American Teenager

Described: I see a photo with a somewhat hi-resolution; there are no pixels to be seen. But they're obviously all there. There is a man, most likely in his early twenties, holding a skateboard and standing in front of a grey wall. The wall is colored a darker grey in a rectangle around the upper left half of his torso, including his face. The picture is from the waist up, for a portrait feel, I assume. The man has a buzz cut, two earrings, one on each of his lobes, and then an additional on his cartilage. He has blue eyes, a shaven face, and bleach blond eyebrows. He is wearing a bright blue-green wristband and has a tattoo on his opposite arm that is not in the viewer's complete sight. He is also wearing what looks like a cotton or cotton blend maroon and baby blue plaid long-sleeve shirt with a white crew neck underneath. The skateboard he is holding across his chest with crossed arms has clouds and a hand outlined in blue on it. It has a dark graphic on the bottom, but it is indistinguishable.

Analyzed: It doesn't seem like the artist wanted the photo to be visually appealing or unappealing for any particular reason. The photos, as I read, were intended to create character. The main interest in this photo and rest were the facial expressions, posture, and wear. But, however unintentionally, the skateboard creates movement as a line through the photo from the bottom to the top and then leads into the top of the rectangle. The colors are bright and for lack of better words; go with each other. The skateboard is roughed up and looks like it has been used quite a bit. The composition is centered around the torso and face to exclude as much posture information as possible, I suppose. This is to make the viewer focus on less to get the same amount of information.

Interpreted: The artist created the photo(s) in an effort to create these characters for a project. I believe the object was to see how much you can know about a person without actually meeting or knowing the person.  He does a lot of portraits like these for what seems like the same purpose, but in much different situations and social climates. In another he chose to do all of the photos in black and white for what I assume is an effort to create some sort of mood. In this photo, in particular, I'd interpret the man's facial expression as anxious or scared, but confident. He is not detached from pop culture, because he has a tattoo, wristband, and plaid shirt, which are all signs of a hipster. He is holding onto his skateboard as if it is the only thing he has left. I get this feeling because it is across his chest, instead of to his side, in one hand.

This is good. It definitely achieved the objective and I feel like I know the character in the photo. The colors are stimulating and the facial expression and posture paint a picture (or photo hah).