Saturday
Dec092006
Stephen Durbin
Saturday, December 9, 2006 at 11:57AM 
The image here is part of an ongoing night photography project. I seem to be especially drawn to interesting lighting around windows, and I also like the geometric shapes formed by building facades like those here. In this case I was originally shooting the window on the right as main subject, but when I stepped back and saw the far church appear, a new composition was born. Mainly because of the church, I like this one in color, though I usually work in monochrome. I have to say that, for me, this verges on being a "pretty picture," as has been much discussed on this site. What do you think?
See Stephen's superb BW photography
Reader Comments (4)
This reminds me of your Anasazi photos for some reason. I am not sure if it is the rising shape of the church being similar to the sandstone or the color being similar to the sandstone. It is just evocotive of those photos on your site to me for some reason.
What an interesting comment, thank you! The similarity never really occurred to me, though in terms of the space portrayed, I suppose the walls have a similarity to cliffs as well. And in both there are built structures but no people, though the openings in the Anasazi dwellings are dark in the Anasazi, while some are lit in this picture. I'll think about it further, but meanwhile I'd like to hear anything else that comes to mind for you.
The Along Sourdough Trail series reminds me a little of Thomas Joshua Cooper.
Not in any obvious way, rather the sense of space and the way near and far, and transparent and solid, become confused. I'm guess I'm thinking say of 'autumn streamdrift snared' in particular.
The Ghost Light series is simply wonderful, and I kept going back to it: Light, tonality, space and texture is all there. The photos just resonate.
Toby
I appreciate your comments. It's clear to me that presentation of space is important to me, though I'm not generally thinking about it at the time of capture. But it certainly influences what appeals to me, and it's very interesting to hear how someone else views it. Thanks also for the pointer to Thomas Joshua Cooper. I didn't know of him, but really like the work I've glanced at so far. I'll definitely be going back for further study.