Untitled (Cameraman and Flower) by Banksy

In this graffiti painting of “The Camera Man and The Flower,” by Banksy, a cameraman kneels down on the snowy ground filming a flower that he is yanking out of the ground. The knees of the man are split in tone. The bottom half of the knees are light black while the top half is a tint of gray, or rhino skin color. Moving up his body is also shade and tinted. The artist uses black and white to show contrast in shadow or curve/ wrinkles in the clothing. There is elegant detail in the clothing considering how the artist works with spray paint, which is very difficult to handle accurately. The contrast of the color is balanced enough, for there is even weight of black on each side. Moving farther up his head is where white is worked with for the first time. The man is no ordinary, professional cameraman from the way his clothes are. For one, he has a baseball cap faced backwards, which is covered by headphones. The camera on his shoulder is facing the flower, which the man is pulling out of the ground as if he were yanking a weed out of a home garden. Running across his shoulder from the video camera is a cord, which is sneaking its way up and over his shoulder, and down his back until it reaches a device that is colored all black; therefore, it is difficult for the viewer to find out what it is. Moreover, the man’s facial expressions are either hidden or they are giving no expression at all. The result of this is that no one except the artist knows what the man feels when he is killing a nice, innocent, pink and white, flower. The flower is the only object that has color, not including the mustard colored background or the snow white of the snow.

The tone of the painting, a contrast of black and white, creates a simple, yet detailed picture on the mustard colored background. To form the majority of the picture, thin and thick lines as well as dark spots and places are used. The clothing is formed by wavy lines, while everything else is straight, diagonal, or curvy. Many places on the figure are blended tones, where black lines merge to form a dark spot, or area, including the eyes of the man, the video camera, headphones, hat, and camera lens. Since most of the painting is black and white, the piece is very subdued. Furthermore, the only color which is not black and white in the picture is the flower that the man is yanking out of the ground. The vivid color of the flower is a tint of pink. This effect will draw the viewer’s eye to the flower.

 I believe that this piece first of all represents how nowadays in the (21st century), people would kill living things in order to have them because they are beautiful. People just take objects because they want them: we have cameras, video camera, tapes, that can record or take memories. People would rather have the actual item or thing they want than just a memory. Destroying the item’s beauty they might just want to see it every day without   going to places. That is what I believe the meaning symbolic idea of this piece of art is. 

I see a camera man kneeling down on the snowy ground filming a flower that he is yanking out of the ground. The knees of the man are split in tone. The bottom half of the knees are light black while the top half is a tint of gray, or rhino skin color. Moving up to his body is also shade and tinted. The artist used black and white to show contrast in shadow or curve/ wrinkles in the clothing. There is elegant detail in the clothing for how the artist used spray paint, which is very difficult to use it accurately. The contrast of the color is balanced enough for there is even weight of black on each side. Moving farther up the body to his head is where white is used for the first time. The man is no ordinary professional camera man from the way his clothes are. For one, he has a baseball cap faced backwards, “like a boss”, which is covered by headphones. The camera on his shoulder is facing the flower in which the man is pulling out of the ground as if he was yanking a weed out of a home garden. Running across his should from the video camera is a cord, sneaking its way up and over his shoulder, and down his back till it reaches a device that is colored all black, therefore, it is difficult for the viewer to find out what it is.

The man’s facial expressions are either blacked out or they are giving no expression at all. The result of this is that no one except the artist knows what the man feels when he is killing a nice, innocent, pink with white around it, flower. The flower is the only object that has color, not including the mustard colored background or the snow white of the snow.

                                     Annotation of “the Camera Man” by Jansen Redler

How is this piece composed?

Composition notes:

·         The background of the piece of art is a solid sheet of  the color mustared

·         The piece of art represents a modern theme of a symbolic meaning.

·         It is a simple piece of art that is figurative with a little bit of nature in it.

Line notes:

·         Since it is figurative art, there are many curvy lines  and broken lines for the clothing

·         The objects the man carries is a mixture of diagonal, horizontal, curved, and vertical lines

·         The lines very from thin to thick, and from bold and fine

Tone notes:

·         The Tone is this picture is a contrast of black and white to form a picture on the colored background

·         Many place on the figure are blended tones from where black lines merge to form a dark spot such as the eyes of the man, and also part of the video camera

·         The only color in the picture is a tint of pinkwhich makes up the flower

Form notes:

·         The form is anthropomorphic since the piece of art is a man

·         There are no fast lines but there are smooth lines everywhere in the painting

·         There is a little mobile because the camera man is pictured pulling a flower out of the ground while filming

Color notes:

·         The only color is a tint of red, which is pink, that makes up the flower

·         The background is Ochre/ mustard color

·         Very subdued do to the lack of color

What does this piece mean?

I believe that this piece first of all can represent anything. Except, in my opinion this piece says that now a days (21 century), people would kill living things in order to have it because it’s pretty or just take stuff because they want it. Even though we have cameras, video camera, tapes. Etc. That can record or take memories and keep them so the person can remember it. That is what I think this  piece means.