Solitude

[Tom Dinning]

There's something about the single human figure in a grand landscape that strikes at the heart of our humanness. A sense of vulnerabilty, a feeling of loneliness, some concern for our insignificance and a primal urge to photograph it.

DSC_1903 by tom.dinning, on Flickr​

 

[Jarmo Juntunen]

Hi Tom, what a remarkable picture! This scene makes me feel anxiety for the poor woman. The building seems so huge, so threatening and there is no free space anywhere to be seen. A good comment on the lost nature-human relationship, if you ask me! Thank you for sharing this.

 

[Asher Kelman]

There's something about the single human figure in a grand landscape that strikes at the heart of our humanness. A sense of vulnerabilty, a feeling of loneliness, some concern for our insignificance and a primal urge to photograph it.

DSC_1903 by tom.dinning, on Flickr​

Tom,

Allow me to look in a different way.

Yes, this picture is powerful but how about less as more? I think the horizontal form by removing almost all the building above 1 cm or so above the head. It does not need the building to make the figure seem alone. The building is so powerful in itself that it becomes the subject.

Asher

 

[Tom Dinning]

Tom,

Allow me to look in a different way.

Yes, this picture is powerful but how about less as more? I think the horizontal form by removing almost all the building above 1 cm or so above the head. It does not need the building to make the figure seem alone. The building is so powerful in itself that it becomes the subject.

Asher

When I took the shot the building was the subject of my interest. There was no-one around when I started shooting. I wanted to give a sense of scale without taking in any foreground which was simply much of the same. I cropped in the camera to ensure the viewer would hav no idea where the building started or finished. It became an image of form and light with an obvious architectural and metropolical feel. Then this bloke with the phone popped his head over the balcony and I knew the shot was complete. Scale was established, dominance of the building was reinforced, contrast presented itself in a timely manner.
One cannot deny oneself of such opportunities, irrespective of what others might think.
The original photo doesn't have a title. The post needed one. MAybe you could suggest a better one.

I think you saw what I saw, Asher. We just thought about it in different directions. I like that.

Cheers
Tom

 

[Tom Dinning]

DSC_1479 by tom.dinning, on Flickr

In contrast, the student in this shot has sought solidude fro the 'white noise' of society so she might be more in tune with here own needs. The setting, the colour, the books, the light all envelope her in a protective cocoon. Even the window seems far out of reach so as not to bring the outside world in.
The space that surrounds the person in each photo is as important if not moreso than the person but both are needed to clarify the idea.
I often find myself in moments of solidude when I photograph. Each situation presents itself as a set of circumstances in which I am a single component. The story I want to tell is of each of these solitary moments. Some give comfort, others not.
MAybe you have some examples as well.

 

[Jerome Marot]

Maybe you have some examples as well.

This?

​