Fine Art Street Photography. Behind the Photo No 8: Miserable Day

Rain Man:  Millenium Bridge, Central London

Part 8 of Behind the Photo……. delving into the world of extreme weather, extreme moodiness, gloom and doom and abject misery? Is this photo any good, does it tick all the boxes, just some…......or none at all. Is it a masterpiece or just another also ran street photo with some pretentious Fine Art Street leanings. 

 This photo was taken near the Millenium Bridge but sort of underneath.... in the dead of winter when it just seemed to be like this everyday. Not hot off the press but still recent. 

BASICS 

How was it taken? Shot upward through rain drop spattered glass. Not the best thing to do when it's raining with a camera. 

Camera Used: Nikon S9100. It didn't enjoy this day at all and packed in hours later. 

 Focal Length: EXIF says 25mm FF equiv. It's a proper wide angle job. 

 Weather Conditions: Awful. Heavy rain, grey, limited light, depressing! Didn't want to be out there, neither did the camera. On days like this you do question your sanity and why you are out there doing this madness but the results speak for themselves. 

 POSITIVES 

 Composition: 

Rule of thirds not really the subject (the man) is quite central vertical and horizontal. Diagonal lines acting as possible leading lines leading the eye to the subject? Sort of but they seem to be cutting through and adding more in the way of energy and tension to an already dramatic and miserable scene, but there is some leading line stuff going on......of sorts. 

 Negative space? Limited about 25% bottom left triangle 

 Rule of odds? Single person. 

 Layering: Yes 3 layers, rain covered glass, mid layer with subject, background with moody grey sky 

 Undisturbed scene: Think they saw me, but to all intents and purposes it's a clean and undisturbed scene. 

 Painterly? Not really. Adding ICM to make it blurred and painterly could have transformed this photo but I think it would have probably made it into a total abstract mess.

 Shapes: Some triangles. Some elongated rectangles 

 Story: Yes. A miserable day in London is the obvious story line but I would say the main part of this photo is saying that although it is a rain fest of a day the subject is not using an umbrella which adds a certain extra drama and mystery to the photo. It raises all sorts of questions which is a good thing 

 Context: Not much context. Basically a man walking across a bridge in the rain. This photo could have been taken in New York, Paris, Sydney....... anywhere really. 

 Technically: Foreground rain drops tack sharp. Subject less so but difficult to tell because he is in silhouette and does it matter anyway. Technical purists will say you got this the wrong way round. Tell that to Saul Leiter who did this all the time. 

 Lighting and Tonality: Some tonality here. Dark grey and black with some lighter greyish tones. Very very low key. This is not a high contrast dense blacks with blown out highlights extravaganza. Would it be better if the clouds were more defined and dramatic in the background? Or would it detract from the rain drops in the foreground on the glass? It's all a careful balancing act and I think it seems to work in this instance 

 Mood: If this photo was music it would be the renowned Leonard Cohen. If you were thinking of jumping off a bridge then this photo would certainly give you a push in that direction. It really doesn't get anymore miserable. Arguably one of the most miserable photos I have ever taken? 

 Subject? It's the person but is it? Maybe it's the rain drops on the glass...maybe just the weather...or is it all three. 

 Saul Leiter? Possibly with the subject sharp foreground thing going on but no umbrella. He was an umbrella man. Not so sure about Daido Moriyama……cannot remember any photos he took that resemble this, blown out highlights usually featured somewhere? 

 NEGATIVES:  A bit more contrast wouldn't go amiss. It's low contrast! Would flash have improved or ruined the photo (flash bouncing off glass)? 

 SUMMARY:  This was posted on Instagram a long time ago when I still was using Insta and one comment said "miserably wonderful" which I think sums it up. The camera packed in the following day but eventually dried out and came back to life. Some of my best photos have been taken in extreme or adverse weather conditions but how does this rate? 

Don McCullin the Master Urban and especially War Photographer stated "if you can't feel what you are looking at......then you are never going to get others to feel anything when they look at your pictures!" Food for thought! 

 MY RATING: It's certainly strong on mood verging on the suicidal but I think it just needs something a little bit extra to get it to "take off" in some way. It is a plane on the runway with all four engines at full throttle but the handbrake is still on. Good..ish is the summary. If a master photo is a 9 or 10….. I personally rate this as a 7.5/10 maybe just coming in at an 8/10 because the subject is in silhouette and there is no facial expression, no moment, it's all a bit mysterious and raises a lot of questions that can't be answered. BUT it certainly has mood and drama and you can feel the misery coming jumping from the screen and the subject is just carrying on regardless. Does it answer the Don McCullin question? Yes it certainly makes you feel something and probably makes you glad 1. you were not the photographer and 2. you were not the person walking across that bridge.