Renee’s Crit - by Tavis

1.The immediate response I had with Renee’s piece was shock simply because it is a nude photo, right after it was respect. Because there is a trust and a relationship that has to be in place for a photographer to take a nude shot of someone. I also notice the obvious differences in the work, however I appreciated those differences. What stood out the most to me was the two different poses the models posses, the original photo has that first impression of hopelessness, where as Renee’s photo has that body language of freedom, no boundaries and a big breath of fresh air.

2.A woman sitting nude atop a cliff, with a light snow fall around her. In the edge with complete serenity and empowerment to jump or stay. A power line sweeps the top of the photo from top right slopping down left to disappear within the tree line. A lake under the cliff, and a small city in the far background.

3.Renee’s effort in this image triumphs and complaint I would have. After talking to Renee she felt that the lighting was the technical part of the photo she felt she failed at. However I feel that with the diffused light in a natural setting she achieve a great affect for what she had to work with.

4.Renee was drawn to the image because of the lightning and the organic quality’s of the female figure. She felt at first glance that the woman was venerable and suicidal. However the more she looked at it realized that in fact the woman was not tied down and nude, meaning she was in control of the situation. There was a sense of empowerment from the woman lying on the tracks, nude completely within her will to get up and leave or stay. What also drew Renee to the photo was the train track and the fine line that was between that sense of nature and man. That because the woman is nude she fit more organically with nature than with the train tracks. The power line in her recreation show this sense of danger for not only is the model on a cliff but she is close to a urban area where someone could walk by and that sense of secluded nature has disappeared.

5.Renee’s work could be a piece of art on someone’s wall or a postcard depicting a serene place, or even an advertisement for the great outdoors or how someone would feel after retreating to a secluded spa. Renee’s photo has lots of versatility. It can connect with the classic portraits and paintings that included the female form and yet have a context to in which fit in the modern world.