Tag: towel

Hector Pozuelo – Karina (201X)

This is a great example of using color as a unifying compositional tool; unfortunately, it’s also some insipid #skinnyframebullshit.

But, wait–you counter–I’m reading this top to bottom and not left to right: how is it #skinnyframebullshit?

Well, it’s one of those instances where either (and in this case I think both apply equally): the skinny frame was less about contributing legibility to the image (instead it was about using the slow gradiations of the sky in combination with the color of the towel to get some really exceptional skin tone) and the vertical orientation was an effort to erase as much of the exterior context as possible.

I am convinced that given that she is making eye contact in such a way with the camera and the fact that essentially the grade as the sky rises from the horizon encompasses both the same hues as the towel and her irises, I think cutting the sky as it approaches the same color as the towel and then letting the towel and her eyes effectively communicate the same color range would also be a more contemplative use of color (i.e. less knee jerk and easy-peasy).

Also, it’s rare to see eye contact like this in an image. My eye wants to shift left or right and then drift back but the frame doesn’t allow that sort of movement and once I encounter the eyes, I no longer read the image top to bottom–I can only read it left to right.