Marlene Wynn - Weekly Post # 6

Miquel Llonch

 

1. Artist Technical Choices
1.  The first picture shows two young men sitting side by side.  Though it is clearly a night-time photo, the way the shadows hit make it look like a painting.   The second is a man and child, though I keep going back and forth as to whether or not the child is a boy or girl.  The old world feel to the picture makes it possible that the long hair on the child could indicate he's a male.  The third photo is also of a man and child, though in a completely different setting...and this scene indicates protectiveness.  The final photo is of two adolescent children standing in a field with the city night-scape laid out behind them. 
2.  Artist Conceptual / Thematic Intents
1. Miquel makes strong use of light at night-time, using the camera to pull the ambient light from the city to illuminate the sky behind each person.  On his website, he calls this series of photos "In the Fields of Gold", and its very easy to see why, particularly in the third photo.  The city behind the man and child looks like a mountain of gold bouillon sparkling in shimmering light...almost as though Smaug's stolen treasure from "The Hobbit" had come to exist in the modern-day Mediterranean.  In all four pictures, it appears that Miquel used a wide aperture, thus letting in more light, and giving us a shallow depth of field.  The people are in focus and the backgrounds are softly blurred, making the people the focal points of the photos.  I think he also used a very slow shutter speed, thus making the night-time sky lighter.  In each photo, every person has a distinctly different expression:
1. In the first photo of the two young men, the boy closest to us has a sullen, withdrawn look to him, almost as though he doesn't want to look at a speaker off camera.  Yet the other boy is intently watching said speaker...and though he is paying close attention, the comforting hand he lays on his companion's shoulder tells us where his thoughts and emotions really lay. 
2. In the second photo the man has a resigned look to him, as though something he feared has finally come to pass, and he is holding the child close to him in a comforting manner.  Yet the child is looking off to the side with a boarder-line fearful expression.  Is there something else to be worried about on the sidelines?
3. In the third picture, the child clings to the man, burying his face into the man's shoulder, while the man holds the child protectively close and glares defiantly at us.  The sparkling gold lights behind them are a stark contrast to the palpable fear and anxiety of the two.  The dark bushes bordering them are a great counter balance to the shimmering golden lights.
4. And, last, but not least, the two adolescent kids.  These two look exhausted, like they've been hiking forever and just need to keep putting one foot in front of the other.  Their faces are grim...yet the determination on the girl's face is striking.  The fact that they are headed away from the welcoming city lights into the dark and wild wilderness says something too.  The use of shadows on their faces - especially the girl - is very interesting.  The shadows on the girl lends her face the look of a skull, almost as though death were courting her.
3. My Response to Stanley's Intents
1. When Shane showed us these pictures in class the other day, I was mesmerized.  How cool to take people in the dark of night and, by the use of your own clever lighting and the ambient light of the city, make them shine!  Each and every person has their own personality.  Each one tells me a different story, and as an author, I want to know what those stories are!  What happened?  Why are they there?  What danger are they fighting?