Water Corridor

Water Corridor by Mike Jackobo

Two strips of land create a water corridor inside a lagoon. I could also make another description of the photograph. As I was trying to come up with the text that accompanies the photo, I looked at it sideways. By doing that I noticed that the strips of land create a pincer like shape, that seems to try and close in on the water.

Why would I look at the image sideways? There is no definite subject in this photo. The shape created by the strips of land is too abstract to be called a subject in the traditional meaning of the term. The water is the dominant element but it too cannot be called a subject here. In general, it is the abstraction that makes the photo. By looking at it sideways, I can only view the shapes and not the actual substance of the elements of the composition. Hence the description of a pincer.

Negative Space?

I suppose that everyone has seen images of long structures like corridors, piers or even buildings, where the length of the structure runs through the frame from bottom to top. It is a type of photograph that I have grown tired of. This photo is the opposite of that style. Instead of having a solid object in the middle of the frame, I have a water corridor. In a sense, I could say that the composition of the frame relies on negative space -that is another abstract concept. Of course, this is true only if we assume that the water is the canvas on which the image exists.

Symmetry

Of course, I also need to write about the most prominent element of the composition. That is the symmetry of the strips of land. Both strips have the same length. They also run almost parallel to each other. Therefore, by placing the “exit” of the water corridor in the middle, I created an almost perfectly symmetrical photo. The only thing that spoils that symmetry are the mountains in the background. The haze though, that limited visibility that day, makes them less prominent than the rest of the composition.

Oh, and let’s not forget the tree!

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.