Analysis of Dream Theater
Dream Theater: An Analysis
The Valdosta State Fine Arts department is holding an exhibit of the works of Maggie Taylor and Jerry Uelsmann, and their preferred method of expression involves a camera, a scanner, and Photoshop—not that it’s a bad thing.
Uelsmann’s works feature dark, emotive, photography blended together that seems to tell a story within itself; in complete contrast to Taylor’s, who brings her work together with a combination of bright, vibrant colors and ‘vintage’-era photography. One work that stood out for me is Ulsemann’s Dream Theater, which was published in 2004. The image is black and white, like most of Uelsmann’s portraits, and on the bottom, it starts with a pair of transparent hands on top of what looks to be a rather large book, presumably a bible, resting on a table.
The entire photo looks like you’re viewing it specifically from your point of view, as if you were to reach out and match your hands up with the hands on the image, they would be the exact same size. From a distance, you can see a crow on a stage, and look further beyond that, you see a man walking away into a cathedral, with a mass of clouds hanging over the scene. Upon first glance at the work, it left me with a lot of unanswered questions.
One particular feature that stood out to me the most was the hands resting on the book. Why were they transparent? At first glance, I assumed the book might have been a bible. The bible could symbolize religion, and hands on the bible could portray faith in something, or religion. The transparent hands seem to show the person may possibly be losing faith or beliefs. In literature, a crow or a raven typically symbolizes an omen, foreshadowing something terrible to come. They are associated with death and darkness.
The silhouette of a person in the photo is a bit more difficult to analyze, because it’s hard to tell if he is walking to, or walking from the direction of the cathedral. I assume he’s walking away, as if he is
The Valdosta State Fine Arts department is holding an exhibit of the works of Maggie Taylor and Jerry Uelsmann, and their preferred method of expression involves a camera, a scanner, and Photoshop—not that it’s a bad thing.
Uelsmann’s works feature dark, emotive, photography blended together that seems to tell a story within itself; in complete contrast to Taylor’s, who brings her work together with a combination of bright, vibrant colors and ‘vintage’-era photography. One work that stood out for me is Ulsemann’s Dream Theater, which was published in 2004. The image is black and white, like most of Uelsmann’s portraits, and on the bottom, it starts with a pair of transparent hands on top of what looks to be a rather large book, presumably a bible, resting on a table.
The entire photo looks like you’re viewing it specifically from your point of view, as if you were to reach out and match your hands up with the hands on the image, they would be the exact same size. From a distance, you can see a crow on a stage, and look further beyond that, you see a man walking away into a cathedral, with a mass of clouds hanging over the scene. Upon first glance at the work, it left me with a lot of unanswered questions.
One particular feature that stood out to me the most was the hands resting on the book. Why were they transparent? At first glance, I assumed the book might have been a bible. The bible could symbolize religion, and hands on the bible could portray faith in something, or religion. The transparent hands seem to show the person may possibly be losing faith or beliefs. In literature, a crow or a raven typically symbolizes an omen, foreshadowing something terrible to come. They are associated with death and darkness.
The silhouette of a person in the photo is a bit more difficult to analyze, because it’s hard to tell if he is walking to, or walking from the direction of the cathedral. I assume he’s walking away, as if he is