I was inspired by Janet's End of Autumn shots. We seem to be drawn to many similar types of image. These were my attempts this past Fall.
Rachel Ann Foster: Autumn Leaves Still Life
Hi Rachel,
It's great the Janet is influencing you. she has a great effect on all of us!
Your three pictures each use the same construction arrangement of the object of interest intruding into the frame from one side and then leaving most of the rest of the space to the empty space, in the first images, blue sky, in the third, mostly darkness. When you do that, we have to invest effort into discerning and weighing the proportions and form of that pattern. In the first two cases, it appears to be rather random and to me, at least. is not that unique nor impressive.
This last picture, however, like having a pole coming out of the subject's head, perhaps, makes one sit up and pay attention. After all, you could have swung the camera to the left and framed the leaves to sit well in a more ideal position. So you are giving the idea of the leaves penetrating the frame or invading that space or else escaping from it. By any explanation one might give, one is trying to find a reason or cause for the disorder. So this disturbance is what energizes the picture to make it get our attention. Yes the leaves are of course enjoyable but their identity gets subsumed in the turmoil of understanding the nature of the unstable positioning the subject currently holds.
So what do we have? It does not glorify God or ask for our values to be re-calibrated on some social matter. It's not really beauty although it does contain some beautiful elements, the developing droplet of water hanging on the leaf, about to fall on the one below, perhaps. So maybe there's a touch of a narrative of something about to happen or not happen. Maybe the drop of water will be taken by the heat of the sun or the thirst of a humming bird.
Still, there's not much of that and the main element of the picture remains it's disorder which disturbs us. That is it's framework and serves as a limited opportunity for the brain to do a few exercise laps on an mental athletic track. Art can do that too.
Asher
