This image was taken as part of a series titled ‘Street Silhouettes’ where the photographer tries to focus on the ‘decline of street photography’ as he calls it. However, when I saw this image I instantly thought about how the younger generations feel almost obliged to have their mobile phones with them all the time and how they are constantly feeling the need to use them for one reason or another. In this image, we can see the man using his phone to listen to music with his headphones while it looks like he is texting. I found this very interesting as his location seems very interesting and that there is so much going on around him but he still feels the need to pay more attention to his phone than anything else.
The use of depth of field within this image draws our focus into the foreground so that we acknowledge the subject on his phone as the main point of attention within the image. Overall, the image uses composition to frame the subject in the centre of the frame alongside the shallow depth of field to help the audience to focus on the main subject within the busy location. This subject, to me, also resembles societies desire and constant need to use or have technology on them and I think that it is not as important as people make it out to be. It has only become more convenient so people chose to use it.
This image was taken at Prolimno’s Beach in Pachna, Cyprus. The wider audience can appreciate the landscape and clear waters in the image, noting it as a desirable looking location that they would like to visit. The white cliffs also look very interesting as it almost feels like an extension of the pebbles on the beach that lift into the air. The sky also completely contrasts the bleak colours of the ground with its warm blue tones. This adds further depth to the image that draws the wider audience into the image, making us feel connected to the location and make us want to visit. This would be the studium of the image.
However, I have a deeper connection to this location as my Grandparents used to live in Pachna until I was about 8 or 9 years old so I visited them every summer, spending a lot of time at this beach where I sat right by the cliff face. I have very strong memories of being with my family, having a barbecue on the beach and swimming in the sea. Seeing this location once again makes me feel nostalgic in a way as I have not been here in nearly 10 years but I still remember everything very strongly. This is the punctum of the image.
