First Blog Post- A Picture of Interest

New York Noah

This is a fellow crossing the street in the Chelsea area of Manhattan. Maybe he's going to a meeting. Maybe he's going to work or home from work. It was near mid-day on a weekend day; not all the shops were open and restaurants were just setting out their chairs.

I like the man's shape, his hat, his back and not being able to see his face. In particular, the duck handled umbrella sticking out of his book bag attracted me to him. I like that the man is in mid step and that he's not walking across the cross walk but diagonally through it. I like the duck looking in the opposite direction.

I don't like the overall composition of the picture. The man is in the center and there are distracting things in front of him a like the mailbox and the woman in red. There's a lot of road in the photo. To improve it, I'd crop it - maybe from the bottom &/or the right.

The photo gets me to wonder who the man is and if is he burdened by something; why does he have this odd duck handled umbrella. It ellicits some feelings of curiosity and empathy.

I think his hat and torso attract my eye first. I'm not sure what the visual focal point is except my eye goes down the man's back to see what's in his left hand.

The story it's trying to tell is that whimsy and surprise are present in gray, tired places/people. The duck may be the central character!

The main source of light was the mid-day sun up to the left on an overcast day.