Formal Analysis

Maine Forest is a photograph, taken by Eliot Porter and printed by Ansel Adams 1972-1973. It features a  black and white view of tall, leafless trees populating the foreground and receding into the background, as well as detached, sharply contrasting branches in the extreme foreground.

The heavy, repeated verticals of the trunks of the trees are the major unifying factor of the work, while the sharply horizontal branches that precede on the right makes the composition open and disrupt the rhythm created by the vertical lines, although they bring out the otherwise less prominent branches on the other trees. These preceding branches also disrupt the rhythm of the piece via their value: the branches are disjointedly darker than the trees they appear directly in front of. However, the branches of the trees in the middle foreground help create movement in an otherwise stable piece-- their diagonal arrangement creates implied lines that radiate from the middle center of the canvas, which creates a central focal point

Overall the differing values found in the painting-- from very deep black in the tree trunks directly in front of the viewer to the almost-white behind the last visible trees-- tend to contribute towards a well-balanced composition. The value contrast is sharpest in the middle lower foreground, above which the branches of the trees create a more neutral, murky background. The overall value shift-- from dark in the center middle towards gray on the outer and upper portions of the photograph-- also help create a sense of depth to the painting, further assisted by the unexpected closeness of the branches in the extreme foreground of this shot.

This highly repetitive, almost geometric configuration of trees upsets the canonical view of a forest as a wild place unfettered from human-imposed constructs and restrictions. However, the presence of such a geometric influence adds a sense of comforting order to an otherwise foreboding and unwelcoming scene. The immediately noticeable foregrounded branches disrupt this order and therefore any comfort to be found in this work; by disrupting the otherwise fairly internally universal tendency towards prominent verticals with secondary shallow diagonals, the diagonal branches cause discomfort.