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April 28
Keith Carter, Open Mouth, 2004

Sasha Roberts - 125-02
I really do not have a lot to say about this photograph. The perspective in which this photo was taken is interesting, if not a bit creepy. It almost looks as if the fun house is trying to eat the child! I like that the child was centered in the composition. It feels as though I am looking though the child’s perspective. I believe that it only enhances the menacing feel of the fun house ahead. I believe the imperfections of this photograph are what makes it interesting. The fact that the photograph is very distorted in some areas amplifies the overall eerie mood of this photo. It seems very dream-like to me, almost like a child’s nightmare. Maybe the child had a bad experience with clowns or distorting mirrors, who knows?

Garrett Sayles - 125-02
This photograph's mood is one that any child would not enjoy. I'm sure many children have had the dream where they are stuck inside the evil fun house with no escape. The fun house entrance's shape seems to amplify this creepy mood, almost calling the child standing in front of it like a siren beckoning a sailor off of his ship.

While the general composition is enough to creep any child out, add to it the fact that only the child is in focus and the fun house entrance is distorted, and you have a subject, in this case a small boy by the looks of it, which is almost peering into a surreal or dreamlike image. The dreamlike properties of everything but the boy suggests that the child (or perhaps even Keith Carter) has had a bad experience with fun houses
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The tones of the fun house, specifically the stark white of the entrance, stand in huge contrast to the blackness surrounding the entrance. It's almost as if the fun house entrance appears out of the dark, luring unsuspecting children into its dark recesses.

The concept of a surreal fun house entrance enticing a child reminds me of Hansel and Gretel eating the wicked witch's gingerbread house. The surreal, dreamlike quality of the area surrounding the fun house entrance adds to the illusion of a sinister plot, as the entrance leads into dark, unknown recesses.

Emily Richardson - 125-02
I think this photo is creepy. It reminds me of a scary abandoned carnival ride, where in the movies, someone always gets kidnapped or killed. The way the little boy is in front of the mouth, you can’t really tell where he’s going or what he’s going to do. Also, the way everything around the subject is blurry, makes this photograph seem like a dream. It makes me feel dizzy, and uncertain about the surroundings. Overall, the composition and the depth of field gives a spooky feeling.

I do like the tonality to this photograph. There really is a wide variety of tones. For example, the highlights on the boy’s shirt and the clown’s face would be the first thing to pop out to me because they are the brightest. Then I notice the mouth of the clown because it is the darkest. Because the edges are blurred and the tone is dominant, it draws my eye to the center of the mouth, and the location of the boy.

The blurriness in this photo really adds to the feel or the composition and overall photograph. The photographer did a really nice job making it seem like the person looking at the photo was really there. It gives you a point of view, where maybe you’re the person who is trying to save the boy, or maybe a mother looking for their lost son. It also frames the subjects, drawing your eye directly to them.

I also like how the bottom left corner is almost completely black, then the top left corner is almost completely white. It balances out nicely and still is not distracting from the main focus of the photo.

Rich Tague - 125-02
Keith Carters Open Mouth photograph brings to mind an amusement park, possible a fun house or a miniature golf course. Keith is known for using selective focus on his photographs and it is apparent that he used it on the particular photo. By using selective focus, he has made the object appear as a clown or some type of joker. Having the top and sides blurry adds to the “I don’t like clowns, because they’re scary” image. However the posture of the boy appears as if he curious or amazed, rather than scared. Also, being out of focus gives the sense of not knowing where the photo was taken. I appreciate the black background in the center of the mouth; it makes the boy’s outline really stand out. With the tones going from white to gray to black, it gives a sense of a 3 dimensional object, rather than 2D, as some photo’s have. I really like the sharpness of the boy, compared to the rest of the photo. Knowing who and where Keith Carter is from (Texas), and size of the clown, compared to the boy, leads one to believe that “Everything is bigger in Texas.” Overall, I really like the photo. It has a sense of “spookiness” with the clown, yet the innocence and curiosity of the child in the foreground. The tones create a 3-D photo and the selective focus draws the viewer’s eye toward the center of the photo.

Zach Pierceall - 125-01
I like the picture we were supposed to critique by Keith Carter. One of the reasons I like this photograph is because of the mouth and how it is in focused and then the rest of the picture out becomes more blurred and blurred. Adding the boy in front of the mouth was a great ideal that makes it look like the boy is about to go into a fun house. The picture could use some more contrast and make the inside of the mouth really black. The boy could have been in a better stance than the one he is in.

Since the boy is in focus he tends to draw more attention than the clown or whatever that thing is. The picture would have been more dramatic if the boy was cowering to go inside. You tend to wonder what is going through the boys mind as he is about to approach the mouth. If I had done that I would have called it into the belly of the beast. And these are my views on the picture we were to critique.