Vik Muniz Photographs :: Essays Papers

Vik Muniz Photographs I observed a very unique series of photographs by Vik Muniz called perceive is Believing. Vik Munizs images ar not simply photography but are pictures of complicated pieces of art he has produced at earlier times. Utilizing an array of unpredictable materials including granulated plunder, chocolate syrup, sewing thread, cotton, wire, and soil Muniz first creates an image, sculpturally manipulates it and then photographs it. Munizs pictures include portraitures, landscapes, x-rays, and historical images. One work that particularly caught my attention was a photograph called Big James Sweats Bullets from the series Sugar Children. The sate or subject matter of the artwork is representational. The photograph depicts the hardworking children of sugar cane plantations in South America. This particularly photo is a portrait of a dark skinned boy, slightly overweight, standing and grinning. The photo is of neatly ar raked granulated sugar across a p iece of melanize paper which produces the image of the boy. Many different sensory properties compose the artwork. on that point is a soft light that seems very natural coming sour the boys looking at. The light shines at the boys face at an elevated level, as if he were outside on a hot afternoon with the sun overhead. There is a wide range of tones from very bright, in the reflection off the boys cheeks to very dark in the skin of the boys face. Muniz does an excellent job using shadows to provide a olfactory perception of depth and adding curves to the boys body and face. The shape of the boy is positive, but the background is not defined, allowing a negative shape or void in the picture. Although at that place is no actually texture on the photograph the texture from the passe-partout work of art is apparent. The use of sugar gives off a hazy effect preventing the photo from having a clear focus. The portrait of the boy has a frontal vantage point with his body centered and balanced on at all angles. This shows the expression on the boys face and the size of the boys body, which is weighty to the title of the work. When looking at the photograph the eyes are immediately drawn to the boys face and grin.