Insomnia, Jeff Wall Critical Analysis

The image that stuck out to me in among these four is Insomnia, by Jeff Wall.  It spoke to me personally just because my brother suffered through insomnia so I had to see first hand what a toile it took on him.  That kind of restlessness is definitely portrayed within this photo.  My initial reaction before seeing the title of this piece was feeling a sense of hopelessness for the man.  The fettle position and facial expression makes him look like he’s scared and doesn’t know what to do.  That sign of hopelessness is also portrayed through the darkness that looks like what is swallowing him towards the bottom of the image. I find it interesting how the lines of the appliances and the items in the room seem to almost point to the man, especially the chair that is literally facing him.  I also admire the reflection of the light in the window because it shows gives the viewer information about how all this is going on in the night.  The opened cabinets also tell me as the viewer trying to decipher this piece that the man laying down had previously gone through everything possibly trying to figure out what to do.  As well as tells me that he is often at home just because you can see items out like the butter, clean dishes drying on the drying rack, and half empty dishwashing liquid and salt bottom.  This piece attracted me among the others because it has a lot of information and a straightforward message- the message of hopeless within an inseminated person.