Elspeth Diederix: "california"
Blog post written by: Hannah Zimmerman
For my eleventh photography blog post I chose a photograph
by Elspeth Diederix titled “california.”
The reason I chose this picture was because I found it to be
strangely beautiful. Normally I like a photograph for simple reasons of being
attracted to an element, concept or technique. There hasn’t been many occasions
where I have thought a photograph to be strange and attractive at the same
time. The picture is of a man with wavy brown hair to his neck with tan skin
holding a yellow-orange colored orange between his ear and his shoulder. He is
facing away from the camera at an angle with most of his back to the viewer,
looking towards the left. In the background, in front of the man, are tan
canyon rocks against a blue sky.
The color pallet of this photo is very important because I
think Elspeth was using it as a main element to draw attention to the orange
resting on the man’s shoulder. She kept all of the other things in the picture
separate by keeping mostly neutral color tones except for the sky. The orange
is the main focus for the viewer and then it leads the viewer to think about
why its resting on the mans shoulder and facing the viewer. The photographer
did not want to draw attention to the identity of the man in the picture. She
creates a warm atmosphere because of the relaxed color tones, the sunny
composition, the shirtless male and the tones of the orange itself.
I think all of those elements make this a beautiful picture
and causes the viewer to focus on the different positioning of the orange.
However, what I find strange about the picture is why the man almost seems to
be lovingly holding onto this orange by his ear, neck and shoulder, which are
all intimate or soft parts of human anatomy. He isn’t consuming this fruit, but
embracing it. The way the wind is ruffling the man’s hair is also hinting at
the possible softness trying to be expressed in this picture. I am curious to
the possible reasons the man may be lovingly holding onto this piece of fruit.
It makes me thing about the delicateness of intimacy and caring for someone or
something. I think the orange, which is the object in this particular
photograph, is merely standing in for these emotional associations.
It is because of Elspeth’s ability to do this that makes me
feel drawn to this picture. It is strangely beautiful because it is capable of
creating these emotions from a beautiful but very different composition.
Elspeth’s photograph “california” can be viewed here :
My photo of the week can viewed here:
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