Today I am feeling kinda glib; maybe it is too much art theory on my mind. I just took this photo last week when I was in the smokies (tennessee, south carolina)
what struck me was that I liked the image. I was driving down the road and had to stop and back up. I do have a pang of guilt in that I never left the car - just rolled down the window and pointed my nice big lens in the right direction.
That night I looked at the photo and thought how much I liked the picture and yet how simple it had been to take. Then the sarcastic art critic in me had a go -
The art critic goes: Notice the "V's" in the church with the entry roof outline and then the matching main roof angle and then the spire on top. Then look at the hills behind and how they come down in a "V" to mirror those of the church and help bring the focus back to the center of the picture. Then, of course, there is the red door offset by the blue sky.
Way too much thought for something that just caught my eye. But that seems to be a part of our heritage. Must we suffer for something good to happen? Did you know that Ansel Adams shot a lot of his famous shots from his car or the side of the road? He had one of those old wood paneled 1950's cars that were called a Woody. On the roof he built a platform. There is a picture of him in the Rockies where he has pulled over to the side of the road and is standing on top of his car with his big old camera equipment. Haul those things all over the place - not when he didn't need to. Then his series of waves on the pacific coast.... pulled off the side of the road and looked down. So, should I feel guilt. I dunno, I just felt like this picture was there waiting for me to take it.
