Sunday, May 04, 2008
No Left Turn
Too empty? With my city based photography I've been recently deliberately attempting to see whether there are pictures that are not 'moments'. Without the anchor of an event these can sometimes seem, well, boring.
I'm not asking for validation. I'm asking for reaction.
Oh, don't ask about that roof. I've no idea whether the shape you see is optically 'enhanced'. I keep meaning to go back and take a look (this neg has been sitting around for a month or more whilst I've dithered over it).
Permalink / posted by and copyright of Colin [auspiciousdragon.net] : 5:31 PM
Comments:
I think scenes like these work for me so well as I like to look for patterns. I've got pairs working here along with some geometry. There are tones and contrasts. Confusion and order. Too empty? Perhaps a little too busy in my mind!
There is always a reason to click the shutter and for this reason alone I view no photograph as boring. I may not like what I see though, but then that leads to the challenge of what didn't I see that the photographer did that did not make it 'boring' for them. If I cannot work this out then it stays in the 'do not like' section of my brain until I eventually work it out. These are the pictures that work well for me as they are more than a fleeting experience. After revisiting I still may not like what I see but there must be something going for it as I'm still trying to fathom it out.
Generally speaking, if a picture is not a cliche I will enjoy it to a greater or lesser degree: and there is no way that this is a cliche.
In fact, the roof probably makes this as it balances out the slope of the road better than if it had been level.
For me, it is a study into how we construct urban space and, to a lesser extent, how we then order it. Such a shot is difficult to make interesting but, as Akikana points out, there is enough here to make this 'work'. In all the billions of photos floating around cyberspace, how many are not of, eg, the Eiffel Tower?!!! Rex absolved of course!
No-moment photos are boring in the same way that delicate flavors can seem boring if you've been eating sugar, fat and salt. Finding a photo like this interesting requires recalibration.
Emptiness aside, I can't decide if the way you've placed the right most sign hard against the edge of the frame is brilliant or misguided; it makes me want to pan to the right, but if you'd had panned to the right, I might not have thought about the photo for so long.
matt - that's one of the reasons that this neg has been hanging around for a while. Without the righthand sign the pic probably really is too empty. I wish I'd taken a couple of frames to give myself some options to play with the placement, but I didn't.
As is, rather than making me want to pan right, I see the sign as more of a full stop. Visually I bounce off it back into the frame.
In reality, panning right just gives more of the same.
Just to flog that right-hand sign to death, it never crossed my mind that there was a problem with its placement in the photo (although intrigued as to why the road was narrowing in an area with supposedly enough space). Following Matt's prompting, I tend to the "brilliant" explanation: it's all a matter of balance.
(although intrigued as to why the road was narrowing in an area with supposedly enough space).
Mundane explanation: artificial road restriction near junction to stop traffic entering one way road in the wrong direction.
My reaction is that it is not too empty. I've returned to it several times -- and though it is not the kind of image I'm attracted to in general, I find enough to keep looking.
It is interesting to see it with Guy's image above it. They somehow seem to complement each other.
My first thought was of enigma.
To me it is a partially told story, leaving me wanting to know more.
Until I read the other comments the other sign was 'unseen', my eye was fixated upon the 'sign'.
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There is always a reason to click the shutter and for this reason alone I view no photograph as boring. I may not like what I see though, but then that leads to the challenge of what didn't I see that the photographer did that did not make it 'boring' for them. If I cannot work this out then it stays in the 'do not like' section of my brain until I eventually work it out. These are the pictures that work well for me as they are more than a fleeting experience. After revisiting I still may not like what I see but there must be something going for it as I'm still trying to fathom it out.
In fact, the roof probably makes this as it balances out the slope of the road better than if it had been level.
For me, it is a study into how we construct urban space and, to a lesser extent, how we then order it. Such a shot is difficult to make interesting but, as Akikana points out, there is enough here to make this 'work'. In all the billions of photos floating around cyberspace, how many are not of, eg, the Eiffel Tower?!!! Rex absolved of course!
As is, rather than making me want to pan right, I see the sign as more of a full stop. Visually I bounce off it back into the frame.
In reality, panning right just gives more of the same.
Mundane explanation: artificial road restriction near junction to stop traffic entering one way road in the wrong direction.
It is interesting to see it with Guy's image above it. They somehow seem to complement each other.
To me it is a partially told story, leaving me wanting to know more.
Until I read the other comments the other sign was 'unseen', my eye was fixated upon the 'sign'.