The Curve and the Accent

Some photos are full of 'meaning' -- maybe filled with emotive content for

instance -- while others may be more formal, such as this one which is

a study in composition in the 'street', hence its name 'The Curve and the

Accent'.

I suspect in a moment or two you can figure out how the name came

about . . . and would love to hear your observations about this photo.

Your ratings, critiques and observations are invited and most welcome.

If you rate harshly or very critically, especially, please submit a helpful

and constructive comment; please share your unique photographic

knowledge to help improve my photography. Thanks! Enjoy! John

This text is Cyrillic, and the company sponsoring this billboard surface is one of Ukraine's largest mobile phone providers, KievStar.

See their logo, bottom right, hidden by the 'accent' --the billboard installer/maintenance man, who was adjusting the mechanism which rotates the panels of the billboard which allow each panel to rotate in synchronization with the others, so that each (or three, I think) surface of each panel with the other panels in toto, reveals three different advertisements.

(I think in this particular case, the KievStar advertisement actually had two of the three surfaces, as the KievStar logo showed twice as long and typically these panels are electrically (not electronically) driven and have three sides).

It would be entirely possible to drive them electronically or to have two to four sides per panel, I think and still produce usable results, so I cannot be precisely sure, nor is it important.

He is atop a maintenance truck near where I walked out of a building to photograph for the day and this is the best of my first group of photos for the day (many were taken until he got into the place I visualized would make the best capture, as there were limited positions that might be interesting, limited positions of the man that might be interesting also with regard to his 'angle' (with tilt to the left being far the most interesting) and turned to the left also being far the most interesting (face to the camera was mostly a catastrophe, for instance).

I tried cropping some or all of the captures, but full frame was all that worked -- as seen through the viewfinder (as in most of my captures) was the best (except where my lens is just too short for the job and I can't change.).

Note the company name: K (backward 'N' in Roman lettering is "I' in Cyrillic, then accented 'I' = E in this version, then 'B' which has the sound of 'V' in Cyrillic (and hidden by his body I think is the completion of the word 'star' and above is the logo 'star'.

The rest of the words are advertising, which I won't bother to translate - have some fun and do it yourself if you have some interest; (remember, Cyrillic has a silent letter or two, or one or two used for 'accent' which are not pronounced . . . and even more interesting, this is a sign in Ukraine, where half or more than half speak Russian but most signs are in Ukrainian, a sister language, which looks nearly alike, but often has different names and even lots of unique Cyrillic letters.

'Kartoshka' in central Ukraine is the Russian word for potato, and almost universally recognized, but the Ukrainian word for potato is 'Barabola (accent on third of four syllables)' which even causes a few Ukrainians to look quizzical even if spoken to them by a native Ukrainian speaker.

The two languages co-exist,and while once Russian, the language of the Soviet Union was taught in schools, not it's taught in Ukrainian.

Moreover, for reasons not even parents can sometimes understand, children in some households, a year or so apart may find one speaking in Russian and another in Ukrainian . . . . and one parent may speak more Russian than Ukrainian and vice versa, but the children who speak different languages may not be favoring their closest parent in language!!!

It's a most interesting linguistic case study -- such circumstances in Central Ukraine, where much of the population lives and the languages are mixed.

In areas that once were Russia, mostly Russian is spoken and in areas that in times past were rotated among the Austrians and the Polish, etc., Ukrainian is the preferred language by far, and speaking Russian may even bring harsh glares of disapproval from some.

However, somehow the two languages co-exist in this, Europe's largest country, and one that is MOST fertile and full of minerals (mining and smelting is a HUGE industry here.)

John (Crosley)