The gallery of photographs in which I found this particular text is made up of pictures taken by young children and adolescents of the Imbabazi Orphanage located in Rwanda. I selected a photo from a young man named Twagira’s collection. Reading his biography, he seems very joyous and full of life regardless of the pain he has been through. I feel that many of the photos in his collection tell this same story – including this one in particular.
Fishing by Twagira is one of the more powerful photos in the gallery. One component of this picture that compels the viewer to continue examining it is the way in which our attention is directed to a specific portion of the photo. The horizon in relation to the shoreline work together to pull our eyes to the center; where the two men stand near their small boat waiting to catch fish. Though there are no other people in the photo focusing their attention on these two men, these natural elements successfully create vectors of attention to highlight the men in the center. Furthermore, speaking about the men in this picture, I drew the conclusion that they are close friends – maybe even relatives – based on their body language and the context in which they are spending their time. Two men fishing would hopefully be familiar with each other; otherwise, those long, drab periods of time while fish are not being active could be considerably awkward.
In terms of pathos in this photo, color, visual hierarchy, and framing all cooperate to evoke emotion in the viewer.
The saturations of the colors used in this photo are not full at all, leaving the viewer wanting a little bit more from the photo while simultaneously invoking further interest in it. The hues found in this picture are all pretty much the same – different variations of grays, browns, and whites. Though the hues are seemingly bleak, the photo is in fact very bright, and instills in the viewer this feeling of contrasting emotion. Maybe the men would rather be engaging in something other than fishing, but this task needs to be done so they decide to just make the best of it.
The object of focus is obviously the boat and the two men in the center of the photo. This visual hierarchy is created by the incorporation of only those two men in the photo – no other people – and the simplicity of the background. The entire background consists of water, sand, or sky. Nothing else in the photo is really appealing to the eye or fascinating at first glance. This simplicity in the number of elements allows us to really focus our attention on those two men in the center.
Lastly, the framing of this photo is really what makes it. Twagira wanted to take a picture of the two men fishing, but he instead captured the entire landscape, making the two men seem small and insignificant while at the same time the most important aspect of the photo.
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