Mark Mumford

Biography: born 1959 in Delaware. BA at Kenyon University

"Gorilla in a Rape Field"

Description: A gorilla sitting in a field of yellow flowers with a stormy sky above. The gorilla is inside a glass ball and is also holding another glass ball its hands. Inside the glass ball is another ball. The horizon line cuts the photograph.

Analysis of Design: The gorilla is a major focal. There is contrast between the sky and the field in more than one way: the texture and the color. The soft, stormy clouds contrast with the rough flowers in the field, and the bright yellow field against the deep gray sky. The gorilla shows implied lines from his eyes into the glass ball. There is an obvious line direction shown by the horizon line, and that is emphasized by the contrast between the two opposing sides.

Interpretation: I see this as a symbol of freedom, or lack there of. The gorilla is trapped inside a glass bubble yet he is in the middle of a huge field. With the storm, dark clouds brewing overhead, it feels as though he is about to explode out of the ball because he has been trapped for so long. The gorilla looks content and I think if the sky was sunny and calm it would change the meaning entirely.

Judgment: I think this photomontage is very successful because of its seamlessness. It looks as though he actually took a picture of a gorilla inside a glass ball, out in the middle of a field. I really like the interpretation that a viewer can take out of this piece.