Image Detective Compositional Analysis

Reflection:

Throughout conducting my compositional analysis, I have learned the importance of not only specificity but clarity within my own writing. The compositional analysis enabled me to see a photo beyond its surface; a photo has a multitude of levels, all which contribute to a centralized idea. The most difficult aspect by far when completing the compositional analysis was articulating exactly what I was trying to say to my reader. I was familiarized and rather comfortable with using technical terminology when describing the composition of the photo. However, I had to remember that the reader may not be used to such language, and thus left it challenging for me to articulate my thoughts into simpler terms. I had to revise a lot of sentences within my piece due to the clunkiness of their structure. i was trying to fit as many details into one sentence as possible, and thus caused my sentences to be near incomprehensible and down right horrible to read. The clunkiness ruined the flow and style of my piece. When I was able to rewrite and reorder the troubled sentences, the flow significantly improved. The aspect of the compositional analysis that I was most confident about was my ability to demonstrate the main idea of the photo. In my case, it was Nachtwey’s criticism of the visual selectiveness present within his Western audience. The most important writing skills that I will need to transfer to a future analysis will be to use correct grammar and punctuation, specifically when using compound and complex sentences. Additionally, the ability to understand your target audience is extremely important. Without knowing who your writing is targeted to, your sense of tone, vocabulary, and utilization of pathos would be entirely off.

An Illumination of Illness

A compositional analysis by Adi DeBenedetto

The power of James Nachtwey’s Grandmother cared for young girl affected by HIV (2000) resides in the negative space located in the bottom left corner, below the framed picture of the nativity scene. By shifting the focus of the piece to this seemingly empty area, Natchwey directly criticizes a problematic pattern occurring in his Western audience: their selectiveness as a viewer. Thus, redirecting the focus of the piece parallels his Western audience’s selectivity of awareness to situations similar to the grandmother and grandchild. 

Nachtwey’s directional vectors of attention through the eyes of the victims and of those within the nativity scene, the contrast of saturation amongst the tonal hues, and the harsh cropping of the photo work in conjunction with each other in order to produce the visual imbalance of focus within the piece.

Vectors of attention are highly visible physical lines created within the image you are naturally drawn to as an observer. These vectors of attention could be as straightforward as a horizontal line or as ambiguous as the direction in which a subject is looking in. For the case in Nachtwey’s photograph, the direction in which both the ill afflicted subjects and the biblical figures are looking in control your eyes’ movement across the image. Starting from the right of the photograph, your eyes are drawn to the worn face of the grandmother and the distressed face of the grandchild. Though it is obvious  the grandchild is undergoing an immense amount of suffering, the grandmother’s focus is not on her. The grandmother’s eyes are directly looking to the left hand side of the portrait-away from the young girl. Next, your eyes are designed to move above and to the left of the grandmother’s head. Seen is the famous nativity scene, in which Jesus is laying in the manger with Joseph on his left and Mary to his right. Both Joseph and Mary are looking directly at baby infant Jesus, whereas Jesus’ gaze is not at his parents; Jesus’ gaze is focused on the same location as the grandmother’s. All vectors of attention draw your eyes into a negative space located in the lower left hand corner. This negative space seems to represent a symbolic absence of acknowledgment the audience contributes to in their day to day lives. Nachtwey understands his western audience is extremely sensitive to traumatic images which depict those less fortunate. By controlling the vectors of attention to this empty space, Nachtwey allows his audience to be able to look at their own leisure; the audience is able to internalize the afflicted victims without being emotionally overwhelmed. In a similar manner, Nachtwey emphasizes his audience’s disregard of the familial unit through the usage of tonal contrast within the photograph.

The photo captured in black and white, which in relation to art theory, creates a multitude of tones throughout the piece. The darker hues of black encompassing both the grandmother and young girl generates a stark and dramatic contrast to the lighter hues illuminating the nativity scene, specifically the virgin mother Mary. Nachtwey’s inclusion of the harsh contrast of tonal hues prompts the audience to examine the similarities and differences of the grandmother and Mary. Mary caring for Jesus is a direct parallel to the grandmother caring for her grandchild: both are helpless and young. However, the distinct lighter depiction of Mary in comparison to the dark shading on the grandmother’s textured face enforces the supremacy religion holds within society, both in power and the importance in which the audience captures the figures. The lightness of the biblical figures steals the focus away from those afflicted, reinforcing the western audience’s ignorance to worldly problems unless the problems affect the audience members directly. Nachtwey’s awareness of this issue amongst his audience allows himself as a photographer to inspire those far removed from said problems. Nachtwey invites his audience to delve deep into their maternal and empathetic side of their emotions, in order to solidify the message of compassion for those struggling. To enhance this conceptual imbalance of importance within the photograph, Nachtwey utilizes the technique of harsh cropping to create a focused window into the specific details of the piece. 

Cropping in photography is an editing technique used deliberately to focus on certain details by omitting the surrounding context of the situation. The usage of cropping is very critical to the piece, as the photographer has control over what they want to be seen or not seen by their audience. In this particular photograph, Nachtwey has deliberately shown the grandmother from her shoulders up, and the grandchild is shown from her torso up. It is clear the image was explicitly cropped to only display the faces of both subjects, which inherently channels the focus onto the pained expression painted on both the grandmother’s and young girl’s faces. Additionally, cropping creates visual tension within the image between the family and those represented in the nativity scene. The nativity scene, located in the top left hand corner, is also partially cropped. However, unlike the familial pair, the nativity scene is not majorly cut out, as all main aspects of the picture are clearly seen. The relationship between the cropped family and the portrait of the nativity scene shows Nachtwey’s recognition of the emphasis of western culture within the media, and by displaying a religious icon, thus appeals to onlookers from beyond those directly affected.

By controlling what his audience perceived through his photograph, Nachtwey unearths the surface of what seems to be a simple “call-to-attention” piece into a photo oozing with complexity. The shift of power in the piece to the negative space, as well as the inclusion of iconography, clearly enforces Natchwey’s criticism of the ignorance among the Western audience. However, Natchwey still remains respectful and empathetic to the situation which plagues the grandmother and grandchild; Natchwey’s own sensitivity to the family creates an outlet for their story to be shared. Nachtwey is thus generating awareness for the grandmother and grandchild, while continuing to emphasize the selectiveness of the Western gaze.