WP1 Draft 2

Barcelona, the Spanish capital, has a population of over 1,600,000 and is one of the major economic centers of Europe. One could closely compare its significance to Spain to that of New York City is to the United States because of its finance, commerce, media, entertainment, arts and international trade.(Wikipedia.com)The documentary photograph I have chosen to analyze is entitled “Barcelona Nights” and captures two of Barcelona’s most Iconic structures; The Torre Mapfre, a very large commercial building, and the Hotel Arts which includes a hotel, casino, shopping center and restaurants. I feel that the lighting, contrast of colors, and visual heiarchy are the elements which play a key role in expressing the argument that Barcelona's rich historical culture is fading away behind the rapid urbanization of the city.

“Barcelona Nights” was documented on May 25, of 2009 by Liam McAllister. (pool.org.au)Anytime that a photographer chooses for his work to remain in black and white, there is usually an important reason behind it, so I felt analyzing the rhetorical strategy behind this color choice would be a good place to start. In the photo, the ground and the sky are almost completely black. What seems to appear in between and almost divide these two elements is an illuminated, triangle shaped area of white light. This illusion of a triangle is formed by two very bright street lights at ground level, and then a bright display on the top of one of the towers. This works to create hierarchy within the photo where the audience first focuses on what is highlighted by the center of the triangle, the two towers, and then work their way out towards the corners. These buildings, with the exception of some illuminated windows, appear almost black within this illusion of a white triangle which create a heavy contrast and helps to emphasize this hierarchy. This lighting strategy brings logos to the piece with respect to its argument. For example at first glance, almost anyone who looks at this picture is going to see the two tall buildings due to their positioning and high contrast, but if one spends a little longer examining the photograph, they may also see a few other small structures as well as some palm trees, sort of hidden by the shadows. This in itself makes the statement that the two tall structures in the center are overshadowing and drawing attention from whatever else is in the photograph. We can also choose to view the greystyle coloring as a method to historisize the photograph as a whole. Black and white is naturally what you think of when you consider "old" photographs, and although this photo was taken this year, it is possible that the photographer wanted the audience to interprit this piece through a different context. The rhetorical strategy behind this could have been for the audience to see this photo as historical, and then easilly be able to pick out what in the photo dosnt "belong."

Next I chose to look at the sources of lighting in the photo itself. As stated earlier, the three brightest areas in the photo are positioned in such a way as to form a sort of equilateral triangle, dividing the piece, and directing attention towards the center. The manner in which the lights appear is also important. The light to the left of the photo is by far the brightest and is almost two bright to see what exactly is its source. The light near the top of the photo is caused by spotlights along the tom edge of one of the towers. The light to the right of the photo appears to be caused by two streetlamps very near each other. The fact that the light to the left of the photo is so overpowering and even drowns out some of the photograph creates a sort of imbalance and tension with what seems to be the focus of the piece. One possible explanation for the photographer’s decision to include this imbalance may have been to appeal to the pathos of the argument, or how the audience feels when they view the photo. For example, If the audience feels the photograph itself contains some tension, it is also possible they may relate this feeling of tension towards the city of Barcelona itself. If the center of focus is these two highly commercial buildings, then this tension may be a reflection upon them suggesting that they possibly don’t belong.

In a black and white photograph, the contrast often plays an even larger role in determining the photo’s meaning to the audience. In “Barcelona Nights” in particular, there are even very few shades of grey used. The photo almost seems to be divided into what is illuminated, and what is not. As I already stated, the tall buildings which are dark form a contrast with the bright sky behind them, but there are also a few multiple other dark shaded elements, which I also believe hold significant meaning in this photograph. Mostly to the right of the two towers, you can make out the outline of several palm trees. They all appear to be fairly low to the ground, and the only tall one, ironically is almost hidden as it stacks on top of the dark color of the building. It is quite possible that the photographer intended these trees to represent a certain part of Spanish culture and maybe how he feels they are becoming insignificant. Barcelona is along the coast of the Mediterranean, and possibly the meaning of these palm trees being overshadowed is that the beauty of the Mediterranean itself is now being overlooked. On the other side of the two towers is what appears to be some low to the ground, older looking structure. Even though this object is obviously much closer to the camera then the buildings, it is still nearly impossible to make out what exactly the structure is. I feel that the photographer also did this intentionally to build on the statement that the palm trees were making; that some of the historical parts of the city are falling into shadow. The fact that the audience cannot even identify what the building is possibly reflects that in Barcelona, smaller shops or businesses are losing popularity.

So what could we say the photogropher himself truely wants the audience to take away from barcelona nights? The photograph dosnt really defame the Torre Mapfre or Hotel Arts in any way, but instead I think just tries to point out that somethings are being overlooked, or falling into the background. We could say that he values the rich history of this historic spanish city and that he does not want to see it forgotten.

