extremely valuable as well, giving it important cultural value. The artistic style of it is original Van Gogh; it is widely accepted that this painting helped end the era of Impressionism and was one of the first Post-Impressionism paintings. It also greatly influenced Expressionism and Fauvism styles of art. Due to the immense popularity of it, it is widely reproduced. When I was a younger, I remember going to an art museum with my family and purchasing a copy of this image at the end of the tour. The emotions pouring out from it captivated me. The value of this image is increased by its availability for popular consumption.
 

Not only is Starry Night an iconic painting, but it has a deeper meaning of overcoming emotional struggle. Individuals from all cultures and backgrounds can come together and feel the passion and struggle evoked in this image. Van Gogh created something that is universal and will stand the test of time.  

Manipulating an Image

In order to manipulate my original image, I used the histogram, curves, and contrast manipulation. The goal was to increase the intensity of the image and change the original color to a vintage inspired style. 
The first order of operation I used was to change the levels in the histogram. The original image had little intensity and contrast between the colors. It was lackluster to look at. The histogram was chosen as the initial operation because the pixels in the image have a specific luminosity value that serve as a good starting point to be manipulated. In this case, the horizontal scale of the histogram was manipulated; the absolute value of the original image was changed. The value of the black tones was set to 54. The middle grey tone value was set to 0.86, and the value of the white tones was set to 221. This served to better distribute the intensity values in the image.
The next operation chosen was to change the color components in the image by applying independent point transfer functions. To do this, the curves option was chosen. First, the RGB channel input and output levels were changed. The input level was set to 60 and the output level was set to 54. This helped provide more of a variance between the pixels. Now that there was a more pleasing contrast in the image, the color components were manipulated. The color was chosen to be changed after the levels in the histogram because color is seen differently when there is contrast between the chroma. To begin manipulating the color, the red channel input level was set to 120 and the output level was set to 148. This helped to bring out the warmer colors of the image and decrease the cooler tones. Next, the green output level was set to 86 and the input level was set to 72. This provided more of a yellowish-green tone to the image, which began to give it the vintage feel that I had desired.  The last color channel manipulated was the blue channel. The input level was set to 44 and the output level was set to 88. The changing of this color component gave the image a complementary contrast of blue and orange. Each of these independent point transfer functions modified the color components of the image.
The last operation chosen was the contrast manipulation. This was picked last because the intensity of the color components in the image that were just manipulated needed to be modified. The intensity values are distributed from 0 to 255 over the output range. In this case, the brightness was set to 3 and the contrast was set to 25. The contrast manipulation used a piecewise linear transfer function to change the intensity values and further enhance the image.