Sky Bridge Pairs. Denver, Colorado, 2011
For this week’s (hey, it’s 12-12-12!) image, I went back to some street photography from last year and selected this one, made of a portion of the Denver Art Museum in the downtown area of that city.
I will call a time out to make a plea at this point, though. If you have been lurking about this web site and you’d like me to use your image for a Wednesday critique, just send me an e-mail (see Contact tab). That way, you can save me from critiquing my own images now and then, which would be a welcome relief!
OK, back to the photo o’ the day…I have my critic’s hat on…let’s go…
The metadata: Nikon D90 (1.5x crop factor sensor) with Nikkor 70-300 f/4.5-5.6 zoom at 112mm, f/5.6, 1/2000, ISO400, hand-held.
And once again we’ll use my 7-Step Critique Guide I first outlined in my November 14, 2012 post…
1) EXAMINE. The subject is the two pairs in what is, based on the title anyway, a skybridge walkway between two buildings in an urban area. There are many other complex elements–the reflection of the building opposite in the windows…the heavy, angular beams of the bridge…the tables and chairs.
2) EMOTIONAL RESPONSE. When I look at this, I see two pairs of humans lost in a mesh of metal and glass that is the City. It provokes in me a sense of aloneness or separateness when I see people in the midst of such an environment–but also, because the humans are together as couples, I see the human need to reach out to another, to bond. So, perhaps I sense the contradictory feelings of alienation and of companionship, or even love.
3) TECHNICAL POINTS. The image seems to be correctly exposed, as sharp as necessary (does street photography need to be tack sharp?), but perhaps lacking just a tiny bit of contrast. Monochrome is an appropriate treatment for this scene as there may very well have been strong competing colors in the sky bridge or in the reflection that would have pulled the eye away from the two couples and, thus, the message. The metadata suggests appropriate lens choice, f-stop and shutter speed. The short telephoto focal length flattens the image (it works in this case), the f-stop was not as critical due to the relatively narrow depth-of-field required, and the shutter speed was certainly high enough to ensure a sharp photograph while hand-holding the camera (in fact, ISO400 was probably not necessary–at the base ISO of 200 the photographer would have still had a high shutter speed and marginally better image quality as well).
4) ARTISTIC QUALITIES. At first view, I wondered at the basic balance of the image–both couples, the main subjects, are on the right-hand side. Additionally, the couple to the right is walking out of the picture, usually a no-no as you normally want to give subjects room to move within the frame. But, after looking, I think the heaviness of the beams on the left help to give equal weight to the left side. My eye tends to bounce back and forth between the couples, then travel around the photograph inspecting the myriad details, then I go back to the couples again. Many purists believe that street photography has to be done in monochrome in order to be considered authentic. That is not necessarily true, but that was an appropriate choice for this particular image as the geometric play of lines, angles and forms is the primary compositional focus and color may have distracted from that. I do wonder, though, if it would have been more powerful if the couples were in more interesting–perhaps even more intimate–poses. As it is, it merely almost hits the mark.
5. POSITIVE POINTS. I like the coincidental capture of the two couples…I like the two backgrounds–the one reflected and the one in which the two couples exist. I like that the sky in the far background has some cloud cover to lend texture–plain, blue sky may not have worked. I also like the monochrome treatment.
6. IMPROVE. Technically, I would play with the contrast a bit more…monochrome images lacking appropriate contrast often come across as looking muddy or flat. Artistically, I would suggest waiting around at this interesting site to see what other odd combinations of poses might present themselves. Who knows, maybe this photographer did just that and this was the best of the day–but with appropriate lighting, this could be an interesting place to which you could return to see if you could capture something even more powerful.
7. OVERALL. Overall, I think it is an above average street photography image, but the lack of truly powerful poses or gestures on the part of the human subjects really keeps it from being an excellent street photo. A good start, though!
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