People and Space 7

Here's my second post for the "Solitary" challenge of the Daily post on wordpress.com.

To the casual observer and the occasional snapshot shooter, photography could be seen as a passive activity. You take your camera along and when you run across something interesting, you frame it in the middle of the viewfinder and click. You're just documenting what's happening in front of you. So many comments you hear reinforce this widely held belief. How often have you heard something like this?: "Wow, that was a lucky shot!" Sure, sometimes luck plays a part in capturing a great shot, but for the most part, the really successful photographer separates him or herself by knowing where to be and when.

But more importantly, there is a lot more planning that goes into good photography than just picking a good spot and standing by waiting. When I go shooting I already have a number of themes I want to shoot for. One of my favorites is singling out individuals and juxtaposing them against interesting backdrops and spaces. 

The photo above is a good example. This was actually a crowded venue and I wasn't having the easiest time singling out and isoloating interesting individuals. Then I saw the red wall and the business person standing against it, but rather than focusing on him, I decided to push him all the way to the edge of the frame. As I hunted around for an interesting composition, I saw the back of a stage with lots of angles and the padlock... Bingo! There is my composition and the elements for my narrative: Business person isolated, busy reading on one side and lock on the other. I created tension by forcing a visual relationship that wasn't there.

My goal with this exercise is to create thought-provoking images. What conclusions you come up with looking at this? I would love some feedback!