Visual Poetry, by Reed A. George
Leica M9, Leica Summicron 35mm f2 v.3 lens
iso 200, f3.4, 1/1000 sec.
Knowing that it was important to get out of the French Quarter, at least for a little while on my recent trip to New Orleans, I hopped a streetcar to Audubon Park one morning. After my own SNAFU, whereby I rode past the station where I needed to change lines, walked several blocks to recover, then discovered that the streetcar line was under construction and being supported by bus, I was quite a bit later arriving than I had planned. The bright Louisiana sun was well up in the sky when I got to the park. That did not stop me.
This is one of my favorite couple of images from that morning. I saw this composition as soon as I walked into the park; an hour later and the lighting would have been all wrong. There are several things I love about this shot. The light is at nearly exactly the right position to put the statue's face in a nice combination of light and shadow, and light the body of the statue perfectly to stand out against the dark backround of the live oak branches behind it. I love how the statues interact, including the third and fourth, slightly out of focus in the background above the child statue at bottom right. They're barely even elements in the composition, which is how I wanted it. The palm tree in silhouette way back there is another important element to me. The similarity of the main statue's pose and arm position to that of the lovely live oak tree behind is probably what attracted me to this composition in the first place.
Of course, the next time I go to New Orleans, I will be at the park at sunrise; that would just be spectacular. Not having made it at the perfect time on this morning, I'm quite pleased with this result.
The Leica M9 and 35mm Summicron pulled it off nicely for me. I think this one warrants a print.
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