four corners ~ it's a whirlygig kinda thing
Friday, September 4, 2009 at 10:36AM 
four corners ~ Travy G's • click to embiggen
four corners ~ Travy G's # 2 • click to embiggen
four corners ~ Travy G's • click to embiggenYesterday at mid-afternoon I uncharacteristically set out to make some pictures with a preconceived objective in mind - uncharacteristically because my normal MO is to leave the house with my gear during the course of "normal" daily activities and make pictures as unplanned opportunities present themselves.
Yesterday was different in as much as my normal activity for the past 5 days has been to sit and/or lay around the house - hacking up gobs of phlegm and blowing copious amounts of snot out of the faucet in the center of my face (in better times commonly known as a nose) - in an attempt to get rid of a rather nasty cold. This has been an unfortunate situation because we are enjoying some the best weather of the summer - pleasantly warm sunny days without a hint of the rain that has been the hallmark of the past 3 months. So, I kind of needed to forced myself to get out and soak up some sun.
That said, I didn't want to just wander around in the car looking for picturing opportunities. Consequently, before I set out I actually gave some thought to what I might picture. The "pure" natural world has not been holding me in a picturing thrall for a while so I turned my thoughts and attention to things of the hand of humankind variety. As a result, picturing on Main Street seemed like the thing to do.
I left the house with thoughts of a slightly vague notion - ever try to think clearly with a head full of snot? - of four corners dancing around in my head. It seemed like a novel approach to picturing Main Street - pick a spot on Main Street with a cross street and picture the place from the POV of each corner - 4 corners = 4 pictures. That's how it started but that's not how it ended up.
It ended up as 4 corners = 8 pictures. As I was picturing, it occurred to me that on each corner I could look across Main Street and picture the front of the buildings on the other side (which was my original intent) but, if I turned 90˚, I could also picture the sides of the buildings as well, which I proceeded to do.
Now I had 8 pictures instead of 4 and after processing them I started to lay them out in groups of 4. My initial thought as I was picturing was to make a 2 groupings - 1 of the building fronts and 1 of the building sides and that is what I did.
However, the result just looked too, for lack of a better word, "organized" or "straight forward". So, as I began to play with the groupings, it became obvious to me that mixing the front and side views was much more visually interesting and intellectually complex. The visual and intellectual result became something of a mental mind-game / visual jigsaw puzzle that really appeals to my eye and sensibilities.
I really like the result and plan to start a four corners series. I am especially excited about the possibilities of this approach for my upcoming trip to Tuscany (we leave next Friday). IMO, the hilltowns of Tuscany (not to mention the city of Florence) will make for very interesting subjects for this four-corners approach to picturing.
I would very interested to read your opinion on the idea - do you find it interesting? Or maybe you find it annoying. Whatever your opinion, I'd like to read it.
And, believe it or not, there is a repeatable (and quite simple) pattern to the presentation that makes perfect "sense". Anyone care to take a crack at figuring it out?
FYI, I have given you 2 opinions for viewing the pictures - the top 2 pictures can be embiggened separately (for more detail which might help with figuring out the pattern), or, the bottom pictures which embiggen as a diptych (which is how they would be presented in print).
Reader Comments (5)
What is it with America and those wires hanging in huge numebers in the air everywhere? Have you heard of diggers?
Like it. I always enjoy conceptual structures like this and the results are very interesting. Might have to try it myself.
You missed the third set, looking across the diagonals.
Seems odd seeing images here without the edge treatment.
Like the idea a lot. Not long ago, I tried a similar idea, except that I positioned myself at the center of the intersection and thought to photograph the four corners. Then I was moved to add the roadways in between. The result did not satisfy me, probably because it is a fairly busy intersection in a residential/commercial area, with buses roaring through every 10 minutes or so. Plus, I use a power wheelchair and felt rushed in executing this project, which I thought to continue on different days, seasons, and times of day. I will continue this effort, but plan to take a LOOKOUT! along.
Ouch! Great concept, but it's possibly TMI. Looks to me as if the presentation of diagonal images are from say the NW & SW corners of the street looking east, and the other diagonal pair are from NE looking SE, and the SE looking NE. The other set of four is the other permutations. A fun little puzzle.
Here's another way in which the camera "lies" to us. It takes something as simple and mundane as a street corner (or four) - which we can see in a few moments and make sense out of - and turn it into a complex arrangement that can be devilishly difficult to reconstruct.
Have a great time in Italia. Looking forward to seeing some of the images you bring home.