Cajsa Lilliehook covers the best in virtual world screenshot art and digital painting
Oram Solis’ “Kindly Brutal” is an epic illustration of the dramatic story-telling power of depth-of-field. Usually, the subject, the person, is the focus in sharp detail and the rest is obscured, but in this picture, the gas pump is in detail and the person is blurred as they enter the store, presumably to pay. But why is he blurred? We could be seeing from the point of view of a getaway car driver as their accomplice goes in to rob the store, and the blurred vision represents the anxiety of not knowing what will happen in the next few minutes. Perhaps we see with a passenger’s eyes while their friend goes in just before something happens that they will not witness, we see their ineffective testimony. We don’t know what is going to happen, but the change in focus evokes many more ideas than if the focus was on the avatar.
More from Oram’s stream of mysteries after the cut.
“Echoes” has everything slightly out of focus, but not with the dramatic difference in other pictures. Like most of Oram’s photos, his avatar is shot from behind, backlit and in silhouette. The lights across the street or parking lot are bright. One seems brighter than the rest, higher and more menacing. Is he facing a police searchlight? Is it a threat? We don’t know and that is why his pictures are so compelling. We have to complete the stories they tell.
“Halfway” gives us another mystery. It is also so well done with the lighting, its reflection on the wet pavement and the aura of mist in the air. He is facing a car with the lights on him. He seems too far away to have been in the car, getting out to check on something. Instead it seems he stopped the car. Whatever the story, there seems to be a confrontation brewing.
Oram Solis’ photostream is full of stories, enough to take you on creative journeys for days. I admire how deftly he uses lighting, color, and depth-of-field as storytelling elements - a purpose beyond visual composition - they spark the viewer’s imagination.
See all of Cajsa's Choices here. Follow Cajsa on Flickr, on Twitter or on her blog.
Comments