#eye_tracking

Eye Tracking

Sandra + Mirror, Times Square, New York (Vogue), 1962-printed 2014. (Photo: William Klein)

The person is inserted to the center of the photo. My eye goes straight to her face and upper body, then to the taxi on the right, and finally to the taxi on the left. I also look at the vertical line on the right, which is stark against the light gray street. The photo looks chaotic with so many elements, but I‘m surprised and impressed by how strongly my eye is drawn to the center line with the eye level of the person and the hoods of the cars.

Untitled from Women are Beautiful, 1950-73. (Photo: Garry Winogrand)

The person in the foreground draws my attention so strongly- I actually scan the person completely before looking at any other elements in the photograph. Then my eye bounces to the car and other vehicles that are roughly in a diagonal line. The background of the photo leads left to right, while the person in the foreground is opposing that motion and looking towards the photographer.

Puebla, Mexico 1963, printed late 1960. (Photo: Henri Cartier-Bresson)

The running person and the tilted street line creates a strong motion from left to right. The shadows are quite solid and so my eye next looks at those three dark rectangles. My eye also bounced between the murals and written numbers, names, and the street sign. I took a while to spot the other person leaning on the counter, and to look in the background of the center block, despite it being in the middle of the photo. 

Imagined Photographs

I went to Chinatown and walked through the gate down Beach St. For photo 1, I‘d photograph from kneeling on the ground looking up diagonally. In the foreground would be the children on the playground climbing structure. Ideally I‘d wait until one or more kids was poking their head out of the structure, with their face in focus and lit up by the sunlight. Their face takes up at least one third of the bottom of the photo. The midground would be the lanterns strung across the street, arching behind the child’s face so that they are not the focus and identifying the place as Chinese. Then the background would contain the skyscraper, to represent the looming presence of capitalism and urbanism that the child is growing up in.

The top image is Cell of a model prison, United States by Henri Cartier-Bresson. The middle image is Women are Beautiful by Garry Winogrand. The bottom image is Mabou Winter Footage by Robert Frank. Outlines are in pink. The first pass is in yellow, the second pass is in green, and the third pass is in purple.

Imagined Photographs

Image 1:

Walking along the path along the Charles. There is an empty bench looking out over the Charles and the Boston skyline. Approach from the back of the bench - at a distance of 3m from the bench - but at an angle so that from right to left the walking path expands into the distance. One fourth of the background is the path, 1/3 is the Charles River, and the remainder is the Boston skyline/sky. I would want the image to convey the empty bench as the subject watching/taking in the Charles and the skyline. The bench is in the most focus.

Image 2:

Eye Tracking:

William Klein. Dorothea McGowan, Vogue, Paris, 1960.

Contours in yellow, first pass in red, second pass in purple, third pass in blue.

Henri Cartier-Bresson. Torcello in the Venetian Lagoon, Italy, 1953.

Contours in yellow, first pass in blue, second pass in pink, third pass in red.

Robert Frank. [Businessmen conferring aboard the Pennsylvania's Afternoon Congressional (formerly known as the Congressional Limited) commuter train]. The LIFE Magazine Collection, 2005.

Contours in yellow, first pass in blue, second pass in pink, third pass in red.

Garry Winogrand. Los Angeles, 1964.

Contours in yellow, first pass in blue, second pass in pink, third pass in red.

Imagined Photographs:

My partner and I started our exploration walk at my house in the Fenway neighborhood, and walked in a southerly direction towards the Northeastern University campus and neighboring areas. We focused our observations on the architecture of the area and infrastructure.

Image 1: As we approached the Museum of Fine Arts, we found ourselves at a familiar busy intersection. This intersection of two wide streets also contained a T subway line, crosswalks patterned in black and white tile, and large buildings surrounding it. At the corner we stood, we framed a photograph of the building directly opposite us, which was painted with a mural that created the illusion of protruding windows, though there were actually none. In our framing, the top half of the image is dominated by a vibrant blue sky, with a tall steel building on the left edge of the photograph. There are many cars passing near the foreground. The middle of the photo is in shadow from the tall building on the left, while the foreground is highlighted by the midday sun. The cars are less in focus in the image, conveying their movement.

EYE TRACKING

IMAGINED PHOTOGRAPHS

Photo 1:

As I was walking downtown, I noticed a woman sitting alone on a fire escape. The fire escape formed a perfectly repeating pattern against the red backdrop of the brick building, and the woman acted as the only interruption of the pattern. I could see the fire escape zigzagging to the upper right of the photograph, with the woman placed in the bottom left third. The shadows of the fire escape play somehow into the pattern of the fire escape itself, almost indistinguishable from each other.

