another found object, typical of the things I shoot for myself. these types of images tend to work better as part of a collection rather on a standalone basis, but I like this one well enough that I'll take my chances with the voters, and the jury.
P1050280
[Mar. 13th, 2010 02:21:12 PM]
Love the comments ... and the interpretations. For me, that’s what art is all about ... not so much what the artist intended but what the viewer sees. Your comments all made me think more about my image, and its meaning. To me, the book, waterlogged and forgotten in a parking lot in the rain, was sad. How worthless were those words on the page that the person who dropped it never bothered to bend over to pick it up, or perhaps didn’t even notice it was missing. It spoke to me about the tragedy of the written word becoming less valued in our society. The biblical overtones did not occur to me, but I see them now, through many of your eyes, and it adds another layer to what I saw that day. The book was not the bible ... in fact, I don’t even know what book it was. I kind of wish I did now, but in the end it doesn’t really matter because the image is about all books, all words, all thought disappearing from a society that seems to value sound bites over substance to the detriment of us all.
This was not a set up image, or one in which I was trying to convey a message. A message was there ... I just happened upon it, recognized it, recorded it, and put it out there for you to discover. I think that’s the difference between artists who see and artists who create. I put myself (and I use the term “artist” loosely) in the former camp. The scene was already in existence when it caught my eye and made me stop as I hurried to catch the ferry on the way to work. It was raining, quite heavily in fact, yet I stood for a moment transfixed, debating whether to take the Lumix out. I took a step towards the ferry before turning around to get the shot, standing in the rain, trying to keep the camera dry. I saw the X in the lines of the parking lot, and that X seemed to speak to me about the sadness of the book, an allegorical X-ing out of the words on the page. I quickly composed a shot, using the shadow of the fender of a nearby parked truck to provide a backdrop to the book, and trying to keep my own shadow out of the frame. I snapped 3 frames ... one of only 5 frames I took all week though I carried the Lumix with me everywhere with my eyes peeled looking for “art,” or waiting perhaps for “art” to find me. In the end, this is the only thing that spoke to me that week, and of the 3 frames I shot, this was the only one that captured what I felt.
Statistics
Place: 19 out of 193 Avg (all users): 6.1451 Avg (commenters): 7.6364 Avg (participants): 6.1515 Avg (non-participants): 6.1383 Views since voting: 1854 Views during voting: 435 Votes: 193 Comments: 32 Favorites: 4 (view)
This was one of my favourites. It is a nothing, really, but references almost everything. Delighted it was a foundling, and ponder the seeing versus creating aspect.
I LOVE the story of this image, both the one that it creates for the viewer (and I love how stories vary from viewer to viewer) and the story of how you came upon it. I, too, am in that "see" camp. Love this. Congrats on a very fine showing in this challenge as well.
6 - I like the concept, but the composition seems unbalanced - book needs to be a little more dominant in my opinion - but the size constraints might be working against this.
Okay, I have bumped up allot of images on the third viewing, but I'm moving this from a 6 to an 8... Very interesting perspective, and the overall feel is powerful... This is a great Fine Arts entry!
This is one of the most unique compositions in the challenge. I love your idea and although I like the bw effect, I think you over did the levels or dynamic bw filter ect... 8
I had to stop and think about this one for quite a while and I am scoring this a 9 for that very reason. "Fine Art" should always be thought provoking and, for me anyway, your shot did exactly that.
I really like this picture a lot. I like the mysteriousness. I keep coming back to it - trying to figure out what it is but I guess it really doesn't matter. It's balanced, it's interesting, it has texture and shape.
The only thing that kind of bothers me is the vignetting around the frame, but only kind of. Good job. 8
Would I hang it on my wall. Probably not, but still a very intersting picture. However I judge on what I would hang in my apartment. I am sure about the "fade in" frame. Make it bigger or take it away. Still give a good 6
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