Madison Art Center is a little hole in the wall NFP gallery here in Nashville. I go in there every so often to see what's on the walls and who is doing what. The top floor has an area that is basically a large open room for storage or whatever. I went back there one day just snooping around. Finally today I went back with my camera and asked permission to shoot the room. Now, this is where you come in..... comments, suggesstions, arrest warrants? A or B? Jack

this is B

I have other variations on these shots, some a little closer, some a little farther, and some from a completely different angle towards the window....I shot about 60 images....I hope to go back again and get some more now that I've seen what I actually came out with..... Jack

Jack, IMO, now you need a starving artist ... OTOH, a starved artist would lead to a Halloween picture. The first shot talks about the height of the room. On my w95 PC (with the aging monitor), I couldn't see the details -- just a big black mystery space -- that might be one way to go. In both of them, the light from the window spils out giving the discarded door a sort of nere/not here look. The ruined wall / exposed brickwork ... I wonder what stonemason would suggest. MGD

I'm leaning toward the 2nd one, although I'm not sure why. Some sort of gut feeling if that makes any sense. If anyone watched Six Feet Under a couple of weeks ago, there was an artist that said something along the lines of "good art is something that makes you want to throw up". While I didn't quite have that reaction, the 2nd one does make me feel something, while the first one just made me think, "Hm. Neat shot." -Taltos

I like the second one.... I find the ceiling in the first one to be an unnecessary detail, not that it isn't a nice shot as well, but all the interesting stuff is down at the bottom.

now that I've caused Taltos to hurl, I've been looking through the images at MAC and come up with another that seems to grow on me each time I see it. A little closer in, and I think a feeling of quiet desparation and solitude...or could something I had for lunch, who knows? Anyway, comments and/or suggesstions are welcome.... Jack

Even better.....

The first one makes me unsure if the focus is the ceiling or the incoming light. I like the second one. The open space adds to the isolation of the image and puts focus on the light, and also allows the eyes to wander comfortably. The 3rd seems to force my eyes to the table. Eye movement seems tight and confined, maybe a glass vase on the table or something to focus on being highlighted by the incoming light rays. My 2cents :> TMG

The chair is void of dust. Hwo sits there and when? That I can only seein the third shot. Exelent!

Personally, I lie the first composition better - the vast area of the room - the ceiling - gives me a feeling of the solitude that i think you were going for. Tighter crops on the chair lesson that feeling and give me more of a feeling of "contemplation" - dunno if that's what you were going for... ? The second crop (the tighter crop on the chair -thread No. 7) is a composition I love as well - but it's a completely different photograph. This composition - to me - is more of a statement of "OK - I've got a grip on what I need to do....now it's time to concentrate on what that is...". To me, it's a much more "organized and easily digestible" image - the message is easier to read...but the message (again, to me) is not so much a feeling of "lost and alone" as "contemplation". Is the first crop better than this?? ...... no Is this crop better than the first? .... no They are truly 2 different compositions the tell completely different stories, (and both of them very well!!!) I have a question - what were you feeling when you took this picture? - or better yet - what feeling werre you trying to convey when you took this picture? Whatever the answer is - this is an awe inspiring image (regardless of the crop) - it just has so many different meanings that are affected by the cropping! Wolf