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12/17/2004 04:28:12 PM · #1 |
Greetings once more...
"Searching for an Audience"
by: Brendan Rankin
This photo hit me like a ton of bricks when I found it in the October free study challenge. I, unfortunately, have already read Brendan's description with the photo, but he graciously removed it temporarily for use in this discussion. I have little doubt about the motivation behind this photo at this point, but I challenge you to investigate this idea with some effort. When Brendan re-posts his description that originally accompanied this image, I think you will also find a greater level of significance here as well.
John Setzler
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12/17/2004 04:32:59 PM · #2 |
The emotion that I get out of this picture is, Why is the guy looking up? The photographer shows you the big picture why he is looking up to me. It is like when you look up at the sky, everyone else looks up to see what you are looking at. Don't lie, I know you do it!
That is what I get out of it. |
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12/17/2004 04:35:44 PM · #3 |
I'll take a crack at it. The human element vs. the manufactured - the real humans vs. the human on the billboard - the rounded geometries vs. the right angles - and of course the stark stare of the billboard guy.
I'm sure I'm wrong on Brendan's "Why?", because my explanation lacks significance.
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12/17/2004 04:38:39 PM · #4 |
GeneralE or any other SC member:
I posted this to the wrong forum. Could someone move it to "Individual Photograph Discussion"?
Thanks :)
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12/17/2004 04:41:57 PM · #5 |
Well this one is different to the last photo for sure. I would be surprised if this was a simple case of 'looks nice, I'll shoot it'.
After 2 years of Art School, I learned quite quickly that i have absolutely no value of meanings in paintings - that was abundantly clear. Even when the meanings were told to me, I still didn't quite see it.
However, as a rough guess - to me (and that's what art is about?) it is strong - if I had to find a meaning then for me it would be that without the photo of Pierluigi Collina it's an otherwise deep depth scene, with people going about their daily business, minding their own and traveling around. The image alone would be quite good, with (as I said) depth and a certain level of business and goings on.
Now with the addition if Pierluigi Collina, the image is totally transformed - that becomes the focal piece to me, and is without a doubt the strongest element in the frame.
Thus, in real life in his position of a referee - they get in your way, they stop the flow, they annoy the viewer.
And, that is exactly what has been achieved in this photo, purely by the addition of his figure.
Classic.
Message edited by author 2004-12-17 16:43:21.
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12/17/2004 04:44:14 PM · #6 |
I try to not spent a lot of time getting into deep analysis on something like this. My first, and immediate reaction to this is that the eyes jump out and grab on to you and hold you, and while there, the lack of the top of his head mimics the "lack" of finite space in the overhead of the structure. A great example to me of one negative or unfinished space leading the way for the second.
(forgot to add reasoning:)
Much of this leads me to feel a hint of a higher power (for the lack of a better term) is being suggested and implied by the upwards emptiness in both areas of attention.
Message edited by author 2004-12-17 16:51:04.
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12/17/2004 04:46:36 PM · #7 |
Try to keep in mind that we aren't after critique. We are looking for possible reasons the photographer decided to shoot this scene :)
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12/17/2004 04:47:40 PM · #8 |
Searching for an Audience:
The title indicates an struggle within the artist. Perhaps he is misunderstood and has visions of creating art that will speak to others, but has seemed in the past to have fallen short of this goal.
The roof is not unlike an amphitheater. I am reminded of a stage. Once again a performance. Some people mill about aimlessly, looking to the images attached to the 'unseen' wall and still the lone image of a man staring back out into the theater states the aloneness that the artist is condemned to bear. Note that the people are far away. They have yet to see him. They have yet to come to witness what HE has to offer to them.
Black and white - Shades of grey. There are extremes here interplaying with the whole that a color picture would mask. Once again invoking the desire to be heard and understood, but feeling that there may be a futility in simply being here.
The high roof also invokes a feeling of being small. The perspective says "The world is a big place" Contrasted with the huge face, I see the artist feels that there is so much more inside, but the world has yet to see it.
Of course, there may be none of this anywhere in this image. I have made up my own story from what I have seen and I have exaggerrated the words to conjure an image that may take you by surprise or that you may agree with. Only the artist knows for certain if what he was communicating with the art has reached this viewer. ;-)
Edit: I should have given this photograph a higher score than a 7 when first I saw it.
