Sunset on 7th Street

[Lorey]

I haven't posted lately because I haven't been doing much shooting lately. I was taking a few shots of a peaceful protest for a variety of injustices ongoing in the country nowadays. This scene caught my eye as I was leaving. To me it was just as interesting as the protest. I only got 2 decent shots of the protest and maybe I'll post them later. Any thoughts or comments on this will be appreciated.

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[Marko]

I like the comp as well as the perspective . The signs dominate which is what I'm guessing you wanted and it works well for me.
I like how Drive Thru 14th and 15 is closed for remodelling, not pandemic.
Moon works well in the shot -
the whole thing feels a bit moody - well done.

[Lorey]

Thank you Marko. What you thought was the moon is the sun, thus the name Sunset on 7th Street. The first thing that struck me was the mood so my first inclination was to try and capture that. The signs, the sun and the in general urban look together is what was attractive to my eye. The contrast of shapes. As you mentioned the signs with size and squared off edges dominate and the only other object with clear geometry is the sun which contrasts the signs shapes. The rest of the image is kind of just a conglomerate of lines and objects. I like how the power lines zigzag to take your eye to the background. Yes it's nice to see something not open for something other than Covid. I really appreciate your input.

[Runmonty]

I like this too Lorey.

The composition works well for me and is nicely balanced by the well positioned sun (my first thought was that it was the moon, until you correct Marko). The cluttered scene is not "pretty" but engaging nonetheless. Like you mentioned, the power lines add to the comp.

It reminds me of the work of another photographer, but I cant think of who it was. If it comes to me I will update the post

[Lorey]

Thank you RM. I appreciate your time to look and comment. I appreciate the complement. One photographer that has inspired and influenced me more than others is Stephen Shore. Not putting myself up with him but just saying he does a lot of this type of photography and his work has inspired me to try capture such like images when I see them. But i know he isn't the only one so you could be thinking of someone like him. Thank you again.

[edG]

All great American photographs have one thing in common: power lines. This is not, strictly speaking, true. But it often feels true, especially when you look at street photography. Electricity tends to follow our roadways, just like documentary photographers. So power lines inevitably appear in their pictures. And the way an individual photographer confronts them can illuminate his style of seeing. You can observe Walker Evans’s mastery with the camera, for instance, in his treatment of power lines. He admitted them into photographs not, like most of us, by unhappy necessity, but with formal artistic intention. No one was better at it than he was—except for maybe Stephen Shore. by Ben Crair in the New Republic from an article on Steven Shore.

I like the composition, it shows how our lives are cluttered with so much chaos and contradiction - all those power lines and not that many lights on.

[Lorey]

Thank you Ed. I like the clipping from the article. thanks for sharing this. I admire Stephen Shore's work quite a bit. I've taken a few intentional power line shots.