Photograph Analysis

The photograph I see before me, in the simplest sense, is an image of a man walking on a sidewalk/road that leads to a pier/dock and beach scenery.  The photograph was taken from behind the man.  In the picture, he is the component that is closest to the viewer, taking up a good portion of the right area of the frame.  Although his face remains unseen, I can tell that his gaze is directed subtly to the right, as if he is surveying the vast scenery that extends in front of him.  The hooded sweatshirt he is wearing, along with the presence of modern-looking street lights and a well-constructed/paved road that extends away from the viewer on the mans left side, implies that this photograph was taken within the past 20 years.  

The scenery that the male subject is surveying appears to be somewhat far into the distance (no more than half a mile).  Because of his placement on the sidewalk, which accompanies a road that is clearly headed towards this distance, I assume that he was in the process of walking toward the scenery.  Another aspect of the man that implies this is his body being angled slightly forward.  The scenery is undeniably coastal, with the horizon of the water and sand visible on the right and a very populated pier at the end of the road on the left.  The massive size of the beach implies that this photograph was taken on the west coast.  Something that also gives me this impression, however, is that the man in the photo is wearing a hooded sweatshirt.  On a beach on the east coast, one would rarely need to wear a hoodie; during the summer it would be too hot, during the winter too cold.  His donning a hooded sweatshirt, and the facts that the sun is out and that there is a lack of snow on the ground, gives me the impression that this photo was taken during the winter in California.  

Something that is also poignant in this picture is the glaring sun.  Radiating from the upper left area of the photo, the light from the sun obscures a good portion of the upper left area of the picture.  Assuming that I am correct in the impression of this as the west coast, I can figure out to some extent what time it was at the time the photo was taken.  The sun rises in the east, and because this is the west coast, it appears that the sun is heading west.  However, it is still fairly high in the sky, so I believe that the photograph was taken sometime in the early afternoon--perhaps between noon and 2 PM.

The overwhelming glare of the sun brings something else to attention.  The male subject, in his avoidance of looking left, seems bothered by the sun, but he is not wearing any sunglasses.  Because of this "lack of preparation," I have to wonder if the man is from somewhere other than the place shown in the photo.  This would make me re-estimate my earlier speculation that the man's decision to wear a sweatshirt meant that the photo was taken during winter in California.  Perhaps, instead, the photo was taken during a warmer season in California, and the man's wearing the sweatshirt is meant to further reveal his "out of place" status there.  

*Jessie