Wheelbarrow in mono.

-- ChrisYeatman - 01 Mar 2009

I took this in November '08 and converted to mono. I just can't decide if it's interesting or not. Any thoughts gratefully received.

02 Mar 2009 20:49:49 RodBird:

Mmmmm. Well, as barrows in hedges go, this is definitely in my top ten.

It's a very strong print with areas of complete white (the bramble stem in the foreground) and full black (the shadows in the barrow). Usually such a contrasty treatment would have been over the top, but as the areas of extreme bright and dark are very small you've just got away with it.

So what about the image? The sharp area covers the brambles, the near face of the barrow and its handle - the rest is well defocused and thus doesn't command our immediate attention. The bramble stem, and then the curves of the barrow frame and its handle, lead us up into the sky area. Now, although luminaries such as Charlie Waite say "never break the horizon", this provides a link between the largely empty (and yes, reader, we'll return to this later) top of the photo and the more cluttered lower half. And in my book, that's OK.

But as I'm musing on the possibilities thus introduced, I keep being dragged away into speculation about the ghostly apparation leaning out of the window of the building. Who he? He's apparently looking away from us, which only increases the mystery.

Leaving him to his ethereal business, the elephant in the room keeps making its presence felt. The telephone lines. Occasionally they can have a useful graphic purpose - a metaphor for communications, or speed, or whatever - but in most cases they look like "things I'd have cloned out if I'd had the time or ability". Here, despite the fact that they provide a balance to the bramble stem and fill in what would be an otherwise bland sky, I fear they fall into the second category. But others may disagree.

Whether they do or not, it's another picture which makes us think.

---

02 Mar 2009 23:04:50 MikeKiely:

Agree with Rod, re the telephone lines. I'd never qualify as a judge - I never spotted the 'apparition'. Bits of the building do distract slightly due to the brightness, but the same lighting is also illuminating the foreground very well (apart from the distracting bright bramble stem). But you have to put some of this aside. To me it is has a real melancholic edge. A barrow is a dependable, unsung workhorse. This one has clearly seen better days, and is now cast on the heap. A metaphor for life perhaps. I too have been drawn to capturing a (working) barrow. I'll try to post if I can find it. Your picture was clearly taken in an area unserved by excellent Council recycling and waste disposal facilities! Michael. --- Update, found the image. I was at Hughenden for a smattering of snow when I took my barrow shot. A couple of weeks later the South East was crippled by snow. My own interpretation of your pic is that it clearly has a lot more to say. Cheers.

---

02 Mar 2009 23:11:46 RodBird:

One small point Chris - the image is 800 pixels high which makes it too tall to fit on a single screen. I need to scroll up and down to see it all. Perhaps 700 or 600 px would be better.

---

03 Mar 2009 07:01:18 JohnAshford:

Thus!

---

07 Mar 2009 11:46:18 ChrisYeatman:

This is the original. Simple question: Is the mono better than this? Thanks for all your other comments BTW.

09 Mar 2009 20:00:35 JohnAshford:

The 'phone wires are less obtrusive in the colour version, which is odd. I guess this image is in the 'worth a try' but not 'work of art' category. Get someone to spend hard cash on it though, and of course I will rethink that subjective assessment.

As Rod says, if we had a thematic competition for barrows in hedges this would score . . .

---

---

Add your comments here

You need a username and password to do this. Members of Maidenhead Camera Club should contact the webmaster or the club committee to get registered.

---