This image depicts a village and fields between a cliff side and the bay. There is a road along the cliff on the left side of the image with two figures walking on it. The pairing of the innumerable amount of houses with the nature of the cliffs connotes a sense of balance and a harmonious relationship between humans and nature. The fields also connote this sort of feeling since we can assume the people in this village are familiar with agriculture. The cliffs are also symbols or tropes of Asia (specifically China or Japan, I think). Something I was curious about was the title. This photo, or at least the image file in the gallery, is titled "Mississippi Bay". Why is it called this? Is this just what Beato decided to name the image or what the scene reminded him of? Or is there actually a place in Japan called Mississippi Bay (I doubt it)?
This image depicts two sumotori (which are sumo wrestlers below the top two divisions, is that correct?) and three other Japanese men watching them; two of which are seated in front at either side and one standing behind the wrestlers. The sumotori are dressed in iconic sumo-wrestling garmets. The seated men are dressed in nearly identical fashion. The man on the left is holding an open fan. The standing man is dressed differently, in one-piece attire with pointed shoulders and a shirt or robe undernearth. Both seated men, though focused on the wrestlers, are angled out towards the camera. The image, originally in black and white, has been colored in post-production. The background is very plain. The composition is very aesthetically pleasing and definitely gives off the impression that it is one of Beato's posed-in-studio photographs. It includes a variety of different "iconically Japanese" items or styles, such as the clothing, activity and props.
Your second image really caught my eye. I especially like the subtle touches of color. The hand coloring is amazing and really gives the image a special touch. These men do not look like your typical wrestlers. They are much smaller and it might mean the picture ways staged with models/actors.
ReplyDeleteI think the landscape you chose is absolutely stunning. The town along the seaside feels so peaceful and serene, which is kind of ironic now that Westerners are showing up to take photographs of it. I also liked how Beato included several people on the path to give a better sense of scale.
ReplyDeleteI found the second photo to be much more interesting than the first one. Maybe it's because I like images with people as the subject more than nature. The first image is really beautiful though. I think my favorite part is the wood fence in the bottom left corner. My favorite person in the second photo is the man standing behind the sumo wrestler to the right. I'm not quite sure what he is doing and why, but he doesnt look like he belongs there right in that moment.
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