Image analysis Alice Birch 20971486! 10/12/12 Elizabeth Nelson

Image analysis on Phil Maxwells image titled Cat Lady of Spitalfields I picked this image to do my analysis on, because I just found it so intriguing and interesting to look at, especially with the title it is given. The background of this image is that no one actually saw her with any cats, but she used to always take around her little shopping trolley and it was full of cat food, and when ever she was asked a question she would answer with “i’m waiting for the cats to appear’. To me this just seems like a lady that may suffer from a mental illness, but when you read up on this image there is actually a novel that a man called Rodney Archer wrote that includes this lady as a character because he found her such a strange person. Phil Maxwell was a street photographer in London, he often took images of old ladies in his work, but also images of the working class people that went about on an average day. Taking this particular image the first thing that stands out to me is the contract and how it is wrapped around the women and centering her as the main focus. Also her stripy long jacket that looks like a fleece type material, also makes a very strong point in the image, as though the picture was taken on a cold wintery day. The image reminds me of a witch like person going back into her groggy underground cave. I’m not sure weather the caption has got me thinking about this but she does actually remind me of a scary old lady that lives in a little cottage all over grown with lots of black cats running around and you would be scared to go up to her door.

The most amazing thing about this image though is the eye catching contract between the blacks and the whites, it is beautifully done and a perfect contrast between the two. In the image it also looks