Photo 2:

Eye Tracking

Henri Cartier-Bresson

A figure in the shadows at the top of the stairs, Cyclades, Greece, 1961

William Klein

Sandra + Mirrors, Times Square, New York, Vogue, 1962

Garry Winogrand

New York, (two women hailing cab, one is pregnant; and two children playing pattycakes), 1968

Imagined Photographs

Photo 1:

When we were walking through Charles River Esplanade, we saw a man sitting on a bench with a painted guitar and a rusty bicycle on his side. He was staring at Charles River, so we decided to take a photo from the back. To fill the frame, we would place the man in the center and distribute the background vertically into three parts: grass, river, buildings on the Cambridge side and sky.

Photo 2:

Eye Tracking

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Imagined Photographs

For our morning promenade, Prabhakar and I decided to stick around the Kendall Square area and walk aimlessly. Despite being upperclassmen at MIT, we both had sadly not taken the time to explore the area in-depth and were delightfully surprised by the many new sights we passed. Some of the things we noted down for appreciation include:

The wafting fragrance of food being prepared in Cava before the restaurant officially opened

The slanted “P” on the Parking sign outside a garage

A man emerging from the depths of a construction manhole

A vibrant yellow WB Manson truck turning the corner

A mural outside Blue Bottle Café composed by local teen artists (there were photographers depicted on there!)

A man carrying groceries from Brothers’ Marketplace, one bag was reusable and the other one was paper

A sculpture of a central neuron with a transparent glass center that captured the morning sunlight (I wonder if it lights up at night)

Multicolored kayaks littering a dock and a seagull flying overhead

Half staff flags (I thought it was because of 9/11, but a Google search later, and we found out it was to commemorate the Queen’s passing)

Our pictures, though, were the ideal scenes we both thought encapsulated our experiences of the morning city bustle best.

Ideal Image 1: Coffee and T

Description: A relatively tall, middle-aged man in a light gray shirt (single-striped sleeve) and light blue jean shorts is crossing the middle T-gate just as the T-train is rushing past him as it arrives. The T-gates split the picture slightly diagonally in half. The image focuses in on his side profile as he carries a dark gray backpack on his back (to work or study?). One hand is holding a steaming paper cup of coffee from Blue Bottle Cafe and the other is grasping a CharlieCard as he taps onto the platform. The overly bright overhead light is reflected on his slightly bald head. The train is screeching and blurring past him in the background, and a Square-it Cheese ad is on display on the side (a dark blue backdrop with the vibrant yellow of a grilled cheese, slightly burnt, on a plate). There are few more people, blurred, already waiting on the platform and standing further in the back. Everything except the man and the train ad is black and white in order maintain attention on the two subjects.

Ideal Image 2: Chaos at the Crossing

Eye Tracking

The blue lines show the contours and the red, green and yellow lines show the eye movement in the three viewings respectively.

Imagined Photographs

Pouya and I found a way to share our visions together, although our visions for the images were much very different from one another. Since as long as I can remember, I have been fascinated sunsets and sunrises, and how they paint the everywhere in their image. In spirit of this fascination, I have become very adventurous with color manipulation (i.e. color grading, masking etc.) and I was thinking of using it in my photographs in some way. Pouya on the other had much different idea in mind. He was interested in the natural contrast of two different spots on Massachusetts Avenue. The backstory here being that on one side of Massachusetts Avenue near Boston Symphony Orchestra you can see aesthetic colorful buildings, The First Church of Christ, and Northeastern University while heading down south this bright sunny neighborhood gives its way to neglected neighborhoods, with an array of chaotic elements, including a vast number of homeless people.

Although seemingly having nothing in common, our visions ended up merging together better than anything we could have hoped. We decided that we would take two photographs. The sunrise and its warm colors are a symbol of new beginnings, hope and prosperity, going well with the upscale neighborhood picture. The sunset with its ominous red give visions of frailty, ends and lost opportunities. Below, we outline the details of these two pictures.

