Archive for April 23rd, 2015

Photo Observation 10

JAPANESE_GARDEN__REFRECTION_50_by_hirolu

Source: http://hirolu.deviantart.com/art/JAPANESE-GARDEN-REFLECTION-50-159862826

I found this image in a really convoluted way. First I googled “surreal” to see what I was dealing with outside of Salvador Dali, and I saw a lot of pictures of islands floating in the sky. This made me think of Castle in the Sky, which I linked to Spirited Away (another pretty surreal piece of art), which made me think of Japan, and so I stumbled on some great Japanese garden scenes at night.

I guess gardens aren’t so impressive in the dark unless they are lit in interesting ways. This photo in particular feels surreal to me because of the reversal of expectations in the colors and brightness of the photos. The bright blue-white color of the tree makes it seem like it has almost been scratched out of the photo rather than an object that was already there. Against the greens of the other plants, it looks like a special or a magic tree. The mirror of the photo in the water below also makes me feel a little off balance, light-headedness, or a sort of floaty feeling.

I’ve labeled the light as “blue-white” in my key but I’m not sure if that’s correct–it could also be purple. I would have to know the color of the tree and rocks.

keya

Violent Light (Photo Observation)

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This comes off as surreal to me because the lighting here looks tangible. It’s so real that it transcends the ordinary boundaries of light. The way it strikes the girl makes it appear as if it’s impaling her or like it’s the trajectory of a weapon that could shoot her. And she is surrendering to it. In this photo, unlike many other lighting photos, the model has a direct relationship with the light in the photo, which is I think part of the reason it moves beyond reality.

 

lightplot

Stuck in a surreal moment

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Photo by Rych

Theme: Surreal

This is a photo of a Poland Spring delivery truck stuck in the snow outside my house. I took this photo because the moment had a strange feeling to it that reminded me of a a Gregory Crewdson photo. The arrangement of light and color along with the position of the people and vehicles gave this a surreal vibe for me.