http://matthewpillsbury.com/photographs/robot-bar-tokyo-2014/
The photo I chose came out of Matthew Pillsbury’s “Tokyo” collection, the piece is titled “Robot Bar-Tokyo, 2014.” The photo shows a section of the well known Robot Restaurant located in Shinjuku Japan. The Robot bar is famous for its neon lights and robot theme fights scene which captures the essence of part of what Japan is known for. Pillsbury also incorporates this blurring of people in his photos which I find interest and to me it adds to a certain uniqueness to his photos. The photographer seems to bring focus on the design and style of the place through his blurring of the people; thus he gives the viewer more of a reason to focus less on the people’s interaction but more to the layout of the place. Contrary to his other photo of the Robot Restaurant in this collection, which showed the fast pace and lights of the restaurant; this section shows a calmer view of the place. As a result the mood is now changed from the colorful and loud setting this place is known to be, but the photographer still manages to capture some elements of color and liveliness.
Pillsbury choice of location and certain elements gave a new view but kept the story of the place the same. The first of the composition in which made this photo strong that I notice from the start is the use of leading lines, which helps the eyes of the viewers venture directly from the photographer to the performers; furthermore, I find it interesting how Pillsbury made an exception for the performers and left them unblurred. Giving the eye a treat for following the natural lines. The diagonals also helped in creating this movement from the photographer to the stage since no matter where your eyes moves on the photo it is always being told to look in the direction of the performers. Another strength of the photo is pattern and repetition in the layout of the chairs to the glasses with designs off to sides and ceiling; therefore, Pillsbury also selected a location in which the patterns plays a role in the movement as well.
Great choice. Here the leading lines and diagonals are really the same thing. Certainly there is pattern and repetition. I would consider figure ground as key to this photo as instead of being clearly distinguished both are very active visually.