Image Essay #2

This is a photograph that I found online while searching for artwork with high contrast. For the most part, this picture is black and white with only a little change in hue for the shadows and the area the dartboard is sitting on. The photograph depicts high contrast in more than one area. The first is the dartboard itself which alternates between black and white circular stripes. The second is the contrast between the black of the darts and the white of the background. The white background against the black of the darts and edge of the dartboard make the picture “pop” more, and leaves our eye focused on the piece because one’s eye is attracted to the point of highest contrast within a piece.

Directional flow of the piece leads us into the center of the bull’s-eye as the main focus area of the picture. We are led there by the larger circle to the smaller one, the numbers moving into the smallest area, and the darts that seem to point at the smallest area of circles. The center of the bull’s-eye is also the most focused part of the picture leading our eye there. These are the two main design principles I have found within this piece.

Image: http://people.cc.jyu.fi/~olli/uusikuva/valokuvaus/tikka_high_contrast.sized.jpg