Photographs which harness dichotomy
Photographs which harness dichotomy.
Although my craft that supports me is architectural photography, being an architectural photographer has trained me to be aware of my surroundings, always looking at scenes from a different perspective. This habit transcends into my fine art photography as well. As a fine art photographer I find myself often looking for scenes in which some sort of dichotomy is suggested. It may be overt or it may be disguised. But that moment of query by the viewer of the image; that moment of hesitation is what makes for a worthy image. Here is the definition of dichotomy:
1) division into two parts, kinds, etc.; subdivision into halves or pairs.
2) division into two mutually exclusive, opposed, or contradictory groups:
Here is a quote from Joe Baraban on dichotomy that nicely wraps it up:
“…..look for that which is unpredictable. Something that conveys more than one idea. It’s all about keeping the viewer interested in what we have to say. That could be in using Line to move the viewer around the frame, or entertaining him with interesting Patterns, Shapes, and Textures at a location you found; to name just a few……So when you’re out looking for ideas to shoot, keep a dichotomy in mind. Look for interesting parts of a puzzle that mean something totally different when photographed by themselves, but when added together convey a completely new and different meaning; that often works well together.”
Some of my favorite examples:
This one I shot while walking the streets of New York. I love the door in this back wall flanked by two other walls all of which contain nothing. That door in the back leads to, I suppose, the greener side of the mountain. I did have to drop the palm in back behind the wall to add a bit more curiosity
Door to Paradise
This one is a different perspective on the view of the Pennybacker 360 bridge in Austin overlooking Ladybird Lake. If you ever made the hike up here you would know that it is not to be attempted in shoes like this.
Pink heels at 360 Bridge Overlooking Pennybacker bridge in Austin
