006: Alcatraz

Found images, cropped to square format.

Tijuana Minimalist

I love Tijuana.  I was ambivalent the first time I visited, but last night was excellent.  $30 gets you a night of fun, and all the drinking you can ask for.  Had street tacos, went to four bars, a craft brewery, and had awesome American-style hamburgers, and then hit a mustache-themed nightclub, where Macaulay Caulkin apparently hangs out.

Anyways, while going to the bathroom in the burger joint, I saw this circuit breaker box in the place where the mirror should be.  What an amazing level of trust they must have in their customers.  For a second I was tempted to mess with the switches, but instead, being the sentimental art-fag I am, I thought to myself: "what a nice composition."

Should've framed it better, but when you're buzzed, you're buzzed; in that sense, the crookedness of the shot is fitting.  Tijuana minimalist.

Dubious Conditions

The lunacy of using stock photos to illustrate an illness:

Go away.  I can't work today--I have pneumonia.

The lunacy of using stock photos to illustrate depression: 

Why did I take these meeting notes in Spanish?

Darkness surrounds me.

"No Mr. Richardson.  One again, the box does NOT
cost extra--it is included in your monthly  subscription."

C'mon, I know this one.  Six times seven....six...times seven

Botox was not a mistake.  Look--I can still feel the edges of my face!

I don't know what to say.  You ordered my cardigan in orange!?
Orange won't match this scarf.  I wanted Tangerine.  TANGERINE!

For christ sakes Emily, at least leave the room.
...this is the last time I play hide and seek with disabled children.  

Oh. My. God.  You actually got me a DELL?

So, would you say the glass is half empty?

yea...uh huh...sad and stuff...
there's a spider on the wall behind you

WASPY women aren't the only ones suffering.

I need to stop.  I promised myself I wasn't going to watch my
neighbor undress...  Oh, who am I kidding?--Look at those abs!

I knew I should have worn boots.

Okay ladies, now slowly work your way into the
 anxious Rodin.

Men suffer too.

I reaally don't like you, Williams.  Get the fuck out of my office.  

" Zees wohman.  I have 'ad eet wis zees wohman!"

Depressed?  Naw man, this is a sitting Tebow.

"It ain't easy.  I mean the closest GAP is six blocks from here."

Double bogey on a Par 4?  There goes my golfing career

Whyyy did I click on that?

How would I illustrate depression?

Six Squares, Five Circles, Four Pictures, One Song

Music: Nebraska

Photos: Laura Bell

photo analysis

This photo appeared in my facebook newsfeed today.  I think it is a very interesting photo.  The pier and its shadow form a natural frame around the photograph.  However, this frame has been clipped at the corner and bent, giving it discontinuity and depth.

If we look, the edge of the shadow does not connect with base of the pier, but rather recedes into the background.   The result is a "corkscrewing" effect for eye when it traces the frame of the image counterclockwise (starting in the bottom right of the image).  

This only works because the shadow in the bottom left hand corner is as dark as the pier, creating a false sense of closure and continuity.  It allows the optical illusion--gives the image its strange sense of depth.   

Emphasizing the sense of depth are the people.  In the space where the shadow and pillar have been pulled apart (or what would be the "corner" of the frame)  people are standing.  The people serve an interesting function.  Their position prevents the eye from closing the frame.  And their motion draws the eye into the photo, emphasizing the spiraling effect built by the frame.

The result is a technically rich photograph.

Photocredit: O'neill Surf Shop, Santa Cruz