for the love of DC photography
It’s officially Summer. This photo by Chris Suspect reminds me of the endless summer shenanigans of youth. The ones that are filled with spontaneous decisions we might not have made sober but the ones that became fun anecdotes we reminisce about with friends. The moment in which the person is captured is frozen is an odd and interesting motion that keeps me focused in the frame.
John Morris‘ image places us in a quiet, nostalgic scene. The imagery is much different from what I see and hear out the window next to me—the wind whistling under the uneven sills and tree branches struggling before a gust breaks them. John’s photo is one that many of us can relate to and while I find myself distracted with my present, this landscape is a reminder of wistful memories.
Flickr user Tadael Tadael “caught these two gentlemen reminiscing in Dupont Circle.” They seem like old friends, he suggested. I think he’s right. I am drawn to images of nostalgia—they make me feel warm and comforted. Here, that same warmth and comfort are reflected by the quality of light cast on the two men. The tone of the image suggests an older generation of photography, in which film was the only way to capture an image.
I can’t exactly articulate what this photo reminds me of but, I am drawn to it’s nostalgic nature. The treatment of the the image creates an artificiality to the scene, which invites my mind to create a narrative within the single frame.
I’m in awe of how Kevin Wolf uses light in these two photographs. His fireworks image isn’t solely about the sparkling bursts of lights that are usually depicted in such shots—it focuses instead on the people enjoying the show. And I can’t stop staring at the night sky in his second photo, Star Gazing.
[Update – 9:00pm, July 15 2015: at the request of the photographer, we’ve removed the second photograph.]