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| Lemons by Ouka Leele, 1979 |
Ouka Leele's photograph entitled "Lemons" shows a woman whose head is surrounded by lemons. Framing her face are 9 lemons cut crosswise showing the radial center of the lemons. Behind the cut lemons are whole lemons surrounding her head also. The face and lemons are over a green background. The colors are very saturated and strong making the photo look like it's hand painted or not natural photographic colors. The girls eyes look directly into the lens and are blue, she has almost an orange eye shadow. She appears to be sipping something from a red and white straw. Her hair appears to be red. The light on her face is coming from the right of the picture and some of the lemons are casting a shadow on the left side.
When I look at this image I think of it as being playful because of the bright colors. The look on her face is not necessarily one of happiness, she looks somewhat apprehensive, but not as if she just drank something tart. I don't think this is an advertisement for lemons because all the lemons are not perfect looking. It looks surreal.
What makes this a fabulous photograph are the bright fresh spring like colors of yellow and green. The reddish/pinks of the girls lips and the stripes on the straw are complementary with the green background. The subject matter is surprising and unexpected. The lemons look playful but the expression on her face does not seem playful to me which gives the photo a mysterious air.
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