Message edited by author 2004-12-17 17:07:15.
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12/17/2004 04:47:41 PM · #9 |
Posted against the picture itself (also) by accident...
Oh, I just love a challenge.
I've seen this place twice before, once entered into a challenge, I don't remember which one. I did comment on it then. However.....
Firstly, it works well in B&W, a little overblown in the ceilinng but.....
Its a litter tilted down to the left, I don't like that. I like the frame and the darkening of the inside border, it draws the interest towards the centre, where it should be.
OK, now for the artistic side of things...
A excellent viewpoint, the face in poster is very dramatic and dominating both in stature and in expression, gives a feeling of him being in control of the scene rather than the photographer. A big "Big Brother" ish.
Obviously a shopping mall, would have been better without the people, has a futuristic feel, given the architechture.
Emptyness while being whatched would have been better I feel.
That's it for now...
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12/17/2004 04:48:05 PM · #10 |
I'll give this a shot.
This is a free study so there was no underlying theme at hand. I doubt this was a purposeful shoot with planning beforehand as it seems very spontaneous with that candid feel. It has depth due to the long expanse of roof, which is also letting in a fair amount of light. I'm reminded of a cathedral. We have people reviewing a wall of possibly art, most likely photography due to the image facing us. So we have a photograph of people looking at photographs. The face in the corner gives us a clue as to the activity presented in the image. It's also fairly surreal and mixed with the expanse and lighting of the 'cathedral' the face almost exists as an overseeing presence. The title also adds to that feeling. The black and white makes it cold and inpersonal. Motivation of the photographer? There is a fore, middle, and background of a location he happened to be in, and the face was weird enough to be an interesting and unusual element.
Hrm, I think I failed the test :( |
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12/17/2004 04:49:09 PM · #11 |
As soon as I saw this I recognised Collina. From my days of rugby and soccer in high school I feel the admonishment which comes from a good stare by a referee. This picture makes me feel like I'm being judged. The photographer might have been searching for a bit of double meaning - judged for taking the photograph, judging other people and their search for meaning in it. There are many possible levels of interpretation on that theme, with circular reasonings and logic tied to cause and effect of the scene and the image.
Personally I get the feeling that it was taken to purposefully make the viewer uneasy and to force them to search for meaning in the face of this impatient, impetuous stare.
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12/17/2004 04:54:53 PM · #12 |
He thought it made an interesting composition?
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12/17/2004 04:59:47 PM · #13 |
Originally posted by jimmythefish:
As soon as I saw this I recognised Collina. From my days of rugby and soccer in high school I feel the admonishment which comes from a good stare by a referee. This picture makes me feel like I'm being judged. The photographer might have been searching for a bit of double meaning - judged for taking the photograph, judging other people and their search for meaning in it. There are many possible levels of interpretation on that theme, with circular reasonings and logic tied to cause and effect of the scene and the image.
Personally I get the feeling that it was taken to purposefully make the viewer uneasy and to force them to search for meaning in the face of this impatient, impetuous stare. |
Wow, hell am I glad it is him then after my lengthy evaluation :D
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12/17/2004 05:04:53 PM · #14 |
Aha! One of my favourites. Motivation? I'm pretty bored with seeing straight-on portrait photographs and so if I had the chance to combine a portrait with an interesting setting then I'd jump at it. Ironically, the portrait in this case is baseball bat stunning and would grab me by itself no problem. However, in this context it sets up a load of great contrasts: near/far, personal/impersonal, scale/scalelessness, etc. To top it off, there is even a threeway visual joke: the viewers of the exhibition, the viewers of the captured image and Pierluigi's eagle-eyed gaze looking back at all of us. That's motivation enough to take this photograph.
Ben |
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12/17/2004 06:15:35 PM · #15 |
Its a powerful/heavy image. Very thought provoking, makes you stop and think, especially how it is presented.
Its like he was walking in this building and then this scene hit him. I think the intention was to capture the scene to preserve those initial qualities while adding things such as the depth of the ceiling and the people in the middle ground.
To me this photo is intended to speak a message to the viewer, i am not really sure what the message is - my guesses would be something like captivity in a billboard or some quality of voyerism/ being watched or watching someone else. |
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12/17/2004 06:28:33 PM · #16 |
Two ideas spring to mind ...
