Shaped Still Life
The image above is actually the ceiling of a Starbucks I religiously observe coffee rituals at. I noticed one of the lamps was about ready to crash down on the head of an suspecting sipper and grabbed the shot. The whirl of the blenders was so loud I couldn’t make myself heard, so I just flashed my LCD screen tactfully at the barista. His eyebrows rose and he nodded.
This image turned upside down taught me once again the power of three dimensional thinking. The black and white study reminded me of the artists’ sculptures in the movie Beetlejuice?The long funnel looks like a sandworm from Dune and the hanging light (upside down it looks like an attentive dog looking at the funnel worm).
What is the ‘discourse” between these two creatures? What do they have to talk about?
Granted, there are not many cries in the streets for black and white still life studies of HVAC systems and components. But this image result is what you get when you get used to looking at the same image in a new way. I find this photo relaxing, but I don’t know why. Is it the lack of color? I’d like to see this image reproduced on pearlized paper to showcase the texture.
There is a dynamism present I can’t explain. This effect is completely removed the effect the shot has right side up, especially in the context of sipping humans, blissfully ignorant of the sword of Damocles lingering over their heads. The implicit animism from the shapes alone is a unusual surprise. Image captures like this one make me wonder what I missed all those years without a camera.
If I hadn’t snapped the shot,  I wouldn’t have had the option to turn it upside down. If I hadn’t had my camera with me, I wouldn’t have had the option. Without a decent camera, the shot would have been muddy and indistinct.
These are exactly the type of photos you are looking for to fill a portfolio in a manner that expresses your personality. With your separated categorical microstock shots lined up in their albums, there will always be room for a quirk factor. This quirk factor will showcase your eye, and your personality. Commissioners of certain types of jobs will be looking for this.
Keep your eyes open.
