Being a photographer means much more than just taking pictures. One of my beliefs is that you should strive to be unique and to show your own perspective, preferably something other people haven't thought of. This goes with double force for places that are famous tourist attractions and have been photographed very often.
During this module I tried to find some unseen angles of places that are usually well-known in Bulgaria. One of my motivations was that I wanted to create something not that cliched and to try to show the places in a new perspective.
However, it didn't work out well with all locations. Some, on the other hand, had a lot of potential for development. This place, the Russian church in Sofia, proved to be really fruitful in terms of angles.
I have a soft spot for all kinds of reflections - especially puddles but not only - so once I am on location, I always look out for reflective surfaces. This church is surrounded by them - glossy shops, fancy restaurants with French windows and amazing view. I walk around that place almost on a daily basis on my way to the university and the city center. But before starting this module, I have rarely noticed the reflections, at least not through the lens.
The thing with reflections is that they are the natural double exposure in camera and they offer a great variety of options. I love using real reflections to manipulate the viewer and add in new aspects of the image. For example, the two images of the Russian church show two different aspects of the surrounding area.
The first one is in a shop window and my main motivation for taking this pic was the surveillance camera sign in the top right corner. The area is really fashionable and houses one of the most expensive hotels and restaurants in Sofia so the contrast between the surveillance of the camera and the overseeing of God looked almost comical to me when I saw the sign.
This church get photographed every day by thousands of tourists and I was dead-set on not using the most famous angle of it. So this one was a natural choice. Still, there was something in that image that troubled me. I disliked the cars in the foreground and the blueish look of it all. So I decided to come back and retake it.
 |
| Reflection in the window of a shop opposite the church |
A few days later, I was passing by the church and looking at the French windows of the shops and restaurants (and my own reflection, too, as a natural woman) when I saw how well the church and the surrounding area was reflected in the window of this restaurant - an expensive Spanish tapas bar and diner. It was big enough to have not only the church but the surrounding buildings (the building on the right is the Natural Science museum, built in the 1950s) and the contrast between the two. I didn't have my camera with me so I decided to come back and use this angle.
When I came again, I was surprised to find out that the window itself added another two layers of the image - the tapas and wine sign and the tables in the foreground and the church next to it in the reflection made me think of that Biblical story of Jesus driving away the merchants from the temple. The chandelier lights from the inside showed on the reflection and added another layer because they looked so much as the chandeliers used inside churches.
To me this angle (and obviously this window) worked much better than the previous one, both in terms of perspective and message. To me, there is much more to see here and much more to interpret.
Since I love experimenting (and I wanted to create another interesting image of the place), I continued roaming around to see if I can do better. Then I saw the flowers and decided to use a low angle.
Most tourists take a pic from afar - because the church has a wonderful small park around it and they plant different flowers in it each season. So the place is very picturesque. This year, they did even better as the flowers are lovely. So I got close (almost in the flowers and totally ignoring the keep off the grass sign for the sake of art) and did this. To me, it is much more tourist-oriented, looking more like a postcard but still it is an angle I haven't seen colleagues to use so I love the end result.
No comments:
Post a Comment