During my trip to Knoxville this past weekend I was able to take a picture of the Iconic Sunsphere. I took my first photo around 10:30 AM and then marked where I took the picture with a rock on the concrete. I came back to the spot almost exactly 12 hours later and took a picture in the exact spot in order to get the beautiful night lights. While visiting this city I was drawn to photographing this landmark because I have never seen such a unique structure.
The piece above is a picture of a sidewalk with a cityscape in the background, with a focus on a spherical tower. The photo seems to be a combination of 2 different times of day as well as a separate photo of the sky/sunset. The main skyline is taken from a nighttime photo to keep the night lights, but the tower and sidewalk are taken from the daytime in order to keep the information/details of the scenery.
ReplyDeleteThe work itself doesn’t seem to have a grander meaning to interpret, so mostly as a viewer we just see it as a technical representation. You could look into it as the photographer has a fondness for the location or is taking the photo to advertise the location. If we think about the ideas that why each part of the photo was used we could also infer that the artist is trying to present the best pieces of the location, by giving us the night lights of the city as well as the tower in all its detail.
It is hard to tell at first that the buildings are taken from the nighttime, so they are blended with the foreground well. The sky/sunset is the thing that stands out the most as added it, my eye is drawn to the blue reflection of the tower which isn’t realistic to the way the added sky would reflect on the tower. I also would've liked to see more of a focal point in the image, I think you could crop the bottom a bit because it feels a little empty as is, and cropping it I think would give more of a focus to the tower.
As stated previously, I think the best way to look at the photo is from the perspective of someone who loves the location and or loves architecture. I don’t think the piece itself is trying to make a commentary on our general society or culture, the goal it seems is to just provide a nice piece for the viewer to look at. Overall I would’ve liked to have seen more of a subject or goal of the photo but I also think photos that just want to look nice serve a deeper purpose and importance to our culture. It is nice to look at this amazing structure and skyline and be content with its charming presentation.
So in summary, I think the picture itself is charming, but I would like to see more in regards to expressing its subject, how each element is blended together, and the overall thought process when it comes to the composition to give a better emphasis on things like the tower.