Thursday, February 6, 2014

World of One: Illusions of Progress

World of One: Illusions of Progress

Illusions of Progress (from the series World of One)

Illusions of Progress is inspired by the feeling of being not quite sure if your efforts are paying off.

Photographed on a chilly weekend morning in January, I think this is both one of my best and worst photographs. From the technical standpoint, there is nothing "correct" about this picture. Nothing is in proper focus, it's crooked, and the guy on the far left is cut off through his eye. But, of my photos that make use of this composition, I think Illusions of Progress is one of the most successful.

The shot was taken in Manhattan's Chinatown, on Courtlandt Alley, a street that nobody seems to notice except for the occasional delivery truck driver. I picked this spot because I got kicked out of my first choice in location, which happened to be next to a funeral parlor. I had to regroup ten minutes into the shoot when several parked cars started flooding my frame by 8:00am on a Sunday (man, do I feel sorry for that guy's family!). In terms of composing the collage, this was one of the most difficult pictures I've undertaken. Anytime I have black and white figures mixing into a grey scale like this, deciding where each different character should go becomes very complicated. Having many of the figures in the image that are out of focus also made it very difficult to tell where the silhouette of one suit ended and another began. I think my efforts have paid off, however, as I have achieved an atmospheric and moody image that, to me, is reminiscent of film noir (that is, if you were to mix film noir with the Matrix). I love film noir, so, whatever — I'll take it!

Thanks to the lovely Yen Norah Lo for assisting me on another early morning shoot before a workday!!!