This is the Berlin Memorial, a monument to the six million Jews exterminated by the Nazis.
The "Field of Stelea" is made of 2,711 concrete blocks of different heights, structured in a grid pattern.
I've preferred not to mention directly "what it is" because I wanted the picture to be judged for the atmosphere, composition and abstract concept. I didn't want to gain more
profit from an easy emotional approach.
However, I've left two significant clues: the strange title (yeah Juliahu, remember + berlin at present continuous) and the splash of red on the woman's shirt. As Cnovack wrote, my attempt was to evoke the little girl of Schindler's list movie.
I would thank you all of you, for your precious comments and positive reactions.
A special one for you, Cnovack, for the time you've spent to write the comment and to have really understood this picture's soul.
Finally, thanks to the unaware girl captured in my shot (she's not a model):
Thank you, whoever you are, wherever you are :-D
Voted earlier coming back to leave a comment. The rectangular shapes of these 'stacked' blocks creates geometric patterns that draw the eye in and holds our attention - it is almost hypnotic. The addition of a person to your composition not only breaks the pattern up but adds the human element that reminds us that each rectangle is a memorial to those who have been lost. The splash of red on the woman's shirt is the only additional color in a scene dominated by blacks, greys, and whites. That draws our eye directly to her and to me invokes the scene in Schindler's List of the little girl with the red balloon. It was the only color in a colorless world/scene. It makes me think that life and color can even be found in places of death and are dark. I also wonder what this composition would look like if you converted it to B&W with emphasis on boosting the contrast so that the tones are really dynamic and pop. Another interesting possiblity is to convert it to B&W but leave the red as the only splash of color calling our attention to the human element. Great symbology here and strong composition showing off the geometric patterns.
This just Works! Normally I recoil from shots where a person is in just to show scale, but her presence here really enhances the mystery and intrigue--we get a sense of scale, which just makes us wonder more what this place is... Well done. 8
This is interesting. My eyes go immediately to her red top. I have no idea what those big concrete things are, from your title I am assuming a memorial of some sort, maybe even a cemetery?
nice effort, the graphic shapes definitely add to the image, the girl's position is good relative to your crop, but I feel that she is facing the wrong way. 6
Very graphic and dynamic image. It's absolutely fascinating and fantastic how there is no highlight detail on the tops, no shadow detail on the side nearest us, and perfect detail on the ends. The blocks create a great unseen leading-line guiding us right to the girl. Well done!
This picture really draws me in. The composition is very compelling I would like it even better if the girl were wearing some color to stand out against the near monochrome of the rest of the photo. Overall though, this is a moving photo.
that's great! powerful in lines, context and meaning... I might say it's like she's in a maze of memories but somehow over it... and that red punch? The title is as perfect as the picture: remember-berlin... simple and shocking if you recognize the "locus". I really like it, i do.
If there was selective desaturation applied to this, it was not the strongest decision in my opinion. The stripe of red commands so much attention that it is hard to appreciate the composition as a whole. Instead of making her stick it, it may have been more interesting to have to look around for her a bit.
I don't get the title, but I'm sure you will explain at the end. I find the asymmetry and chaos of the scene enjoyable and in direct contrast to the sharp, rigid 90 degree corners and edges. I'm guessing she is lost...
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