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(Im)perfect = Photogenic
177 (1051)I find it interesting that both perfection and imperfection seem to make someone or something photogenic. I won't make this a long, philosophic piece about the subject, but I've come to the conclusion that we like looking at photos of perfect-looking people, but that and old, worn face makes for an attractive photo as well.
And the same goes for objects - like buildings, for instance.
The perfect graphic lines of the clean design of a modern building are attractive to photographers, but old, tatty, run-down or even completely ruined buildings seem to be at least as attractive.
Why is it that both these extremes attract, and that anything in the middle seems less interesting?
I have no idea.
But I rather liked this burnt and ruined home that I came across recently, and it made me think. (Nicer version in the Gallery.)
Tags: Building, Burnt, Imperfections, Photogenic, Ruined
Comments
So true and mush as I spend a great deal of time producing conceptual imagery of hi tech and future worlds I just luv old ruined buildings and decay especially devoid of any life. We are such a fickle race.
Urbex (climbing into derelict places - tresspassing - to take photos) seems really popular right now and I have been attracted to it - although have never done it. Particularly appealing is placing beauty next to dereliction for juxtaposition purposes - I have certainly done that. I guess decay is part of the human condition but at the same time it is difficult not to get swept along with cuurent trends. Perffect example of which may end up being the "baby in a bucket" photog that sells so well at present. However as with all trends will the customers still like such photos in a few years - esp if on their walls?
Seems to me there is also the usual amount of sexism involved in that old men have character - for the same to work in women the photos often need to be of "old crone" types ideally taken on holiday in exotic locations (therefore separating one's own experience).
But as you say too easy to philosophise 
Love the picture above
DrF
I think it's not what we see in an image, it's what we perceive lies behind what we see that attracts us.
ie: The perfect woman, The aged face of an extremely full and interesting life, The building of an amazingly successful architect, The dilapidated walls that could/should talk.
Perhaps the mundane, the stuff that doesn't really attract us at the moment, is the stuff on the journey from one end of the interesting scale, to the other... like most of us I guess.
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