WP1

Barcelona, the Spanish capital, has a population of over 1,600,000 and is one of the major economic centers of Europe. One could closely compare its significance to Spain to that of New York City is to the United States because of its finance, commerce, media, entertainment, arts and international trade. The documentary photograph I have chosen to analyze is entitled “Barcelona Nights” and captures two of Barcelona’s most Iconic structures; The Torre Mapfre, a very large commercial building, and the Hotel Arts which includes a hotel, casino, shopping center and restaurants. I would like to focus this project on the lighting, and contrast of colors as I feel these things play a key role in expressing the argument that Barcelona is losing its historic Spanish culture as commercialism continues to increase.
“Barcelona Nights” was documented on May 25, of 2009 by Liam McAllister. Anytime that a photographer chooses for his work to remain in black and white, there is usually an important reason behind it, so I felt analyzing the rhetorical strategy behind this color choice would be a good place to start. In the photo, the ground and the sky are almost completely black. What seems to appear in between and almost divide these two elements is an illuminated, triangle shaped area of white light. This illusion of a triangle is formed by two very bright street lights at ground level, and then a bright display on the top of one of the towers. This works to create hierarchy within the photo where the audience first focuses on what is highlighted by the center of the triangle, the two towers, and then work their way out towards the corners. These buildings, with the exception of some illuminated windows, appear almost black within this illusion of a white triangle which create a heavy contrast and helps to emphasize this hierarchy. This lighting strategy brings logos to the piece with respect to its argument. For example at first glance, almost anyone who looks at this picture is going to see the two tall buildings due to their positioning and high contrast, but if one spends a little longer examining the photograph, they may also see a few other small structures as well as some palm trees, sort of hidden by the shadows. This in itself makes the statement that the two tall structures in the center are overshadowing and drawing attention from whatever else is in the photograph. Next I chose to look at the sources of lighting in the photo itself. As stated earlier, the three brightest areas in the photo are positioned in such a way as to form a sort of equilateral triangle, dividing the piece, and directing attention towards the center. The manner in which the lights appear is also important. The light to the left of the photo is by far the brightest and is almost two bright to see what exactly is its source. The light near the top of the photo is caused by spotlights along the tom edge of one of the towers. The light to the right of the photo appears to be caused by two streetlamps very near each other. The fact that the light to the left of the photo is so overpowering and even drowns out some of the photograph creates a sort of imbalance and tension with what seems to be the focus of the piece. One possible explanation for the photographer’s decision to include this imbalance may have been to appeal to the pathos of the argument, or how the audience feels when they view the photo. For example, If the audience feels the photograph itself contains some tension, it is also possible they may relate this feeling of tension towards the city of Barcelona itself. If the center of focus is these two highly commercial buildings, then this tension may be a reflection upon them suggesting that they possibly don’t belong.
In a black and white photograph, the contrast often plays an even larger role in determining the photo’s meaning to the audience. In “Barcelona Nights” in particular, there are even very few shades of grey used. The photo almost seems to be divided into what is illuminated, and what is not. As I already stated, the tall buildings which are dark form a contrast with the bright sky behind them, but there are also a few multiple other dark shaded elements, which I also believe hold significant meaning in this photograph. Mostly to the right of the two towers, you can make out the outline of several palm trees. They all appear to be fairly low to the ground, and the only tall one, ironically is almost hidden as it stacks on top of the dark color of the building. It is quite possible that the photographer intended these trees to represent a certain part of Spanish culture and maybe how he feels they are becoming insignificant. Barcelona is along the coast of the Mediterranean, and possibly the meaning of these palm trees being overshadowed is that the beauty of the Mediterranean itself is now being overlooked. On the other side of the two towers is what appears to be some low to the ground, older looking structure. Even though this object is obviously much closer to the camera then the buildings, it is still nearly impossible to make out what exactly the structure is. I feel that the photographer also did this intentionally to build on the statement that the palm trees were making; that some of the historical parts of the city are falling into shadow. The fact that the audience cannot even identify what the building is possibly reflects that in Barcelona, smaller shops or businesses are losing popularity.

