Scale can be deceiving in photographs, and sometimes it intended to be that way. A photograph can be both fact and fiction, both a document and a lie. It may contain numerous narratives that spring from our imagination. It can be staged or manipulated in Photoshop, yet still be a document. These days the line between fact and fiction has become blurred.
My photography has always been rooted in the documentary tradition–I’m not one for manipulation, or post-production. Most everything is achieved by where I stand and when I take the photo. (Light is a crucial component as well.) But sometimes I aim to take photos that are ambiguous. They look like manipulated photos, yet they are not. Using scale is one way to achieve this sense of ambiguity.
The interesting thing about scale (and taking photos in general) is that sometimes elements are unintentional and noticed well after the photo is taken. In my case, it is usually pointed out by someone on social media. French photographer David Farreny has a group on Flickr called Uncertain Scales in which he chooses photos that have a sense of ambiguous scale. Most of the photos in this post were chosen by him for his Flickr group.
Scale is one more element that brings playfulness, mystery, or whimsy into the frame, and thus reminds us that those are all part of our everyday life.
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Awesome batch of photos–thank you for sharing!
intersting to see color and bw version of the first scene…from your older post https://wordpress.com/read/blogs/122877910/posts/197
Those photos were taken seven years apart. It proves that I sometimes take the same photo again and again. In my backyard I have taken the same photo fifty times or more–a creature of habit!
I sometimes feel guilty when I re-shoot for second time. Or I would skip the shot to avoid repeating.
interesting thing about the same photo, it’s never the same of course, the light has changed, maybe the grass has grown everything is slightly older and maybe a little more weathered, shadows one day not the next, the fence across the street changes by the hour from when the sun hits it straight on in the spring until it is backlit on certain days by the winter dusk. there is certainly great beauty in the passage of time and beauty in reflection.
That’s so true, Mark. The scene is different each time a photo is taken–like your wonderful window shots looking down on Leslie Street. Photography is a great way to recognize and celebrate the passage of time.