Assignment #3: Place

For the above image my goal was to show how beautiful a place that we take for granted can be. This was actually taken in the lecture hall on the first floor of Kresge. The lights were off and I was trying to get an exposure for the interior of the room. The vantage point is from a desk on the end chair. I thought this was an interesting way to look at the room since we usually see it from sitting in the chairs looking to the front. I am really happy with how it turned out. I like the light that is hitting the chairs and the floor. I also think that because the light from the window is blown out it gives a surreal feel to the whole picture.

I chose the above image for a few reasons; the colors, the perspective and where the focus is. This image was taken at Everett High School which is on the south side of Lansing. I'm not sure when the school was built but it looks like it must have been during the late 60's or 70's. The use of primary colored panels is repeated through out the entire building. In this image it is interesting to me that the red of the garage doors is so vibrant, as if they have been repainted, whereas the blue and yellow in the panels above is faded. You get the sense from the blue and yellow that his building is worn. I like the repetition of the squares and rectangles that follow the perspective of the building. I also am happy with the way the first door (the one in the forefront) is in focus and the second one isn't. 

The image below was taken in a somewhat deserted part of Lansing. It is near one of the old, half torn down, GM plants. I chose this image because it is kind of says everything there is to say about this particular part of town. The trail shown is the Lansing Riverfront Trail that starts around the Turner Dodge mansion on the north side of town then winds along with the river through the downtown area then continues south where you can connect it with other trails. (You could take a branch of this trail right into MSU campus.) What is interesting about it is that (and this side of town, where the GM plants were) it's crumbling, it's forgotten, it is in dire need of repair and yet instead of doing something about and making it better, they just rope it off and say "don't go there." This image demonstrates this. Even though one side of the trail is crumbling away, the rest of it seems to be in good condition. Why not fix the side that's broken? The blockade could not really stop someone if they wanted to use that end of the trail, you can still see it so it hasn't gone away. I chose to leave this image in color because I like the juxtaposition on the vibrant orange against the gray, greens and blues that surround it. I was also on a bridge above the trail looking down which accounts for the vantage point.