Sally D’s Mobile Photography Challenge: Black and White (with Architecture and the Freedom Tower)

21 December 2015

Lens:

Freedom Tower, Lower Manhattan; Copyright © 2015 Sally W. Donatello All Rights Reserved

Let me know what you think about this black-and-white image of the iconic Freedom Tower found in Lower Manhattan, New York City. Click on image to enlarge.

****Please go back to the Homepage to make a comment. I’ve noticed that if you comment on the enlarged image, it does not appear on the Homepage. Thanks.****

Pens:

One of the main features of an extraordinary public building is the inevitable symbolism that it amasses. Without question New York City’s Freedom Tower instantly became a place for people to collect dreams of present and future. Its giant structure is a tour de force of design in the age of spectacular architectural feats. It has taken its coveted spot and rightfully.

As I travel through the city’s above-ground spaces, I noticed its visible from many, many vantage points. That tower stands with such dignity that it is hard not to be pleased at pervasive sightings.

This stellar example of human creativity and historic significance keeps watch over the Hudson River and so much more, welcoming everyone to Lower Manhattan and cooing from its public space far and wide. Its attraction is multi-faceted and no matter how many times that I view it, I surrender to its magnificence.

It’s important to see it at all times of day and night. Each tick of the clock brings new ways to appreciate its design and even graphic quality. It’s more than a quintessential skyscraper; it is an edifice to the city that represents the melting pot that is America.

As we meandered to Battery Park with the tower on our left, it provides an introduction to the advocacy by residents, city officials and volunteers to create green public spaces. The tower is witness to the way urbanism and nature can coexist.

In the Lens section is one of my favorite captures of this masterful structure. There was no doubt in my mind that the image had to be converted to black and white. In the conversion I inverted the negative and positive to fully emphasize angles, lines, shadows, shapes, and tones.

Happy winter holidays and thank you for your visit. Dream big for the New Year, wishes really can become reality. See you next week for the last challenge of the year.

Tip of the Week:

Recently, I discovered the work of Joel Tjintjelaar, who lives in the Netherlands and is a fine art photographer, specializing in black-and-white architecture. His aesthetic and creativity clearly are evident in his attention to composition and design of his subjects. Here are some quotes to explain aspects of his artistic vision.

“The human eyes see depth and volumes in a far more advanced way than any camera could. My artistic mind adds to my personal interpretation of a scene. The result is something I can only create in post-production.”

“The light in my architectural photographs is rendered in a specific way, muted or enhanced, for a dramatic effect to emphasize its importance, to enhance lines and patterns, to decrease or increase volumes, spaces and contrasts.”

“The ultimate goal is to reveal the essence, the soul of the architectural structure, by leaving out anything that doesn’t add to this essence.”

“The further the artist moves away from reality, the more unique the result is, the more it represents his personal vision and the closer we get to experience the essence of that artist.”

Joel Tjintjelaar

Click here to read an interview with Tjintjelaar, and see additional examples of his work.

View other entries for this week’s challenge:

https://sustainabilitea.wordpress.com/2015/12/21/sally-ds-mobile-photography-challenge-black-and-white-lights/

http://luciledegodoy.com/2015/12/21/sally-ds-mobile-photography-challenge-black-white/

https://patchworkponderings.wordpress.com/2015/12/21/sally-ds-mobile-photography-challenge-from-a-galaxy-far-far-away/

https://piecesofstarlight.wordpress.com/2015/12/21/black-and-white-gifts-of-the-season-for-sally-ds-mobile-photography-challenge/

http://ohmsweetohm.me/2015/12/21/sally-ds-mobile-photography-challenge-black-and-white-4/

https://decocraftsdigicrafts.wordpress.com/2015/12/22/sally-ds-mobile-photography-challenge-going-abstract/

https://zimmerbitch.wordpress.com/2015/12/27/step-away-from-the-mayhem-if-only-for-a-while/

Note:

As always I welcome comments about this post or any part of my blog. My photographs for the mobile photography challenge are taken with an iPhone 6.

If you’d like to join this Mobile Photography Challenge, please click here for details and history of the challenge. If you have any questions, please contact me. Below is a reminder of the monthly schedule with themes for upcoming challenges:

1st Monday: Nature.

2nd Monday: Macro.

3rd Monday: Black and White.

4th Monday Challenger’s Choice (Pick One: Abstraction, Animals, Architecture, Food Photography, Night Photography, Objects, Panorama, Portraiture, Still Life, Street Photography, and Travel).

5th Monday: Editing and Processing with Various Apps Using Themes from the Fourth Week.

Advertisement