Bus Stop
(Photos & Text ©Frank A. Mills, 2008)
If you have followed Flâneur regularly you know that I enjoy playing with reflections. There is something about how we see real space in the reflection. Light, shadows, movement, the layering of backgrounds, camera angle – to mention just a few of the variables – all play into what we see.
In this particular shot we could ask ourselves, are these two ladies waiting for the bus or are they selling hats? Digitally removing the hats would change everything about this photo.
What is interesting about reflections is that when taking the photo our eyes does not always see what the camera sees, or in this case, does not see— the missing midriff of the model on the right in the above photo. Did you even realize that it was't there when you looked at the photo? When we view a scene our mind often fills in what we don't see. Logically the midriff should be there, so our eye sees it, as did mine, in the reflection. It wasn't until I looked at the photo that I realized it was missing.
This points out the value of using a camera to record a scene, and then comparing what the camera records with what we thought we saw. Often our preconceived notions of what we think we are observing literally changes what the mind's eye sees. This, I think, points out the value, of course, of the camera, but also of learning to see what is around us in different ways.
In this shot the models appear to be rushing to catch the bus. What is interesting about these photos, at least to me, is that what you are seeing has not in any way been digitally manipulated through layering. These are the actual reflections as captured by the camera. The only thing I have done is to frame them by cropping, and focus and revive the color a bit, and in first photo condense. Framing is a tool that I frequently use to help me see what is in a photo. When I do my urban photography I will spend considerable time framing details, not that the details are necessarily worth preserving on their own. They do, however, often add a bit of new insight to the photo context, as well as help me better understand how a particular space transforms into a place.
"Bus Stop" came about while shooting photos for another project. Walking by the clothing store, my eye was caught by the reflection of the street upon the window juxtaposed upon the mannequins in the window. My thought was, what a fun example of layering. However, upon examining the actual photos, I realized that they also play with my senses about what I am actually seeing. Are the mannequins reflected in the bus stop glass or the store window glass? Has someone posed them for a fashion shot at the bus stop? Or, are they real models digitally manipulated? In fact, the first photo made a couple people, when they saw it, do a double take; at first thinking the models were real.