For this assignment, I was looking for an image which when cropped changes the focus from pain to pleasure or from hardships to hopefulness. After several attempts, I was convinced to use this picture.
The original depicts a man pouring water into vessel while sitting in a floating cart but the other focal points in that picture are the flowing dirty water. My assumptions made me judge that the man may not be leading a fortunate life. I inferred to this point because of the distractions in the original picture i.e., the water beneath.
When cropping the original picture using rule of thirds, I removed the flowing dirty water and the portions of the cart, so that the man becomes the main focal point. On seeing the cropped image, the viewer’s opinions may turn neutral rather than assuming that he is undergoing hardships. I was fascinated to see how the change of focus obtained through the rule of thirds can change our perspective towards the people in the picture.
Hi Saranya, I really enjoyed your post! I thought that the original photo was strong already, but bringing the man to the focus of the crop eliminated the sense of hardship that the man was going through in the original photo, as you focused more on the man’s face. I can see how you used the rule of thirds to bring the man over more to the right of the crop at eye level. Another crop that you could use for this photo is having more of the house in frame and positioning the man more to the left of the frame, while still eliminating the water underneath the house, still keeping the sense of hopefulness than the original. Overall, great post, can’t wait to see more of you work throughout the semester!
Hey, Saranya, thanks for sharing! I appreciate that you started out with a plan in mind and sought out images specifically to fit a particular narrative. In the original image it is easy to feel empathetic toward the hardship these people are living through. Just as you planned to do though, in your crop you refocus the attention of the image onto the man whose posture feels comfortable and at-home with the hint of a smile on his face. Taking the background context of the image out of it completely changes the feeling of the whole thing!