On 3/14/2012 16:57, Bob W wrote:
From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Charles Robinson Can someone explain to me what it is about that photo which they like? I don't mean to sound rude, but for me it's dull as dirty dishwater. "Slice of life" which is great if you have ever visited there or lived there and want to remember a feeling, but as a photograph in its own it leaves me bored.
(snip snip what lots of people read already)
In the case of this particular photograph, he has recognised in a fraction of a second the organic form of the staircase, which is like a snail's shell, and one of the 'golden' shapes based on phi. The steps themselves recall Duchamp's Nude Descending A Staircase.
I didn't feel comfortable getting that specific - but it is what I thought (hadn't seen your nice post until after I wrote mine)
It's overlaid with various
other geometric forms - the railings, the cobbles, the curve of the kerb etc. to form a highly abstract, cubist composition. A cyclist has whizzed into this and looks as though he has launched from the stairs themselves, or from the railings like a kid who has slid down, and this brings a sort of playfulness to the final shot, which would have been dull and pictorial without it. The cyclist's blur contrasts the speed (and evanescence) of life with the eternal fixedness of the geometry and the imprisoning bars.
What he said - better than I could so I'll stick to photos. ann
That is my summary reading of it, but there's nothing privileged about that reading, or about any other. Different people react in different ways and can bring their own readings to any picture. What is probably more important is to be able to discuss their interpretation in a way that says something interesting about the picture - if there is anything worth saying about it. That's why people talk about art appreciation, rather than liking or disliking. You can appreciate it without necessarily liking it. B
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