Page 26 - Cape-Camera-Jan-Feb-2022

January/February 2022 Cape Camera

Winner PDI – Set (Intermediate) Social Distancing by Lindsay
Antonio (21). At first glance this image seems underwhelming
– surely, when it comes to banality, people patiently sitting on
benches must be second only to people glued to their mobile
Winner PDI – Set (Beginner) Desalination Andre Mouton (21). devices! But then the title draws you in, and you realise they are
indeed wearing masks, and the foreground figure on the left
Fun title! One of the ‘rules’ of photography that is generally a has taken social distancing to such an extreme that he appears
good idea to adhere to, is to ‘simplify’. This image illustrates the one butt cheek away from falling to the ground. And then with
benefits of this approach clearly. The photographer has chosen a bit more time you notice the three figures in the background,
to focus on the two ‘windows’ with the showers and bathers in so obviously and equally spaced that one cannot help but see
them, and set up a direct dialogue between them to effectively it as a further expression of the title concept and the time we
highlight their differences and similarities (as well as benefiting are living in.
from the repetition of figure-to-ground relationships, i.e. the
girls against the arches, and the arches against the wall). I would I am well aware of how easy it is to only see the subject(s) in
suggest that the image could have been further simplified by the foreground at the time of composing the image, and that
cropping off the left and right edges, and squaring the wall to the photographer may have been unaware of the figures in
the horizontals and verticals of the photo frame. the background (else stepping to the left a touch would have
The choice to convert to mono is a good one, and the process- separated the figure in the red trousers from the left-hand fore-
ground figure). However, some subsequent cropping of super-
ing is very effective. Most of the tone sits in a murky, darkish fluous elements (like the left-hand quarter to a third) would
midrange, zone, but this effectively talks of the time of the day have helped strengthen our focus not only on the foreground
as well as allows the black and white elements to form striking figures, but also on the how the line of background figures fur-
punctuations and accents within the image. To this end, the ther echo the concept.
back-lighting is the perfect complement to the story being told.

Open Subject

Winner PDI – Open (Advanced) The dark is at its deepest before Winner PDI – Open (Beginner) Muldersvlei by Andre Mouton
sunrise by Eric Decloedt (25). A nice and well exposed image (19). Although the exposure of the sky is nice and soft and the
with beautiful soft colours. Although the sun is slightly burned trees on the left are well exposed the right hand side is on the
out but because of its small size and the direction of the stream dark side with details missing in the trees. Increasing the high-
of light towards the foreground which draws the eyes towards lights in the image and cropping slightly on the left and the top
the rocks, it is a very attractive image would improve the images and the balance of it.

25 Cape Town Photographic Society