Alan Kaplan
December 2024 - Composition in Red and Green
Original
Original 3
About the Image(s)
There are only 2 “Original” images because I was unable to find the man in the green
(chartreuse) outfit in my files. I took his picture in Provincetown, Massachusetts, a town overrun with tourists every summer. I was lucky to get this shot when the crowd 0n the sidewalk across the street from me that was obscuring the man suddenly parted, and I used my only chance to raise my camera and take the picture. The picture of the doorway is the result of 3 rapid handheld photos processed in the HDR program Photomatix, and I used Photoshop to remove the bee from the flower. James Whistler painted a picture of his mother and titled it “Composition in Black and White,” but the art world had a different title in mind. I was not looking to tell a story here; I was hoping the result would be surrealistic.
10 comments posted
I love Ptown and go every summer, at least once or twice. And what a door you found, I remember there were many nice options along Commercial Street. And yes, it is chaotic especially on weekends.
The green man is terrific, on top of the tiled walkway and you added a nice shadow. Maybe a bit darker around his feet to ground him. The flower is a nice touch. You could even angle it down or hang it lower like a glowing entry lamp.
This image had me coming back more than once, which is always a good thing. Well done! Posted: 12/04/2024 15:47:02
The green man is terrific, on top of the tiled walkway and you added a nice shadow. Maybe a bit darker around his feet to ground him. The flower is a nice touch. You could even angle it down or hang it lower like a glowing entry lamp.
This image had me coming back more than once, which is always a good thing. Well done! Posted: 12/04/2024 15:47:02
I'm glad you like the image. The doorway was taken from the inside of a building in a ghost town in Namibia. Germans came to parts of Namibia to mine the minerals there and left after the mines were depleted of their riches. All was not lost. Today, Germans come to Namibia in the same way Americans go to Florida each winter. Posted: 12/04/2024 19:46:46
Hi Alan, I think the image fulfills your intention beautifully. I looked up Whistlers mother, and found another way to look at your image, too, more as an arrangement of elements. Somebody considered the footstool Whitlers mother rests his feet on to be the focal point of the image - here I think it may be the exquisite red flower that draws the attention first. Then I notice the person in contrasting greens framed in the doorway, and the sand and the sky, and step back looking at the scene from inside a dark room. I think that the composition with the two doorframes adds a terrific depth and an element of mystery. Posted: 12/07/2024 11:19:42
Your word "mystery" is so apropos because the HDR photo of the doorway was taken from inside a building in a ghost town in Namibia (see my response to Matt). Thanks for the info about the footstool. I did not know that. Posted: 12/07/2024 15:31:06
Alan, You have created a surreal image but there's something about it that feels off for me compared with your usual polished images. I find the green outfit on the tourist too jarring (although I can appreciate that may be your intention). I also wonder if there would be a way to integrate the flower more as it feels stuck on. Is it possible to integrate the patterns in the window to look more like branches extending from the flower or maybe having roots extending down along the doorframe into the floorboards. Posted: 12/09/2024 03:18:25
Thank you for your clear observations. I always wrestle with how much realism I should include in a surrealistic image. I generally think about S. Dali's "Persistence of Memory" attached here. Watches don't droop, and ants do not congregate on closed pocket watches. Also, there's a dead tree standing on something inanimate. In my mind, in my composite, the incongruity of the doorways, the man, and the flower make sense in a surreal world given that incongruity is both real and surreal--as my mind must appear to you at this point. I do like your idea of having the roots become part of the window, but I'll save that for another image. Posted: 12/09/2024 13:42:04
Alan, We all have a unique voice to share, in this case in images. Feedback in this forum, in my mind, is just for sharing the impact images have on us as the viewer. I am a huge fan of surrealism too. I prefer Magritte's style over Dalis given how "believable" his images are. It is that type of handling, which attempts to balance all the elements that draws me in the most. You do you, the group will continue to give feedback based on impact. Posted: 12/19/2024 21:16:10
As this is Digital Dialogue, I feel that responding to feedback is in keeping with the dialogue. I don't expect total agreement on what is said by the group, but I would hope that my replies to feedback are not taken as my being negative. I mean my replies only as continuing the dialogue . . . as I am doing now. We have written before about your being a Magritte person and my being a Dali person. I'm glad we do not think 100% alike on all things. If we did, there would be no dialogue. Happy Holidays. Posted: 12/20/2024 00:10:58
Hi Alan,
What a fantastic doorway to introduce and create a story!
The open door serves as the perfect element to guide us into the scene beyond: an arid landscape, a patterned sidewalk, a human figure crossing by, and the delicate touch of a flower.
I love the surrealism this image conveys, but I feel it could benefit from some refinement in terms of color harmony. Since you mentioned Dali as an inspiration, I encourage you to study how he harmonised colours in his surrealistic worlds-it might help enhance this piece even further.
I also suggest experimenting with some distortion, warping, or liquifying effects on the flower to make it feel more surreal. Regarding the walking man, his head aligns with the horizon line, which feels slightly unsettling-as if it's being cut by the line. Adjusting his position slightly higher could resolve this.
The green tone of the man's clothing and the red of the flower feel somewhat disconnected from the rest of the scene. Tweaking these colors might help integrate them better into the composition. Lastly, the man's shadow is too subtle, giving the impression he's floating rather than grounded on the sidewalk. On such a bright day, the shadow should be stronger to anchor him more convincingly.
This is a fascinating and thought-provoking image-great work!
Posted: 12/19/2024 10:18:18
What a fantastic doorway to introduce and create a story!
The open door serves as the perfect element to guide us into the scene beyond: an arid landscape, a patterned sidewalk, a human figure crossing by, and the delicate touch of a flower.
I love the surrealism this image conveys, but I feel it could benefit from some refinement in terms of color harmony. Since you mentioned Dali as an inspiration, I encourage you to study how he harmonised colours in his surrealistic worlds-it might help enhance this piece even further.
I also suggest experimenting with some distortion, warping, or liquifying effects on the flower to make it feel more surreal. Regarding the walking man, his head aligns with the horizon line, which feels slightly unsettling-as if it's being cut by the line. Adjusting his position slightly higher could resolve this.
The green tone of the man's clothing and the red of the flower feel somewhat disconnected from the rest of the scene. Tweaking these colors might help integrate them better into the composition. Lastly, the man's shadow is too subtle, giving the impression he's floating rather than grounded on the sidewalk. On such a bright day, the shadow should be stronger to anchor him more convincingly.
This is a fascinating and thought-provoking image-great work!
Posted: 12/19/2024 10:18:18
Maria, Thank you for taking the time to respond to my composite. Feedback is what Digital Dialogue is all about. Please allow me to respond to your observations. I have admired surrealism since I was first introduced to art at a young age by my parents. They never stressed a story in the works they shared with me, and possibly, as a result, I aim to avoid stories. It can't always be helped (as you will see in January). I cherish Dali's "Persistence of Memory" as my guidepost. There seems to be no story in the watches. I do not wish to copy Dali's color harmony, nor do I wish to distort images for the sake of distortion. My vision of surrealism is the juxtaposition of objects that are inherently different creating a feeling of disequilibrium in the viewer. When you have a quiet moment, Google the following surrealist painters: Michael Cheval for rich imaginative images; Nguyen Dinh Dang for incredible color harmony among disparate images; and Giorgio di Chirico for his use of shadows. I minored in Art History in college, and to this day I continue the love of art my parents instilled in me. I agree with you about cutting off the man's head. I'm usually more careful about that, but this composite had many iterations. I simply lost track. Posted: 12/19/2024 20:29:36