Kiev Sea, Study 2, Vishgorod, Ukraine. 2013
http://www.michaelkenna.net/gallery2.php?id=11
Michael Kenna
This photo intrigues me because of the delicateness a simple dead flower can have. The flower on a a table and a white background gives it a holy mood. Ironic how the flower is dead but it also makes you wonder how something so delicate can make you think of something holy and purified.
In this photograph Michael Kenna uses the the flower as a line or a sense of direction on this composition. The backlight gives makes the flower black. The depth of field is making the flower closer in which the flower is far away. Focusing on the flower, it shows the detailed parts (pedals). The table frames this flower in the photograph it helps you realize what it is, by letting you see the reflection vaguely on the table. The photograph having the midtones on the top of and in the middle it gives it a pattern (grey,white,black,white,grey) having the darkest part of the photo in the middle. Having the flower the darkest part of the photograph it helps you see the object clearly. This composition is highly contrasted, the black is really noticeable and the high exposured light completes the photo. By taking this picture as if the camera was placed on the table it makes you focus more on the vantage point and the depth of field.
The only thing is I don’t think this is a flower. I think it is some kind of ruin in the Kiev Sea shot with a long exposure to make the water look as it does. The backlight ruin in silhouette against the medium grays of both the sky and the water does look amazing.