An Isle of Light

An Isle of Light
An Isle of Light

See this photo at EyeEm.

An Isle of Light by Mike Jackobo

The light poles at a junction of a country road, create an isle of light amidst the darkness of the night. The ultimate destination though is the strip of light in the distance. I already began the article on a somewhat mystical note. Life is a journey. At any moment we may be in the light or surrounded by darkness. Whatever the case, our place at that moment is only temporary because things will change and we will move on; whether we want it or not. Maybe we will initiate the change ourselves or it will come against our will. We have to move on, because stillness brings decay; only the dead don’t move.

When one is in the light he must enjoy that time because it is the time to enjoy. But also make ready for whatever there is to come. If only we knew what it will be! If one is in the dark though, he must not loose hope. Worse still, he must not settle into this metaphorical darkness. That way he may miss the opportunity. The opportunity to move back into the light. Even darkness is not all bad though. There are many lessons to be learned there. The moment is almost always good. Be in the moment and learn from the past. Don’t live in the past, just learn. When the future will come it will become present. And you will be there.

A more typical description

Let’s turn into a mundane description of the photo now. This photo ticks many boxes in the classic themes for photographers textbook. First of all there is the isle of light. The most usual subject are gas stations in the night. An isle of light draws the eye; especially the photographer’s eye. Hence we want to capture it in our camera and explore it.
Another element is the road. A road signifies moving from point A to point B; a journey if you like. Just by their presence they may guide the eye to different parts of the image. They also guide the mind of the viewer to other places and this is what makes a strong element -sometimes the subject- in a photo.
Finally there are the leading lines. These are lines in a frame that converge and guide the viewer to a part of the picture. Here there are the lines of the road and the “dotted lines” from the street lights that lead the eye to the conjunction to the background.

There are many technical details that make up an image. Technical details are boring so I will end the article with an observation I made as I was writing the beginning of the article.

Light, Night, just one letter difference. Maybe they are not just opposites after all.

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