5

Clarity

Descent

Richard D. Zakia

Praying Mantis

Peter Wach

Simplicity: The simplicity of this photograph calls your full attention to the praying mantis positioned on a clear ball that nearly blends with the background. Arriving at such simplicity can be difficult. Considerable time, planning, and patience were needed to create this photo. The detail and clarity are amazing. It even looks as if the mantis were posing for a portrait. The structure of the insect’s compound eyes creates the illusion of small black pupils. The position of the body and “hands” makes it appear as if he is praying.

Parisian Dreams

J. Tomas Lopez

Complexity: What appears to be a straightforward photograph of the inside of a subway car can, at second glance, be quite confusing. We see what appears to be a Paris street scene inside the car. Our first thought is that it is just a Photoshop manipulation. To the extreme left, we notice part of an open door and a blurred image of a person on the outside walking by. Evidently a slow shutter speed was used to adjust for the light level inside the car. In a discussion with the photographer, he revealed that there was no manipulation and that the Paris street scene had been painted in the car. The well-chosen caption Parisian Dreams adds to the photograph.

Puros Habano’s

Richard D. Zakia

Ambiguity: Have you ever come across a large painting of a landscape on the wall of a building and mistaken it for the landscape itself and not just a realistic painting? Looking at this wall might have brought about a similar experience. The patches of plaster on the side of this building along with the colorful billboard sign and blue sky provided the potential for an interesting photograph. In studying the wall, the question came up as to whether it was actually plastered that way or was painted to give the illusion of plastering. From a distance, it was difficult to tell, to be sure. It could be seen either way. (What is your guess?) It was only when the photographer walked up to the wall and took a close look and actually touched and moved his fingers across the wall that he could tell for certain that it was indeed a plastered wall and not just a painting on the wall.

Score?

David A. Page

Puzzling: A good sports photograph should normally include the ball or in this case a puck. Here, the fast-moving puck was captured just as it was nearing the net. Was it a goal or a miss? Did it enter the net for a score or not? Without some additional information, such as a caption, it is difficult to know for certain. It sure looks like it did from the vantage point in which the photograph was made. From a different vantage point, the shot would have looked different and perhaps less puzzling. Photographs that are puzzling challenge and engage the mind more than those that are not. (In this photograph, it may look as if the shot entered the net, but it did not.)

Floaters

David A. Page

Photographs that are somewhat puzzling can hold a viewer’s interest and provide a visual challenge. In this photograph, the reflection of two men is seen amongst what appears to be floating pages or prints. The person in the rear is taking the photograph as he looks at the LCD screen on his camera. The bald-headed person in the front is looking directly into the reflecting surface and therefore at the viewer. But what are those floaters in the picture doing? You probably noticed the paintings hanging at there left of the photo. What is being seen is the reflection of two men in a dark painting of floating “prints” against a dark background that acts as a mirror. In a sense, the photograph is layered.

Southern Hospitality Kitti Miller

Kitti Miller

Illusion: A number of things are evident as one studies the image: the vantage point, the missing upper part of the woman, the white gloves against a black dress, the careful arrangement of desert cups on the table, the curvilinear legs of the table, and, of course, the centering of the subjects in the photo. In addition, the tabletop separates the knees of the seated woman from her feet poised on the floor. The legs appear to be longer than expected because of the interruption of the tabletop. A disrupted “line” will look longer than one not disrupted (called the Oppel-Kundt illusion).

Photographs chosen for a book cover should have great eye appeal and engage the viewer. This photograph by Edward Weston is, in a way, unusual in its apparent simplicity. We see an angular ceiling in which some of the areas appear to be projecting outward and some inward. The dark couple embracing in the lower left provide a sense of scale. A steady look at the “block” in which the couple occupy one small surface will cause the block to change its orientation inward and outward. In this Necker cube illusion, the perception of the block (cube) is not stable and “flip-flops” as you stare at it. Salvatore Dali and M.C. Escher have used this phenomenon in some of their paintings.