The picture of the upscale neighborhood: We decided to take the picture either near the Newbury st. or the Boston Symphony Orchestra. The pictures would be taken facing northeast half an hour after sunrise, to create a nice well-lit photograph, with the sunrise basking the neighborhood in its light. Ideally, the photograph would have clear sky, with little to no clouds. There would a lot of open spaces in the photo, with only one or two people present in the picture, all spatially well separated. They are indifferent to each other, as if consumed by their own livelihoods. They either don’t express emotion, or express joy to a small extent. Ideally, one of the subjects would be walking their dog or carrying brand shopping bags (to better portray the upscale neighborhood). The ‘Mass Ave’ sign should be clearly visible in the picture, and it should be large enough to attract the viewers eye to itself easily. The picture should be slightly over-saturated, to better elicit a sense of livelihood. Lastly, the image would be in full focus.

The other picture: This picture will be taken on the other end of Mass Ave, across the fire department building. The image would be facing southeast clearly a homeless community sitting with all their belongings (e.g., shopping carts full of clothes and plastic bags) in the picture. This picture must have small bits of sky, ideally cloudy, and should be more cluttered with the chaos of the community (to elicit a sense of claustrophobia). There would be a dozen people in the photograph, close to each other and to the camera (or at least not far away from it). They would portray the chaos we are aiming at, while also showing a sense of togetherness, a trait lacking from the counterpart picture. Their emotions are mostly a mix of fatigue, anger and care. The setting sun would ideally cast an ominous red shadow beneath the clouds, adding the intensity of the picture. Once more, we would want to have the “Mass Ave” sign to be clearly visible in the picture to help the viewer understand our vision. The picture as a whole would be vastly undersaturated, creating a chaotic and cluttered image full of washed-out people and buildings; with the only exceptions being the red from the setting sun, and the bright green of the “Mass Ave” sign, further guiding the audiences eyes to this part of the image. The image should be out of focus, with only the sign (and perhaps the homeless people) being in the focus, to create a hazy result.

Eye Tracking

Henri Cartier-Bresson

Garry Winogrand

William Klein

Robert Frank

Imagined Photographs

Kasra and I decided on taking two pictures. Our intentions for the images were very different, but we merged them into something greater than the sum. Kasra was intrigued by the colors in the sky and clouds when the sun is setting/rising. He was also interested in adventuring with colors, i.e. color-grading. I was interested in the contrast of two locations in the city, along the same street and only 7 mins apart. For context, on one side of Massachusetts Ave near Boston Symphony Orchestra you can see beautiful buildings, The First Church of Christ, and Northeastern University. Going toward Boston Medical Center, you will witness a sudden change in surroundings; Beautiful buildings slowly changing place to neglected neighborhoods, pedestrians with Smart watches and brand clothing give way to a population of homeless people.

Despite our different intentions, they merged very well. The sunrise and its warm colors are a symbol of new beginnings, hope and prosperity, going well with the BSO picture. The sunset with its ominous red give visions of frailty, ends and lost opportunities. Below, we outline the details of these two pictures.

Frame 1: Sunrise

This picture will be taken near Boston Symphony Orchestra, facing northeast towards a pool. The ‘Mass Ave’ sign should be well lit and clear in the picture. The picture is taken specifically to have lots of open spaces, and at least 20% clear sky (to elicit hopefulness). The sun will rise between two buildings, when its color is almost bright yellow/orange. There are 2-3 people in the frame, all walking or running, spaced apart, on the other side of the street, about 10 feet away. They are indifferent to each other, as if consumed by their own livelihoods. They either don’t express emotion, or express joy to a small extent. Everything should be in focus, and nothing should be blurred. The colors should be slightly saturated, towards green and yellow to elicit life.

Frame 2: Sunset

This picture will be taken after crossing Boston Medical Center, facing southeast towards the homeless community that sit there with their belongings (e.g., shopping carts full of clothes and plastic bags).  Again, the ‘Mass Ave’ sign should be well lit and clear in the picture. This picture must have small bits of sky, ideally cloudy, and should be more filled with the chaos of the community (to elicit a sense of claustrophobia). The sun has mostly set, which casts an ominous red beneath the clouds. There are ~15 people in the frame, all sitting down, cramped together, about 3 feet from the camera. They are closer than the people in the other picture, albeit tired and depressed, as if they cannot forget the turmoil they are in. Their emotions are mostly a mix of fatigue, anger and care. Ideally, the focus should be on the people to guide the audience amid the chaos, but the sign must also be in focus. All colors except red should be undersaturated to give the chaotic population a grey and washed-out palette. Amid this grey, the sign should be bright green (if possible) to gather the attention of the audience and help them see the point of these two pictures.