The eyes are the window to the soul.
The infinite possibilities of the human mind.
Or even a combination of the two.
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12/17/2004 06:33:01 PM · #17 |
My hypothesis...
At the time, he was unsure why he took the picture and composed it as he did. It felt right and it may have occupied his thinking for the rest of the day, slowly realizing why it was a good photograph.
Loading it onto his computer, he realised that "yes, it was an exceptional photograph" and was exceptionally pleased that he had taken the time to photograph what seemed at the time to be something 'neat', but with more attention became something more than just 'neat'...it was realised to be something with meaning and depth.
in summary, capture followed by true realization.
Message edited by author 2004-12-17 18:33:59.
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12/17/2004 06:33:46 PM · #18 |
| If I really wanted to know why, I would PM the photographer. |
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12/17/2004 06:43:02 PM · #19 |
Look not into his eyes
Nor hear him speak
He steals the minds
Of those who are weak. |
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12/17/2004 06:48:39 PM · #20 |
I would say he shot this and chose the respective title because it seemed peculiar that such a vivid and emotive face on the poster didn't have anyone to communicate with. All the people are looking at the other posters on the other wall, or probably are just passing by without paying attention. And this guy is pretty lonely in that huge building with lots of people, with, seemingly, a lot of attention available.
And on a side note, I would say i don't agree for a second with Arcanist's analysis above, i can't say that a photographer themselves and _their_ state of mind, etc. can be judged by the pictures they take or subjects and circumstances for those subjects they choose.
I am also somewhat curious what is the purpose of these excersises? In a good sense, not saying they are useless or anything, just curious.
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12/17/2004 06:56:24 PM · #21 |
The moment this loaded on my screen, I gave it a 10. The eyes looking back at me seemed to say "Why are you looking into my world while I am looking into yours?" Basically I get a feel of a parallel universe with this shot. I think the photographer was try to convey a feeling that what we capture on 'film' is still a part of our universe in a voyuer kind of way.
-danny |
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12/17/2004 07:21:25 PM · #22 |
The question in this photo is what is on the other side of the constructed and pictured wall? I"m wondering if it was constructed in a mall or maybe a university where construction is going on in the hidden area. The wall thus serves to either hide what's going on in that area and/or detract attention from it with interesting looking photos.
At the same time, the photo shows leading lines from the roof straight into the area that is hidden and so is kind of an ironic juxtoposition. |
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12/17/2004 07:50:43 PM · #23 |
My first thought when I looked at this was Wizard of Oz. I thought it was a tv projection inside of a mall. And then I thought of the man, didn't know who he was. It looks like he is imprisoned within the poster while all the little people around him are allowed to wander freely. I found the whole thing interesting, the great man maybe was a slave to his greatness while ordinary people maybe aren't so caught in whatever it is that makes someone want to be famous so they don't get caught up in that situation. I went back to read the comments after the challenge.
I think the photographer was compelled to take the picture. Sometimes there is an opportunity presented to us that has such a strong impact, we would have to be very stubborn to not take the picture. The kind of picture we will forever kick ourselves over if we didn't at least try. |
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12/17/2004 08:11:55 PM · #24 |
I would love to hear about this being completely preconceived, but the setting makes me think that finding it was more chance. I can imagine myself walking through the mall and being stopped in my tracks by that piercing stare. The architecture itself has angles which could motivate me to want to take a picture as well. I don't think the composition was chance, so I'm inclined to think there's a real message underlying this image. I can't help but think the photographer wanted to convey some kind of a spiritual message with the bright upper highlights and the foreground face which is difficult to interpret.
I think the photographer took this image because the contrast between the architecture and face had a special meaning to them.
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12/17/2004 08:15:07 PM · #25 |
| At first I assumed (as it seems a few other here have) that the image of the man was part of a billboard. As I looked closer, it seemed to me that the perpendicular wall, the one stretching into the distance down the hall/aisle, might be covered with more photographs, and that the people watching from the left are studying them. So I this as the photographic exhibit is what is "searching for an audience" - and the intense portrait, staring out, gives face to that searching. Interestingly, in the photographer who took this shot (the one we're studying), they found an audience that extended beyond the walls of that gallery. |
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