Digital Media Portfolio

Maria Gasca Villalobos

Learning to Look

Photograph Title: Images of Youth
Photographer: Chang Chao-Tang
Digital, Film, or Other: Digital
Date Taken: 1959-1961.
Additional Information: Part of his exhibition in Gallery Tosei in Japan.

VALUE The subject (kids) are the darkest value and the background is the light value

SPACE On the right side, the kids leave no room for space but on the left side the sky gives the photograph plenty of space

SHAPE I see the shapes and silhouettes of the kids and buildings.

LINE The buildings and street on the left side create a type of vanishing point

COLOR The image is black and white

TEXTURE There is no texture

FOCUS The kids are in focus and the rest of the background is blurred but still visible

LIGHT AND SHADOW Judging from the color of the sky in the background, the photographer used natural lighting and shot his subjects face on

ANGLE The photographer shot his subjects face on which gave the photograph a clear view of the kids

I would describe his work as expressionless. Even though in the image the children are smiling and seem genuinely happy, Tang’s use of black and white images give the image a dreary feel.

I would like to emulate Chang Chao-Tang’s use of space, shape, and value. The reason I would like to emulate each of these elements is that they seem simple but they do take quite a while to shoot and get right.

Learning to Emulate

Four style elements that I incorporated into my own photography include space, value, light, and shadow. I incorporated space by making sure that the right side of my picture had enough space so that the image wouldn't look too cluttered. Value, light, and shadow were also incorporated into my picture. I wasn't able to shoot during the day time but I made sure to bring a light with me to make sure I had good enough lighting to work with. Since it was night time the lighting made the background of the image dark and the subject light which was kind of the opposite of Chang Chao-Tang's image but I was still happy with the results. Obstacles I faced in completing the project included shooting while it was dark out. I overcame these obstacles by asking for assistance from my family and bringing enough lighting to see my subject. Examining a famous photographer pushed and evolved my own photography by expanding my knowledge letting me experiment with new photographing techniques. I think my photography has grown over the past few years because I now know that there are different elements to capture if you want a great photograph.