HansAlbert
New member
Re: A Different Path
A photo from Manhatten taken on a September 11th! What does that mean?
As subject matter we see a busy street scene with a rhombic composition: To the walker in the front – on the move, somewhat stoic, and apart from all others "on a different path" – corresponds as a counterpoint a man on the stairs sitting there with a shoe taken off, a bandage around his foot, looking at the scene. And the two groups of passers-by correspond with each other as well, by way of opposition. While the band on the right are standing, having a chat together, the people on the left are on the move, each going their own ways. The tattoo and piercing studio on the left and the Irish Pub on the right identify the place (St. Mark's Pl.) and refer to its urban culture.
What is the subject of this photo? I take the space arrangement of the composition (street, sidewalk, backdrop) to be essential for a meaningful reading: The (quasi perpetual) walker on the street is a passer-by of the city as a whole, not a direct observer but an inspirer for the viewer to regard the city in the dimension of a timeline, thus creating a distance to it from his "different path" and making us comment the scene behind him. His resting counterpart on the stairs within the urban backdrop symbolically personifies the view of the city as a whole at its inhabitants represented by the passers-by on the sidewalk. Being put off one's stride by a little injury while life goes on – that is then the implicit subtext of the photo. Like the human body is marked by a tattoo that day of the inferno is imprinted in the memory of the city, but its 'will to life', the vitality of the people is nevertheless going strong, and "addiction nyc" may be translated by the viewer of this photo as "declaration of love".
A photo from Manhatten taken on a September 11th! What does that mean?
As subject matter we see a busy street scene with a rhombic composition: To the walker in the front – on the move, somewhat stoic, and apart from all others "on a different path" – corresponds as a counterpoint a man on the stairs sitting there with a shoe taken off, a bandage around his foot, looking at the scene. And the two groups of passers-by correspond with each other as well, by way of opposition. While the band on the right are standing, having a chat together, the people on the left are on the move, each going their own ways. The tattoo and piercing studio on the left and the Irish Pub on the right identify the place (St. Mark's Pl.) and refer to its urban culture.
What is the subject of this photo? I take the space arrangement of the composition (street, sidewalk, backdrop) to be essential for a meaningful reading: The (quasi perpetual) walker on the street is a passer-by of the city as a whole, not a direct observer but an inspirer for the viewer to regard the city in the dimension of a timeline, thus creating a distance to it from his "different path" and making us comment the scene behind him. His resting counterpart on the stairs within the urban backdrop symbolically personifies the view of the city as a whole at its inhabitants represented by the passers-by on the sidewalk. Being put off one's stride by a little injury while life goes on – that is then the implicit subtext of the photo. Like the human body is marked by a tattoo that day of the inferno is imprinted in the memory of the city, but its 'will to life', the vitality of the people is nevertheless going strong, and "addiction nyc" may be translated by the viewer of this photo as "declaration of love".
