an analytic response..

Toni Frissell, Weeki Wachee Spring, Florida, 1947.

Foreground: the ocean/river floor.
Mid-ground: the woman's body floating in the water.
Background: the darkness of the water.
Centre of focus: an underwater view of a woman, wearing a long gown, floating in water.
Framing: an ethereal looking woman is placed slightly off-center with a lot of space around her that gives you a feeling of loneliness. More space would have been too much, but we are aware of the fact that there is more water.
Surrounding information: the surface of the water. If you couldn't see it, you would wonder how she was floating.
Pose: the floating, spread out posture of her body.
Gaze: not to the camera, but to something above what we can see.
Gesture: movement in her legs?
Expression: blank.
Viewpoint: low angled viewpoint that give us a feeling of being beneath water.
Depth: some depth is shown in this photo with the foreground being slightly blurred. The depth of field draws us to the subject and makes the clarity of the water stand out..
Artist background: Toni Frissell is known for her fashion photography, World War II photographs, portraits of famous Americans and Europeans, children, and women from all walks of life. She photographed a lot of women mainly in an outdoor setting.

Response to image: In searching the world-wide web, I came across this photograph and felt drawn to it. There is a sense of peace about it that I think most people can relate to.. that freedom that comes with being in the water. I like how the image is in black and white, it adds to the sad, lonely feeling about it and gives it more of a dark sense of surrealism. I also like how the photographer, Toni Frissell, has framed the image, using the empty space of the water to direct our gaze towards the loneliness of the woman. We wonder what she is thinking and why she is even there in the first place.. is she floating on the surface or drowning to the bottom?

This is random, but if you turn it upside down, it kind of looks like she is falling into the water.. trippy.