“The Circus” — A sectoin of the historic Circus, Bath, England.
Perhaps you are thinking, “If that is a photo of a circus, where are the clowns?” It isn’t that kind of circus. This “circus” is a marvelous example of Georgian architecture in Bath, England. At a high point in the city a circle of fancy apartments wrap around a small, central park, broken only few narrow entrances to the inner area. It is hard (panorama photographs anyone?) to make a photograph of the entire structure without taking to the air, so I decided to focus on a small section.
“Brick Building, Chester” — A brick building in the sun, Chester, England.
A photograph may resonate in multiple ways and for many reasons. Sometimes the fact that it captures an interesting or important moment is sufficient, regardless of technical or esthetic quality. Or it might be about composition and the relationship among its component parts in the abstract. It might evoke a memory or an association. It could appeal on its intrinsic visual qualities — tonalities, light, color, and more. Many photographs work in more than one of these and others not listed here.
I made this photograph the English town of Shrewsbury. (More about that place below.) If a photograph is “about” something, this one is about more than one thing. To be sure, it is a record of a specific spot in a particular town, a doorway to a building with a sign for “Alfred Mansell & Co. Auctioneers.”It is perhaps a record of some history, too, given the old brick walls, the weathered doorway, and the cobblestones at the bottom of the frame. But most of all, I think it is about color, the “temperature” contrast between the warm tones of partially-sunlit bricks and the very cool blues of the doorway in shadow.
“Man on Steps, Dublin” — A man with a cell phone sits on stone steps, Dublin.
There’s a lot to see and do in Dublin, Ireland. Some cities seem rather sedate, but at least in the central area of Dublin where we spent time this past May, the streets and sidewalks were full of people — the place felt very alive. While a few day’s visit does not make me an expert — far from it — this city felt like it had a bit of an “edge,” which I think of as a good thing. All of this made it a fine place to do some photography in the streets.
Photographer and visual opportunist. Daily photos since 2005, plus articles, reviews, news, and ideas.
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