Circles of My Confusion

theworldwelivein:

Burano-Venice-0007 (by David Cunningham)

Beautiful shot of one of the 3(?) small islands around Venice. The composition is wonderful; the chosen scene portrays multiple layers of the village’s inherent beauty - the richly-colored houses (both in light and shade), the quaint canal running through the middle and reflecting the sunshine-laden side of houses. A wonderful choice of subject matter by the photographer. But the composition also tells a story, which is what I find the most fascinating: the choice of camera placement, time of day, viewing angle & framing, subject matter, large DOF so everything is sharp,etc.; all these technical choices combine in just the right way such that the photo tells a story, or many stories. All is of course open to interpretation…

What stands out the most for me regarding this element of a ‘story’ is the significance of the photographer having chosen the canal as the center line through the scene; by placing the canal up the center in this way, the water takes on the role of dividing the scene into two different ‘worlds’ - one on either side of the canal. This placement of the canal immediately heightens the viewer’s awareness - or at least it did mine :o) - of the various contrasts between either side of the central canal. We notice that the sunshine-laden side contains activity and people positioned down its entire length; specific objects - such as the flowers in the sill of the open window, the clotheslines hanging from some windows above, adds further to the generally open, inviting nature of the right side. The reflection of the houses in the water provides a feeling of spaciousness, as does the blue sky, which - due to the photographer’s choices in framing the scene - appears only above this right side of the canal. Evenly-spaced wooden sticks in the water lean against the right pavement and point diagonally toward the houses and sky; these tall sticks appear to frame the right side of the canal as distinct & set apart from the rest of the scene. For me, the angle of the sticks and the direction in which they are pointing form an invisible arch that envelopes and isolates the right side of the canal and sky above it from the rest of the shot.

What we see across the canal is a world that lies in stark contrast to the right side. While the left side is also lined with beautifully-colored houses and an attractively-patterned pavement, everything is covered in shade; nothing wrong with shade - in fact, from a purely aesthetic viewpoint, the photographer’s choice of time of day and the ways he manipulates natural light is a major contributor to the sheer beauty of this work. But back to the ‘storytelling’ interpretation: in addition to everything being covered in shade, there are no people or signs of activity; no colorful objects like flowers in window sills or clotheslines hanging from houses. The houses, while dressed in rich colors, appear in all other ways quite cold and uninviting; lack of natural sunlight adds to this, but so too do the facts that all windows, shades, and most shutters appear closed, & that no people are visible. Instead of containing spacious reflections of the houses, the left edge of the canal is filled with small boats, positioned very closely together, which adds a sense of closed-in crowdedness. The camera position and viewing angle further adds to the small, closed-in, cold sense of the world on the left side of the canal; while the right side stretches along the entire length of the canal - curving through the entire depth of the scene - the left side is a very short stretch of 5-6 houses, the tops of which are cut off by the framing, thus preventing the appearance of any open, space-providing sky above the left-side; this of course adds even more to this side’s curious, claustrophobic character. A final characteristic of the ‘left world’ that further heightens its crowded, uninviting quality is the fact that its pavement and line of houses are convex, appearing to ‘press’ into the rest of the scene; by comparison, the concave curve of the ‘right world’ emphasizes its open, inviting quality.

So what is the story of this photograph? -> “If you decide on moving here, stay on the right side of the canal - more light, more space, nicer neighbors..trust me” :o)

No, but in all seriousness - Wow!! Great photographer, great photograph!!

Love it!!