Art Analysis: St. George And The Dragon

The image St. George and the Dragon was created using the albumen silver from a glass negative process, and as such it is a black and white photograph. The white tones appear stark white, and the darker tones appear warm, ranging from light to darker shades of beige to almost brown. Also, visible are the various shades of gray. Such tones were typical of the wet collodion process, as was the sharp image and the clear depiction of the details. The photograph's tones range from light to dark, where the darker shades of beige appear in the periphery of the image. They also frame the photograph, directing the eye toward the lighter tones, to finally rest in the center of the picture where the tones are the brightest. The murky shadows surrounding …show more content…
It seems that the author focussed sharply on the center of the photograph, allowing the surroundings to fade slightly out of focus. Space in the photograph appears to be crowded, as the figures placed in a small room are gathered closely together, and are overlapping one another. The distance between the camera and the scene creates a sense of depth. However, because the scene is placed immediately next to the back wall, it gives the image a shallow appearance, as the eye of the viewer is quickly drawn to the playing children in front of …show more content…
He praises many of the exhibited photographs for successful capturing of moonlight though as he suspects they were taken in sunlight. He delights in the details in images of architectural monuments as well as in the foliage, even though he envision it to be a difficult task. He critics some of the photographs for their "flat effect", which is created when the artist fails to achieve desired contrast of light and shade. To avoid "stiffness of the composition" he suggests the even distribution of light throughout the image, without overbalancing by an excess of light on one side. He finds getting" the principal object" of the photograph exactly in the center to be a bad choice as well as bad lighting, that he felt was the reason for the creation of bad photographs. He praises good focusing in many of the photographs, as well as the arrangement of light in taking portraits, as he believes it to be of paramount importance. In grouped successful photographs, he noted that giving to the different figures depicted in the photograph one object of attention, such as group playing cricket might be paying attention to the game, will also draw to it the spectator himself. In portraits of single persons, the difficulty can be overcome by the natural placing of the hands; within the narrow limits allowed by the