I chose to look at this photographer mainly because of the still frame compositional aspect of his work. His photographs in many cases look like screen shot's from films and as such leave the viewer pondering on a multitude of questions. So I chose to look at photography so I could focus on composition and focus. By breaking down a good photograph I understand how and why aspects such as composition and lighting are used to enhance the image. I chose photography particularly as it greatly interests me, previously for looks but more recently for the technical skill involved.
What I like about this photo more than anything is the fact that as soon as you look at it you are a rush with hundreds of questions, as the composition and everything involved causes the viewer to think outside of the photograph. As soon as I saw the photo I was asking myself what this mans story was, who is he, where is, what has he done, why is he there, what is he thinking and so on.
The way the photo is shot causes these questions and that is from the mans pose and position the luggage the open car door the weather (pathetic fallacy maybe) the location. All of these aspects cause me to draw up a story around this one still frame which I find amazing. To me the man is on the run from his failing marriage, which he didn't want to leave, and he is now coming to terms with what is happening in his life. He has been driving for around an hour or two and has come to a sleepy drive through town and has no where to go.
The lighting in this piece is great as well as it pushes the character out at you whilst slowly diffuses into the dark void in the background.
I also like the way that the perspective of the street and most of the cables point towards and then through the character into the background, causing the character to feel like hes on the road to nowhere.
I possibly don't like the vagueness of the image as almost too little information is provided to ascertain anything solid about the character and his identity and from loooking at other works of this artist it is a common theme. The lack of identity I find with the character can cause a certain distance but at the same time it has allowed my imagination to run freely through this image as im not being told what is actually happening.
There is a strange spot light effect at the rear of the image where there doesn't seem to be a source, I know that the artist has used this light to cause the subject to distinguish from the background but to me it looks like there should be a UFO just out of shot above the street, perhaps there is?
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