Blog 5A!

            Above you will see two images, the first an original image by Sally Mann, and the second, a reframing I chose to do. What draws me to the original image is the use of limited space within the image.  There are multiple distinct layers within the image, most notably the girl in the foreground smoking a cigarette and the child in the background on what appears to be stilts.  The aspects of the image seem very odd or mysterious regardless of their framing. It does not look normal to see a young girl smoking a cigarette.  Meanwhile the child in the background almost seems to be floating in the air lifeless. The two layers that Sally Mann creates within the image add to the mystery and “weirdness” of the image.  What is literally being shown is pretty clear, yet you get the feeling that there’s an intended subtext within the image. 

            The use of the Rule of Thirds tends to add to the feeling of multiple layers within the original image.  The middle point between the young girls face and the child in the background happens to fall in the upper left intersection, the first point of attention for most viewers.  Also the visual intensity of the child in the background through the use of bright white color against a dark background helps create a second layer. 

            I chose to reframe the image the way I did because I wanted to attempt to move the child in the background into the first point of attention within the Rule of Thirds. I wasn’t completely successful with doing this because I didn’t want to completely cut out the girls face from the background.  I do think I was somewhat successful in drawing more attention to the child in the background, not only because it’s body is closer to the first intersection discussed previously, but also because it now takes up a larger percentage of the frame. It is not more visually intense due to this as well.  I think the original image creates more of a sense of tension due to the layers being slightly more equal in presence.