Monday, April 21, 2008
Not bling
Comments:
On Saturday I went to Winchester with a new lens on my camera 25mm f1.4. The trip was to see the Winchester photographic exhibition, where I had 3 acceptances. The lens was on because I wanted to try low light & small DoF pictures. One of the pictures I took was of a broken window in an estate agent's window with a for sale display behind.
This is a many layered image, the broken Indian Restaurant, the reflection and the steel shutter provide lots to look at. I think the crack stops the reflection holding my eye too long, it breaks the concentration.
When I first saw this on your site, I couldn't figure out if the window was broken, or if this was just some really trendy etched glass. On looking at it again, I'm fairly certain it is broken, but part of me still wonders.
Matt - definitely broken. A run down district. Lots of student accommodation which is why, I presume, somebody thought that a curry house would survive. But no. And unlike the older store next door, the fit out didn't include shutters.
This is a very fine photo with its story and, as Rex says, the layered representation of the street. I'm sure my shot would have been higher contrast but this has a certain Scottish bleakness; to the extent that I see Glasgow here rather than Aberdeen.
Whilst a large plate glass window attracts hooliganism, it is too much of a coincidence that quite a few of the broken windows that I have seen belonged to a minority ethnic community.
to the extent that I see Glasgow here rather than Aberdeen.
It would certainly be generally unfair to depict Aberdeen with such a picture. But like all cities pockets of this sort of thing do exist.
There are things here that interest me -- the reflection, the pipe, the "not bling" cracks. I like the graphic aspects of the circle and the way the everything increases in contrast within it. But I feel that I'd like to see a bit more, at least top and bottom -- feels sort of confined. Maybe I just want the entire circle of the window.
It does present a rather bleak picture of the place.
The fact that I cannot see the focus of the crack in the window adds rather than detracts from this shot. The reflection is an added bonus but I do find the left hand side rather dark and 'un-interesting'.
Without more context as mentioned by akikana, it is hard to understand if the window is by design or by vandalism. I also like the layers of meaning created by the reflection, but bothered by the brigher sidewalk at the lowere right corner.
The black left side does not have any texture, thus it is almost like part of the film negative was included. Cropping the black left out may not change this photograph.
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This is a many layered image, the broken Indian Restaurant, the reflection and the steel shutter provide lots to look at. I think the crack stops the reflection holding my eye too long, it breaks the concentration.
Whilst a large plate glass window attracts hooliganism, it is too much of a coincidence that quite a few of the broken windows that I have seen belonged to a minority ethnic community.
It would certainly be generally unfair to depict Aberdeen with such a picture. But like all cities pockets of this sort of thing do exist.
It does present a rather bleak picture of the place.
The black left side does not have any texture, thus it is almost like part of the film negative was included. Cropping the black left out may not change this photograph.