Roni Horns Clown Analysis

My Clown Analysis

Roni Horn was born in 1955 and she is an American visual artist and writer. Today’s lesson was about Roni Horns clown photography, the clown photos. The photos that have been taken looks like they’ve been taken from a digital SLR camera that has been set with a slow shutter speed which gives a very blurred effect to the image. The actor of the clown is making funny faces, which is in a fast movement. The actor is in front of a white wall or a white background which makes the picture look clearer. This highlights the red on the face making this the focal point of the image. The actor looks like a man with his face painted white and red paint or lipstick on his lips as if he was a clown. The different type of faces that the camera has captured may look scary and different to ‘normal’ clown faces. Clowns are normally entertainers and are considered to be entertainment for children. However, this clown image is deliberately meant to be shocking, scary and might make the view feel uncomfortable to look at it.

These photos are out of focus which makes it hard for us to see what kind of faces the clown is making. The blurring effect gives a horrific look to the clowns face because the mouths and other features become distorted. The photo makes me feel disturbed because of the way it looks. 

This clown reminds me of watching scary movies such as, Saw and Scream. The use of the colour red has a double meaning, on the one hand the red nose and mouth of the clown symbolise a bright and happy disposition but in this case, they give off the impression of blood and gore which makes you feel uncomfortable.

 Roni Horn's use of shutter speed is really good and is matchless. This makes people want to see more of her art work because other photographers may not have thought about taking pictures of a clown which can show two different meanings.