One theme about art which I’ve heard all my life is that what’s left out is as important as what’s put in. In architecture school, my most influential teacher said the best buildings looked simple, a sign of great skill in their design. Many great photographs were cropped from the original shots to achieve their best impact. I was looking at a picture I shot on the street recently, of a girl dressed up in various shades of pink. She had obviously gone to great lengths to achieve her look and it certainly drew my attention. But looking at the picture I began to notice things I hadn’t seen when I took it. Two men were coming, both dressed in black, with not the slightest nod to fashion. I couldn’t figure out if the picture worked this way or that, however, despite trying various crops – until I tried a function called ‘Cinemascope’. This removed even more than I had done in all my experiments, but I found it nevertheless had more impact. I give you both shots here, the original and the ‘Cinemascope’ version, for you to judge what works best.
the original photo
Cinemascope wide screen version
nathanguitars 