HOME | DD

seeing-the-dark [2013-02-11 22:35:08 +0000 UTC]

Overall

Vision

Originality

Technique

Impact

There is an ethereal quality about this image that surprises me, given the bias of more strictly realistic work in your gallery. But it is lovely, and it very much suits the subject matter.

In fact, when paging through your gallery as one would a traditional portfolio, there is a sameness to your imagery (high quality sameness, but still a sameness) that makes it easy to move through most shots without affording them more than a cursory glance and appreciative nod. Yes, that is a nice shot of a lion. Yes, that is a nice shot of a horse. Yest, that is a nice shot of a ...

This image, however, is different. It has stopping power, in part because of its uniqueness to your overall body of work but perhaps moreso because it bears such a tangible imposition of your vision on the subject matter over simply documenting its appearance at a specific moment in time. You not only see the animals here, you see how DENISE sees these animals. What it is about them, beyond their simple identity, that made you choose to shoot this moment, in this way, and post it to your gallery with a request for critiques.

I don't know whether or not there is any post-processing involved here ... I suspect your raw image was probably more powerfully colored than this and you made an artistic choice to adjust colors to support the light inherent to the moment. If so, bravo! It is a fallacy of purist ego to think photographic images need be picture-accurate to the moment of snap. Rather, photography as ART rather than a source of documentation of a moment in time is the same as all other forms of ART -- it is about the image itself: the vision of the artist as they relate to the subject matter not a photographically accurate representation of whatever the camera lens captures. And as such, specific images only become ART, rather than documentations of perceived reality, when the artist imposes their own vision on the subject matter to the full extent that they, as artists, feel it should be imposed ... something that often includes (or should include, at least) post processing as best serves/suits the ARTists internal vision of the moment's emotional content over documentarian accuracy of how the moment of snap is captured by a mechanical device.

All of that being said, whether this was a moment you captured in-camera as-is or something you subjected to post processing as suits your instincts as an artist of how the moment FELT to you, this is a standout image in your gallery, particularly for how much more of YOU it reflects that most of your other imagery.

Beyond the philosophical aspects of photography as art and how this image speaks to those things in the context of your greater body of work, let me note a few more image-specific things. First and foremost, the focus of the animals. What stopped me dead in scanning through your deviations is the arresting power of the focal animals gaze. Its connectedness and attention to the viewer in a one-on-one moment ... a photographic element deftly repeated in the background by the like-focused animal rendered just softly enough to avoid distracting competition between the two animals' gazes.

Compositionally speaking, the glare of light here creates a powerful triangular rhythm between the focal animal, the like-focused animal, and the light that REALLY works. The softness of focus and shadows that same light paints to all subjects except the sharply focused focal critter is the key to the image's success.

This shot is emotionally confrontational and exquisitely honest. Innocent and inquisitive without being wary or artificial. The use of light is beautiful not in how it reveals the subject matter, but rather in how it conceals all BUT the subject matter. How it establishes a visual and emotional hierarchy to instruct the viewer where to focus and why.

This is photography as art, and it is both beautiful and showstopping. The only technical aspect of which I'll make specific note is the lack of contrast ... something that works in that the image feels sun-drenched to a tactile degree of washed out; but that also leaves me with a sense of unfinishedness that is disquieting to the overall effect.

The only recommendation I'd make to address this issue would be to perhaps version out this image to an alternate option with a few darks (particularly in the face of the rock as shadowed by overhanging animals) burned in to give this image its full range of values. You'd have to do VERY carefully to avoid drawing attention away from the focal animal's gaze, and once you were finished, you'd have to assess the 2 images side-by-side to see if the added contrast helps or harms your overall effect.

Because it might harm it. Adding even those few darks might potentially kill the magic you've achieved here in terms of mood, and if it did, you'd have to recognize as much and tell your critics to buzz off, the lack of contrast is essential to capturing the vision you intend. But were I giving any advice for this image, that would be it: see how it looks with a few darks in there that don't read as faded, then decide for yourself whether or not those additional values enhance the overall effect or detract from it.

Excellent image. True art.

👍: 0 ⏩: 0

WildByDesign2 [2011-11-13 00:59:16 +0000 UTC]

Very unique and beautiful at the same time.

👍: 0 ⏩: 1