Monday, October 02, 2006
Bull in the City
Comments:
"You're killing me. All these pictures of the city just make small town midwest life seem dull."
Town? What's a town?
The thing which really grabs me about this photo is the leaf. I think that the ostensible subject is verging on the cliche, but the leaf is just great.
As a way of conveying contemporary Japanese culture, the juxtaposition works well to lift these strangely ultra-tidy urban scenes a bit (notwithstanding that the cow looks a bit Indian; or the latest manifestation of Britart, and that children are allowed to ride on it). The leaf points up the tidiness: presumably the cleaner has comitted hari-kiri by now?
I see something different. For me the bull is eyeing up that chap's backside and if the bull stands up the chap is in serious trouble!
The hunter and the hunted, that's the primary thought I had when I first saw this image. It's an irresistible shot for a photographer. Well found.
I’m also drawn into the image to the building at the end and the parked cars and people. With all those lines pointing the way it’s not surprising.
Rex - I was following on from Auspicious' comment about verging on cliche and thought that I would give the bull/backside the benefit of the doubt by integrating it into the landscape!
What I thought about mentioning before, but didn't, was the strange twist to the verticals: the horizontals are level (I think) but the verticals lean right. With such formality in the street there is a case to be made for straightening them as there is no particular artistic excitement added by having them leaning. I imagine, though, that the leaf would come perilously close to the edge.
John - In my defence, Tokyo is a hotbed of plate techtonics. Finding anything level/straight is tough! I agree that the lines are a little off. Thought I'd corrected them through post-processing. There was no artistic intention. The leaf was, however, a deliberate artistic intention - not sure why though!
Thanks for looking and commenting.
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Town? What's a town?
The thing which really grabs me about this photo is the leaf. I think that the ostensible subject is verging on the cliche, but the leaf is just great.
I’m also drawn into the image to the building at the end and the parked cars and people. With all those lines pointing the way it’s not surprising.
What I thought about mentioning before, but didn't, was the strange twist to the verticals: the horizontals are level (I think) but the verticals lean right. With such formality in the street there is a case to be made for straightening them as there is no particular artistic excitement added by having them leaning. I imagine, though, that the leaf would come perilously close to the edge.
Thanks for looking and commenting.