Reimagining: Visual Framing

I chose to reframe this photograph taken by Sally Mann to focus your attention even further on the girl holding the cigarette. I was initially drawn to this photograph because I could see the way that Mann used space, line, and our perception of line to give the viewer's eyes something interesting to look at, while subconsciously focusing your attention directly onto the girl in the center.

Mann creates deep space by having the road extend behind the subject and having another object in the background. This sense of depth gives the viewer something else to look at besides the subject, the girl holding the cigarette, however, Mann chose to keep the person in the background out of focus so as to not detract from what she wants us to focus on. Mann also uses virtual line to create deep space. The girl standing with her back towards the viewer appears to be looking at the person on stilts this virtual line drawn from the second girl's eyes to the person on stilts runs parallel with the right side of the road and pulls your focus from the person to the girl in the center.

Mann also uses the space in the frame to keep our attention focused on the girl. She has the girl front and center within the frame and has the other two people off to the sides, which adds to the forces pulling your attention to her.

Mann uses contrasting directionality of lines created by the person, their stilts, the girl's arms, the cigarette, the waistline on her dress, and the other girl to change the way you perceive the image. The person in the background and their stilts along with the girl standing on the right side of the frame create vertical lines within the fame. The girl in the center, as a whole, is a vertical line, however, by the way she positioned the photo, Mann gives the girl in the middle more detailed lines once you look closely at her. Her her arms, hair, and waistband frame the girl's face. The cigarette and her fingers all point directly towards her face. Then there's the virtual line drawn from the girl's eyes to the camera. This girl is looking directly at you. She's making a connection from your eyes to hers. While this line may be virtual, it's the strongest one in the photo.

I reframed the photo to show just the girl. It eliminates the context that Mann gives in the original photo. I chose to reframe the photo this way to emphasize how the other elements Mann adds make her photo better that to just have a medium shot of the girl with an out of focus background.

The space has gone from deep to flat. The reference points that Mann had, are gone. There are still the lines that focus your attention but, even without those lines, you'd focus on her anyway because there's nothing else for your eye focus on. I feel that the image was much more powerful when you have something to ignore. Mann's original images is active in that you have to ignore everything else in the picture to pay attention to this girl, whereas my photo just puts the subject in front of you and doesn't give you the option to look at anything else and is didactic.