http://www.instituteartist.com/exhibition-Girl-Culture-Lauren-Greenfield
Close your eyes and then open them. What is the first thing you see? Your eyes probably go straight past the table littered with makeup to the little girl in the pink tiara. Lauren Greenfield, the photographer, framed the photo with this intention of making that girl the focal point.
A head on angle was chosen because it allows the viewer to focus on the girls and their dress-up session. The image is well focused on the girls and the assortment of makeup because the photographer wants the viewer to acknowledge the American cultural follies. These girls are most likely no older than six, yet their faces are made up, their hair is curled, and their nails are done. In America, girls are taught at a young age to love beautification. Our culture can be so shallow and self-centered that little girls are obsessed with makeup before they are even old enough to read.
The picture is focused heavily on the girls and the table of makeup, while the rest of the bedroom is in the shadows. It forces the viewer to concentrate on the girls and dissect the cultural problems that stress glamorization at such a young, impressionable age.
Everything is relatively well balanced, but the center is definitely where your eyes are supposed to go. Greenfield further draws your eyes to the center with the contrasting of pink and blue. All the colors are muted except for pink and blue, which further reinforces your focus on the girls and their dress-up game. America is a land of beauty pageants, and the starting age is getting younger and younger. Already, at no older than six years old, girls are being primed to be all dolled up and look "perfect."
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