Intended Audience
My intended audience for this project would most likely be prospective students who want to see what The College of Wooster’s campus looks like during the fall. The photo could also be featured on The College of Wooster’s official website to showcase the campus’s autumn scenery and help attract students who are considering attending the college.
For the first version, I used the original image to show the overall setting and give viewers a broader view of the scene. For the second version, I created a cropped image that changes what the viewer notices first. Cropping allowed me to focus on a particular part of the photograph and make the composition feel different from the original. Lastly, for the last image, I cropped it to center around the two students walking, so the main focus would be them.
Framing and focus were important decisions in this process because they influence how people interpret an image. A wider frame can provide more context and help viewers understand the setting, while a tighter crop can draw attention to specific details and create a more focused visual experience. I wanted the three versions to feel distinct rather than simply looking like duplicates of each other. These changes demonstrate how altering the composition can affect the way an audience experiences the same photograph.
Riechers’ questions also made me think about how an image can do more than repeat information in writing. Instead of just telling prospective students that the campus is beautiful in the fall, the photograph can show them and help them imagine themselves walking around campus.
AI was used through Canva for resizing and cropping. Also use for word editing.
Citation
Riechers, A. (2024). Visual Grammar for Photography. In The Elements of Visual Grammar: A Designer’s Guide for Writers, Scholars, and Professionals (pp. 141–161). Princeton University Press. https://doi.org/10.2307/jj.6047949.10