Tina Barney

Tina Barney

Born in 1945 in New York, Tina Barney was born into a wealthy upper class family. Her grandfather was the one who introduced her into the world of photography when she was a young girl, but it wasn't until the mid 1970's that Barney started to work with photography. Barney focused on candid snapshots of her well-to-do family and relatives with decorative backgrounds, she used a 35mm camera. In the 1980's Barney became one of the first photographers to work in an "directional style" and swapped her 35mm for a large-format camera, the directions she used ranged from posing her subjects thier living environment to requesting that her subjects repeat a certain unplanned gesture.For almost thirty years, Tina Barney has realistically showcased the human condition through the eyes of the social elite, and has been described as a Diane Arbus of the rich. 

Representation of relationships

The relationship in this image would be the relationship between family, this is because this image is of a family standing together.

Formal Elements

The formal elements in this image I can see are colour, this is due to the amount colour being used in this image, on clothing, the walls and on the couch. Another element used would be pattern which is used a lot within the three females at the front, the two at the back do not have a pattern on though the pillow on the right side has a pattern on too. Line is also used in this image, there are a lot of lines on things such as the floor and the back wall.

Compositional Elements

The compositional elements used in this image would be triangles, this is to stop your eyes wandering out of the image and getting bored. Another element would be depth of field, the depth in this image would be a deep depth as you can clearly see the people in the background, with a shallow depth they would be out of focus.

Critique

The critique I would give this image would be that though the relationship is clear its not an interesting one, and if it is a different relationship I can not tell which one it is showing so I would think it would be stronger image if the relationship was stronger.

Representation of relationships

The relationship I can see in this image would be a relationship between from what I can see to be siblings, this would be sibling relationship.

Formal Elements

The formal elements I see in this image would be line, this would be where the cushions of the couch and chair are white and the lines on the picture on the back wall and also the door. Another element I can see would be shape, again this comes from the cushions in the image and the lamp. The formal element colour plays a big part in this image as though there is little variety of colours there is a large amount of blue in and white in this image with a little pink and black. The formal element of pattern plays a big part in this image as most of the image is covered in the same pattern.

Compositional Elements

The compositional elements in this image would be those such as the depth of field, the depth in this image is a deep depth as everything in the image is in focus.

Critique

The critique I would give this image would be that is lacks in compositional elements, I feel that if it has more elements that the image would be a stronger image.

Representation of relationships 

This image I would say shows the relationship between family, I believe this image shows this as the picture looks like a typical family day sitting round the table doing your own thing.

Formal Elements

The formal elements of this image would be things such as line, the lines in this image are everywhere, for example, they are on the chairs, on the wall, on the floor and on the table. Another would be pattern, there are a few examples of pattern, one being on the wall and one being on the floor, there are also two examples of pattern on the woman standing and the guy who is sitting, they both have patterns on their t shirt. Shape plays a part in this image too as both image as almost everything and everyone in this image create shapes.

Compositional Elements

The compositional elements used in this image would be viewpoint, this is because the photo is not a staged photo where the family have been told what to do and where to stand, the view point looks like a viewpoint of somebody in the family. Another element would be the depth, the depth of this image is a deep depth as everything is in focus.

Critique

I would not give this image much critique as I like how it shows what family is really like and not a fake image of it.