This remarkable photo suffers from a number of significant problems, some of which may be challenging to remedy without sacrificing its essence and difficult beauty.
Light and dark are unbalanced, with most of the light concentrated at the bottom of the image, extending to the very edge of it and in several places. Except for a blown swath from the lower chimney (right) and an ambiguously faint one from the taller chimney (left), the structure of which, itself, is barely bright enough to be visible.
I also question the inclusion (partly by choice of perspective?) of the busiest area, and its blown-out illumination in particular, at the very bottom of the photo.
The horizontal line (causeway?) running perpendicular to and then into the border (bottom left to bottom centre) only stresses an unfortunate composition (here). As a dominant horizon line, it appears at the foot of the image, meeting the border. Yet the whole shot appears aligned between the vertical borders and the taller chimney on the left.
In fact, all efforts and attention seem to be bent on rendering a particular painterly effect in areas conducive to the task (the centre third, horizontally).
Here, however, the image achieves a superbly satisfying dark aesthetic. The warm muted tones (surfaces) brought out by the surrounding black, with a single swath of smoke sufficiently illuminated to show which way the wind blows. This and the given arrangement of surfaces, almost textureless tones, to me, are a rare find indeed and worth struggling with this entry. |
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