Real life doesn't have to be rustic. In fact most of the time nowadays real lufe is not rustic at all but simply post-modern. Full of the isolation in the crowd, the togetherness of solitude, and all the antitheses that characterize the city. It is *this* that turns some strange kind of thoughts on, so that the well known and perhaps unwished urban spirit dares ask all the questions that were tabus some generations ago. Like for example whether destruction is really that bad, or whether freedom is possible, or even if I should be allowed to go into sime church and play metal in front of the people there. You see, such questions are not formulated out of the comfortable rustic life but rather out if problems and neurotic states. Of course the answers will pressumably never be perfectlxy known but the questions themselves are very good for the generation of new movements. mostiof which are completely and utterly mad. (And that's why I like them ;-))
So, a dirty deserted street offers many too many moments of insight in post-modernity. That's my city, my streets, my neurosis, if you like. But I live in reality, no matter hiw mad ir even ill this reality might be. And thus the photo.
A photo doesn't have to convey anything positive. It can have its own version of "beauty" in such ugliness.
As about the sniper, I wouldn't really care that much being shot by hitmen or hitmermaids - as long as I am hit in focus! ;-) So, go hyperfocal! ;-)
Dear Nick Your feelings about this street I can´t see expressed in the photo. I have never cared for clean streets and facades full of fancy mannequins and cafés full of trendy people and mirrors either. I just can´t see this special rustic real life here in this one except from the dark thing on(behind) the roof looking like a sniper which suddenly makes it much more fascinating. A hitman or maybe a hitmermaid hired to "shoot" spiky rockers in Lucerne?;-) Anyway maybe this unknown hitmermaid is soon falling down from the roof being all dizzy. Cheers Annemette
Quite the contrary, this is noise, this is duat, tris is not so perfectly clean streets, and not so nice looking people, and old bars, and humans that have character instead if the standardized shine.
This is a city!
We don't need only "warm inviting" places but also some unknown bar for drinking a whisky with some of the hundreds of artists, scientists, intellectuals. I love it!
As about the suggestion, I am really curious to see how you mean it, so just feel free to alter the image anyhow.
You´re welcome, Nick. What I meant about gloomy was that it´s a street with wires, lights, stripes on the street- signals everywhere but very little atmosphere. Almost no people, no life. I´ve seen many other of your shots from Lucerne where the town looks so inviting with a warm and historic atmosphere. I like to play with images as you know and make a dull scene appear fascinating or different using the fantastic tools that are now available in photoprograms. It was merely a suggestion. Cheers Annemette
It's not very shiny, that's true, but gloomy? It's a typical street, one of those lying not very central, and are full of real life. Such streets are great to walk through, and also for experimenting in capturing extremely difficult light differences, like for example light on sky, and the street itself. BTW, cover the sky with your hand and see how suddenly the "gloomy" street is not gloomy at all.
As about darkening everything but the lights and the stripes, well, it would destroy the light difference which is one of the most interesting things in trying to capture a great dynamic range. And then, I wanted a real world scene. The street just as it looks.
But you can try that out if you wish and show us the results.
Oh, I think this is a gloomy street, but I like the lines in combination with the red lights that create balance. Had it been me, I would have tried to darken everything letting only the stripes and red lights visible and also the balakin/balustrade(?). Still that takes some work to make it nice. Best wishes Annemette
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