Thursday, March 4, 2010

Former Society vs Modern Society

Steve McCurry took this photograph in 1994. It is a picture of a native fisherman fishing in a creek with a modern oil refinary in the background. I like this picture because it shows two sides of life: the serenity of nature and the exploitation of modern business in our society. I like how the photographer positioned the man so it looks like the oil refinary is bigger than the man. It shows how our modern society puts business and money before individuals and their work. Also, McCurry breaks the rule of thirds by spliting the photo into two halves: one for the mdoern oil refinary and the other for the natural green area. By doing this, he contrasts the picture equally between the two societies of life. I also like how Steve McCurry uses color to dipict the two sides of society. The top half is almost dull and colorless while the lower half is brightly colored.

http://www.magnumphotos.com/Archive/C.aspx?VP3=ViewBox_VPage&IT=ZoomImage01_VForm&IID=2K7O3RTT8PLC&ALID=2K7O3RTT5VOS&PN=41&CT=Search