Sunset in Muslin

Tell me what you think

Roger, I see this photo a bit schizophrenically. On the one hand there is the idea expressed, the content and representation. And on the other is the visual image. As for the idea, I like it. What strikes me as so creative and unique is that you've been able to condense the grand idea of a sunset into a very simple double reflection (off the window in a building reflected in the main window we're looking at). A double reflection that is subtle and unself-conscious (which this is) is hard to achieve. You make it seem so natural instead of the gimmick that it might appear to be in another's hands. It's the quintessential minimalist sunset, just a kind of spark. You've added to the feel of the light and sun by having the wonderful streaks of reflected light on the curtains. So there is actually no sense of the actual sunset, only the one reflected and causing highlights. The sky and the buildings don't speak of it, just the light itself does! As for the visual part of the image, there I am less satisfied. There is a softness, especially of viewing the clouds through the sheer curtains, that I respond to. But I think the overall darkness and brownness is just not pleasing me enough. I'm not sure how much the horizontal bars are bothering me. I'd need to sleep on that. So I am left loving what you've done and the concept and content you've conveyed, but I'm not sure I'd keep looking at this and appreciating it. --Fred

. . . that we are actually seeing through the curtain and not a reflection in the window? That wouldn't change much of what I said, but on second look I just started to wonder. Also, I did try bumping up the levels and contrast a bit. I wonder if you'd think that breathes a little more life into it visually or does that ruin the mood for you? (If you work in photoshop, I tried the right hand slider bar in Levels at 195 and the center bar at 94.)

Thanks for another outstanding critique, Fred. As with you there are some things I would change in this if I could. It was taken over a year ago in a wonderful old hotel in London, and my wife actually spotted it. Being a potter, she's very conscious of patterns and texures. Just to be clear, we're looking out of a window thru a transparent curtain. The elements that attracted me are the muslin folds seeming to trap the sun's rays in their passage, the contrast between the skyscraper and the 18th. century skyline, and of course the sky. I would love to get rid of the horizontal bars. They give the flavor of the room we're in, but are hard for a viewer to appreciate - I'm probably going to have another shot at cloning them out (the kind of Photoshop work I don't enjoy). I've used Levels on this ad nauseam, but will try the settings you suggest. Agreed, not one to hang on the wall, but with it's own charm.