Connecting Essay

This is a photograph taken by Hungarian photography Brassai which emphasises loneliness and mystery. This is depicted through the dark low lit dingy setting which sparse amounts of light provide visibility. The way that there is a figure walking up the path with their back to camera, almost acting as a silhouette makes the anonymous and introduces mystery as their identity is unknown. The fact that he is all alone also implies loneliness and abandonment. There is great depth in this piece as the path provides perspective as well as the street lights which also show the form of the treats and produce shadows. The way in which the path in the distance leads to a brighter location which conveys positivity.

This is one my of my photographs where I really like the feel of mystery and loneliness created through the darkness and style of lighting produced through the street lights. I ensured to have a higher f stop in order to have a longer depth of field which allows for more things to be in focus in the composition. Line is a very dominant formal element here, specifically through the lamp posts and light which also imply perspective with the way they get closer together as they get further away. This piece can be related to the work of Hungarian photographer Brassai as I intended to use a similar approach of photographing streets during the night, using the natural dark lighting in order to create very mysterious and intense pieces. In order to create a stronger connection to his work I could of made the photo black and white.

These two photographs can be strongly connected through many elements of the pieces. Firstly due to the fact that they both were taken at night and focussing on street photography instantly builds a strong connection between the two. In both cases the street lights provided visibility which is more obvious in Brassai's work as my photo has a less amount of light present. However the darkness and shadows in both images create a sense of mystery and loneliness and even danger and caution due to the unknown of the darkness. The lack of people in the frames imply abandonment. The both show depth through the recognition of objects providing perspective as they seem to be getting smaller as they get further away. There are also a couple of differences between the pieces as his black and white approach opposes my  piece being in colour, they have also been taken from different angles where Brassai's photograph is taken more from the right side whereas my image is much more straight on which causes a sense of symmetry.