Carnegie Museum of Art

Title: Fall front Desk
Artist: Nicolas Petit
Date artwork created: 1780
Name of Gallery: Decorative Art and Design/Ailsa Mellon Bruce Galleries

1. This image contains the subject at the very center, accompanied by some of the rest of the set on the right and a description of the curator of the gallery on the left. The subject is shown from top to bottom and is displayed tilting to the left. A black monkey is atop the desk.

2. The work was done in 1780 in France. 

3. Around the 1780's France was dealing with a huge decline in produce and in the textile industry. So with the unemployment surrounding spinners and weavers this may have been the only accessible means of art in France at the time.

4. The natural light in this piece leaves little room for shadows and would make it harder to edit in a contrast and highlights. The oak wood has a natural shine when hit with direct light.

5. Honestly, the monkey is what stood out to me on this piece but I also enjoy the engraving, design and picture when looking up close.

6. I believe personally it means change and it almost looks like the artist was trying to create a sense of wholeness.

7. As far as universal message, I believe saying there's more to a door than just the outside. Considering the lock at the top center and the extravagant outside.

8. Other than my actual shot I believe this piece is pretty balanced. The texture is very well noted and my eyes are drawn immediately to the monkey up top and are carried down the rest of the image but that center rectangle is what my eye keeps reverting back to. There's definite symmetry and balance of color here as well.

Title: Chair
Artist: Jaques Guillon
Date artwork created: 1950
Name of Gallery: Decorative Art and Design/Ailsa Mellon Bruce Galleries

1. This image contains only the subject on the left and the accompanying piece of the set on the right.

2. The piece was done in Canada in 1950.

3. Among progressive movements of the era. Canada has seen a rise in living wage and labor market tightening and along with alliances with Korea, Canada was at the peak of progress in the 1950's.

4. The natural light being given off lights most of the subject and although a lot of each subject is lit the back legs of the chair still hold some shadows.

5. The chair was definitely the most appealing piece of this image. The rest of the set came after but without full knowledge of it's importance it doesn't receive much attention from me.

6. The meaning to me looks like innovation. Considering the theme of the times, it makes sense that the artist would be inspired to be innovative and create.

7.  As far as universal messages, I believe it speaks to change and reflects the time period the artist was placed in.

8. There's a definite balance in this shot and even placement of the objects and inside this image I also see symmetry and specific attention paid to space on the back of the chair.

My inspiration for these images came from the PowerPoint on Abstraction and the images we were to reflect on and take notice. They were al filled with some sort of texture and some were out in the middle of no where it seemed. So that is where these images came from. the ISO was primarily 800 and they were primarily shot at a 1/15 of a sec. and f stop of 8.0.

These shots were taken on a Sunday morning. October 16th, 2016 around 9:30a.m. and the subject of these portraits is my father a.k.a Pastor Kevin Jones. He is the Discipleship Pastor at Macedonia Church of Pittsburgh and so his role requires he work in an office and complete administrative work as well as greet and create relationships with the church congregation.  and so that's what was captured in these shots. My motivations for taking these shots was to show what happens behind the scenes when my father is working and how his role is very connected. The photos were taken with a consistent f/8 and 1/40 sec. ISO shifted between 400 and 3200 depending on the lighting.