WP1: Statement of Purpose

One of the overall themes of this class is the idea that all things can be considered "texts" and therefore all things also contain some sort of rhetorical meaning. For this first writing project, i am exploring the rhetorical techniques and strategies used behind photographs in particular. I am an architecture major and have an interest in large buildings, so I chose a documentary photograph which seemed to reflect these interests. It is entitled Barcelona Nights and was taken this summer by Liam McAllister. The photo consists of two very popular buildings in barcelona, the Hotel Arts and Torre Mapfre, as well as some palm trees, a few other short buildings and some bright street lights. It is my opinion that this photograph and the way in which it is composed, has the particular goal of acting as a reflection of the local culture itself.
The primary audience to which I will be arguing this point will be my teacher, however it is also important to consider possible secondary audiences because this project will be published online and available for anyone to see. The most likely secondary audience would be my other classmates. Keeping these audiences in mind, I will compose my project in a manner in which the ethos, pathos and logos will appeal to both My teacher and fellow classmates. This means I need to make sure I use language from the book to establish credibility with the teacher and I need to make sure all of my ideas are well developed so even my classmates can see where I am trying to go with them.
The next important thing to remember while writing will be the medium in which I am creating this text. As an online blog post, I need to take into account that my work is going to be read and interpreted from a computer screen as opposed to the pages of a book. This may mean altering spacing, wording, or sentence structure to make it more eye friendly when viewed from a monitor. This also means that I can and should incorporate elements such as hyperlinks, photos, and other multimedia items to help convey my point.
The context of this project is also an important thing to consider. By context, I mean the situation in which my work is or will be viewed. Although my project will be online for awhile, the most important context to consider is the fact that this will be turned in online, as a class project. It is to be reviewed and graded by my instructor, late in the first semester. He will likely be grading many other projects at the same general time, so it is a possibility that attitudes formed by other classmate's projects may reflect onto the grading of mine. This means that it may be advantageous for me to try to write my project in some sort of unique, yet acceptable style, so it can sort of "stand out from the crowd."
The idea I want any audience to take away after reading this paper will be that the city of Barcelona becomes a completely different place at night than it is during the daytime. How during the day, the beach, small shops, parks and marinas may be the center of attention but at night, they almost dissapear into the shadows of the highly urbanized nightlife. I plan on mainly focusing the analysis in my paper on the lighting teniques used in this documentary photograph which convey this point.

Post 10: Research

The photograph I chose, Barcelona Nights, was taken this year on may 26th. It is located in Barcelona, Spain. Sense I felt that the center of attention in the photo was the two buildings, it is important to find out alittle more about the purpose and history of them. The two tall buildings in the center of the photo are the Hotel Arts, and the Torre Mapfre. Both are located just across the street from the Mol de Xaloc Marina. The torre Mapfre is known as one of the cities most famous buildings. It is 154 meters in height (40 stories), has a facade composed of granite and stainless steel, and includes a helipad on the roof. The Torre Mapfre is used mostly for commercial purposes, however, it also includes an observation platform ans well as several bars at ground level. Right next to it, is the Hotel Arts which is located in the Marina Village in Barcelona. It is also 154 meters in height but its design is much more comprised of aluminum. As the name implies, its main use is a hotel, but also includes a fitness center, casino, shops and a restaurant. When looking at the function of these two buildings, one may assume that they have no real relationship to each other, but If one looks at the fact that they are the exact same height and located right across the street from each other, it can be inferred that the architects intended for the buildings to share some sort of relationship to each other. Both buildings are of great importance to the city of Barcelona, one for its businesses and the other for tourism. Going back to the photograph, The fact that these two buildings seem to be of top importance of the visual hierarchy, possibly reflects the real life importance of the structures to Barcelona, or at least the value of them in the eyes of the photographer. The lighting in the photo forms a triangle and directs some attention to the top of the buildings, this may be draw attention to the matching heights of the buildings. Since the Hotel Arts includes restaurants and a casino, it makes sense that this area in general would often be a very popular place at night time, matching with the title of the photo. The contrast of light in the photo may be trying to represent that at night, attention is drawn from the dark area, the shore, and towards these to buildings in the center of the triangle of light.

Post 9:2nd pre-write

For this post, I will focus more on the technical aspects of the photograph "Barcelona Nights" that I briefly discussed in post eight. In my opinion, the main vectors of attention in the Barcelona Nights photograph are the two high rise buildings near the center of piece. I feel this way because In addition to the buildings being centered, they also form the peak of an apparent triangle as well as heavily contrast with the illuminated night sky. Everything else in the photo seems relatively short in stature and doesn't really stand out of the darkness. In the photo to the right,if you look closely, you can see the same two buildings a ways down the coastline. In this photo neither of those buildings command anywhere near the same amount of attention. In terms of logos, if the photographer did indeed wish for the two buildings two be the center of attention, centering them in the piece automatically creates a balance and hierarchy that is very easy for any audience member to follow. For pathos, I believe the photographer relied on the lighting to set a "mood" in the piece. For example, when most people see light, they feel some sense of energy, so naturally, having light encompassing these two buildings implies that there is a certain energy about these buildings at night time. I feel this point also drifts abit into the rhetorical appeal of Barcelona Nights. Bright lights two both sides and the top of the two buildings form an apparent triangle figure, which appears to be funneling light from the peak of the buildings down to the city below. I believe that the intended rhetorical appeal is something to the effect of how the large commercialism or tourism factor in Barcelona is what keeps the city going or fuels it through "nights" or the dark times. Reffering back to the photo I put up on this post, I think it is important to remember that these two buildings, while tall, usually dont stand out that much with respect to barcelonas massive coast, especially during the day. The Use of black and White as the only colors in Barcelona Nights, could possibly be used as a means to express a sort of simplicity reffering to the fundamental or driving force of the city itself.