Critique of Avery Centrella

Through this body of work, Avery conveyed the central theme of a “climb to fame or maturation”, which in some images is conveyed noticeably, and in others, subtly, through appropriation. In regards to her digital work, over all, it was strong, with the image of the house landscape with the appropriated women and the image of the architectural building, which through context clues, one can assume to be Yale, with the appropriated girl, portray the theme of maturation noticeably. The image of the house and the women is well executed, and I think it was a smart choice to make the whole image black and white. It adds to the drama conveyed in the image by the three girls, trying to act like proper ladies, showing their maturation. In the image of the door with the transparent house on the doorstep, after hearing the backstory and thought process behind the image, I can now see her theme conveyed. The door was part of a house that was on a street that was supposed to get torn down, but ended staying, and Avery took the picture of the smaller house which hypothetically would be the street now if that street had gotten torn down. This image represents the “rising above” theme of the project. I think the image is strong, and I like how she included little details that added to the image, such as the Historic District sign, and I also how she did not just shoot the door, but also a little on each side to include the flowers, railings, and pipes, adding to the old charm of the house which contrasts with the smaller, nicer house, which I think has just the right amount of opacity and is perfectly placed on the doorstep.  The image of the building with the appropriated seemingly little girl with the Yale backpack conveys her climb to maturation theme as the little girl aspires to one day go to Yale. I think the little girl being scaled down to make her seem engulfed by the building, which is overpowering, shows the big dreams the girl has. In regard to her printed images, I think they were also well executed. The image in the alley with the models, I like how she chose an alley to manually appropriate these magazine clippings first because the magazine texture contrasts with the texture show in the image, and second because it is something you wouldn’t usually expect. The ladies are nicely placed to make it seem like they are really apart of the image. the image of the man on top of the mountain is also strong and the objects are well placed. I think this image nicely shows her theme of a “climb to fame”, and I love how she put the text that says “tough guy” really adds to the “climb to fame” message. Overall, Avery’s project is very strong!