June 2012
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The story behind it
01/06/2012
We are going to Antwerp, for a visit to FoMu (FotoMuseum). The day is grey and cold, though being the end of May. Brussels is silent. The plan is going to the excellent Photography Museum and then having a hot chocolate at our favourite café in town. At Midi station, in Brussels, I kill time with two photographs, before the train. When we get to the Museum entrance, in Antwerp, "Closed" because of some event! I did confirm timetable and dates the day before and there had been no indication of it being closed. We ended up sipping Art at the Modern Art Museum (MoMA) and the hot chocolate after a long walk. It was good.
Comment
Technical issues
01/06/2012
This double exposed photo results from two photographs, taken with the DSLR, at 400 ISO, f/6.7 and 1/180s. This multi-exposure function is one great thing of many Nikon DSLRs, and this is just very powerful. For the final photograph I kept the composition and only inverted the camera, in-between the two. I guess I had the eye for making it almost absolutely symmetrical.So the big thing with this photo is the double exposure, the careful composition, inversion and alignment. Because of the double exposure, I just increased contrast, colour vibrance, and added two ND-grads, in post-processing.
Critial review
01/06/2012
The technique resulted in subtle graphical fusion between highlights and shadows, ending-up with dominating skies at the top and bottom. The middle part, due to the double exposure and inversion, kept colour and shadow content. The diagonal lines, from the rails or electrical lines, are opposite. All corners are "used" with nearly B&W information, contrasting with the condensed and colourful middle. The red towers seem to cut with all of this.Reading the content, for those that know Brussels, you can identify some of its iconic buildings: the Town Hall tower, the Cathedral, the Finances Tower...and the colours!
Where you should place it
01/06/2012
This being a predominantly high-key photograph, I suggest the hanging on as dark context, with or without a frame or pass-par-tout. It has a native size of 22 cm x 33 cm, bearing an upsampling with no problems until something like 30 cm x 45 cm. With a lambda print, larger.In a house of someone with a link to Brussels, and that has found the colours and the multiple realities of this city.
