Uncommon Grace: Architectural Treasures of Central Europe by Steven Scardina
From Uncommon Grace: Architectural Treasures of Central Europe by Steven Scardina
From LensWork #43
© 2002 Steven Scardina. All rights reserved.
Reproduced with the permission of the photographer.
Commentary
I simply love dissecting photographs like this one for all that it has to offer. Perhaps that's why I enjoy writing these Image Discussion comments. Photographs, unlike the speed of life, offer the unique opportunity to pause and look more carefully at relationships and details that we might ordinarily miss.
The title of this image by Steven Scardina is Door with Shadows, Lublin, Poland, 2001. It would be difficult to miss, therefore, the door or the shadows. But look at all the additional details there are to see that bring richness and texture to the image. There's the architectural sculpture of the face near the top of the photograph; the board that is sealing the doors closed; this unexplained, isolated capital P inscribed on the left wall; the snow on the ground, but also the snow on the rim ledge left of the door that is missing from the right of the door; the understanding we gain about the shape of the wrought iron as a result of the shadow it casts above the door; the shadow of a second unseen lamp housing that tells us something about the architecture outside our field of view; the unidentified black square in the right wall; the patches in the cement surface of the walls — there is so much to see that might go unnoticed if we simply glanced at this scene walking past it.
Part of what makes all of these observations so interesting is the resulting questions that are left unanswered. What building is this? Why is it boarded closed? What is the significance of the sculptural head above the door? What does the mysterious capital P indicate — and who put it there?
Sometimes it's terrific when a photograph can explain a little bit of the world to us in the clarity that is available almost exclusively to the photographic image. At other times, like in this photograph, it's the unanswered questions that make the image so compelling.
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Discussion
Add your comments and observations to the discussion by using the "Comments" link at the bottom of this post.
This is a excellent example of an image that deserves to be viewed at two levels - overall and detail. Perhaps most images are really like that, but in this case I saw the image without the detail. So it was the shapes, the direction of the light, the contrast blocks, the square format that I first noticed - and found it a not quite satisfying balance. Then I read Brooks' comment and reread the image in a different way. I hadn't clocked all of the details and their importance to the overall impact of the image. But now the combined effect of the overall composition with the fascinating details make this a very strong image. And that's why considered comments on an image can be hugely helpful to others (me) in appreciating something that might have otherwise been passed over. This was quite an eye-opener for me as I personally always believe that both elements are important in my own photography. I'd missed it in this image. Perhaps the small image size manages to diminish the importance of some of the detail?
Posted by: Steve Gledhill | 03/03/2012 at 07:24 AM