Rephotograph Artist Critique: James Casebere

 James Casebere, Red Room #1, 2003

          I don’t usually enjoy looking at architectural photographs, and prefer photographs of nature (ocean waves, flowers, clouds, etc.).  However, this photograph really enchanted me.  I enjoy the rhythm of the repeated vertical lines (both wide and thin) in the windows and on the walls.  The use of line is mesmerizing. The photograph draws the viewer’s eye in a circle (from the curved lines on the ground, up the vertical stripes on the wall, onto the shadowed ceiling, and down the vertical stripes toward the floor).  The horizontal lines create a serene image, especially since this image also uses one-point linear perspective, which I really enjoy. J The use of color is striking; the silver and white complement the red and black striped walls.  The variety of textures (the silvery almost liquid floor, grainy ceiling, and the paper-covered walls) is refreshing.