Photographer's Choice: Steve Gravano's Top Five List
Today we feature the picks of Steve Gravano. Gravano is a professional freelance photographer whose work ranges in subject matter. His abstract street signs bring a graphic punch to the PrintedArt collection with a combination of bold text and color that would look great in any modern décor.
To see Steve Gravano's PrintedArt collection, visit his portfolio.
Holy Water Ladies by David Halperin
Story telling at its best, that's what Halperin’s Holy Water Ladies is all about. It the tradition of the father of modern street photography, Cartier-Bresson, Halperin catches a moment of conversation between two ladies at a church. The image exhibits the qualities of a classic, beautiful tonality, balance and curiosity. What gossip could possibly be exchanged between these holy water ladies?
Waiting by Robert S. Sfeir
There are so many interesting elements in Sfeir’s “Waiting.” I was first drawn into this photograph by the bare, dark tree branches that come into the frame from both sides. They mimic the shape of the steeple, the fountain and the figure sitting alone on a bench. All of these elements are more or less centered, creating a balance between both sides of “Waiting.” The bottom third of the frame include a lawn, the figure on the bench, and a wire fence along the bottom foreground. For me, there is tension here. This person sitting with her back to me the viewer is too far from the cathedral and the fence has her kept inside this scene. Sfeir uses tone to keep the viewer’s interest. The dark fence and tree branches surround the light patch of lawn that halos the lone figure on the bench, I find myself at that bench looking up one side of the frame, around the cathedral and back down to the bench again, waiting.
Red Ridges by Larry Donnelly
To describe the photograph “Red Ridges” is to say it is a visual poem about autumn. Twelve flame red leaves dance in a soft dark forest, captured by the shallow depth of field of a large lens opening. As sharp as they are red, they scream for our attention as red so often does. The veins of these leaves create a visual rhythm as one season waltzes into the next. Larry Donnelly has made an eloquent statement about the beauty of autumn with “Red Ridges.”
Shadow 1 by Ulf Buschmann
There is a certain mystery in Buschmann’s “Shadow 1” that draws me in and has me wanting to know more. Buschmann creatively uses light and the lack of focus to makes shapes and boundaries in “Shadow 1.” A dark figure walking through two wide, half glass doors, leaving a shadowy place for a space that is brighter. Nothing in the frame is in sharp focus, yet the doors and figure are clear enough to be recognized. There is no detail to what the figure is exiting or entering. If “Shadow 1” were the cover of a novel, I’d pick it up.
Morning Haiku by Shuwen Lisa Wu
Shuwen Lisa Wu’s bio says “Shuwen’s origins lie in Nantou, Taiwan, where she established her connection to the beauty of the land, it’s plants and nature in general…” This connection is evident in her stunning monochromatic photograph “Morning Haiku.” Haiku is Japanese poetry that “shows” rather than “tells,” using few words to create a visual image. Shuwen does just that photographically. There are three elements in this photograph, two waterfowl, six reeds behind the fowl and the body of water. The water is a gentle gradient of light grays. The waterfowl and reed grass are placed just to the right and slightly above the center of the image. The birds leave a soft wake of ripples following them from the right of the frame. This photo shows us the peace, tranquility and harmony one finds on an early morning stroll in nature. Wu shows us the value in finding such beauty.
