the formal elements
In our lesson we were given a black and white photograph and we had to annotate them and see what of the formal elements are in that image. After we annotated them in class we had to write an essay about one of them, I got to write mine about Minor White's Windowsill Daydreaming.
Windowsill daydreaming
The image to the left is Minor White’s Windowsill Daydreaming in Rochester, New York in July 1958. There are quite a lot of formal elements in the photograph; to begin with there is the focus of the image. In this case, the focus seems to be on the curtain which is quite soft and smooth and relaxing. The image is full of different textures like the window frame, curtain and the wall, all of these give off different temperatures, for example the curtain is warm whilst the window frame is lifeless and feels quite cold. There are also some extremely dark sections in the top left corner and some in the bottom right. On the other hand, there are also some light areas due to natural light from the window behind the curtain which seems to be quite calm and soft which may indicate warmth whilst the dark is indicating coldness and making it seem like a negative, empty space. This also shows the contrast in tones and colours in the image from the lightness behind the curtain to the darkness in the corners-from black to white. The image also uses a lot of shade and lines which are repeated throughout the image. The most intriguing part of the photograph- the light pattern on and below the windowsill seems to be a projection or a reflection possibly from broken glass or a mirror reflecting against something which creates the distorted image that we can see.
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The image also has no time frame however due to it being light behind the curtain but extremely dark in the room it must either be at dawn or dusk. It is also extremely abstract and quite out of the ordinary with plenty of geometric lines but still being able to look quite bare, plain and simplistic.
Overall, I think the meaning of the image is not really to be known, however it is meant to be intriguing and draw you in about what the pattern is and how it was made.
The images below are of other posters that people have annotated (some of which I have also added annotations to).
Overall, I think the meaning of the image is not really to be known, however it is meant to be intriguing and draw you in about what the pattern is and how it was made.
The images below are of other posters that people have annotated (some of which I have also added annotations to).