Art Hall's Pics Photoblog

The woman sitting on the sidewalk with her arms and legs crossed is watching something in the distance, while wearing casual clothes of blue jeans and an athletic type of jacket. She somewhat mimics the mural behind her, a child also sitting crossed legged with folded arms. As the child looks apprehensive and frightened, the women looks concerned and almost protective of the child.  It’s as if the women has taken up the cause to protect undocumented children.  The child’s painted image looms over the women, representing the magnitude of the problem. 

Visiting a friend’s backyard chicken coop, the subject is dressed to play the part of a farm hand with the chore of feeding the chickens.  Rather than just tossing the food onto the ground, she is coming down to their level, as if trying to make friends. The chickens seem unfamiliar with this person and don’t seem that interested in her offerings. From the look on her face, bending down and evenly distributing the chicken’s food is taking some effort.  Outside light pours in from the screened in windows and doors, illuminating the straw scattered on the dirt floor.  You can sense the musky smell of animals and dust that must envelop the enclosed area.

April 22, 2022, 1/10 sec, f 13, ISO 400, by Art Hall 

The woman is repeating the too familiar task of catching the train to work.  Standing along the railroad tracks at the station, it’s a bit windy. She waits in her trench coat wearing her comfortable shoes. The bag she carries may contain her good shoes and reading material for the trip. Its relatively quiet at the station.  The background only shows a couple tending to a baby in its carriage. The subject is re-acting a daily occurrence that happened on and off during her 32-year career, wearing these very same clothes.

We went into the backyard, and I had her stand about 25 feet in front of the trees that border our property.  I also opened the lense a bit, as I wanted a shallow depth of field, to put the emphasis on her and to disguise the houses behind us.  Her glasses were getting wet, so I just had her take them off.  We tried some different poses and this one turned out the best. My only direction was to tell her to just take in the moment, and that warmer days were ahead.

As you look at the rows of headstones in the foreground, you realize that these were individual people, with full names and home states.  They seem more ordinary without any listing of their ranks or military units. The graves are so close that the headstones serve as a barrier that stops the dried leaves from blowing any further.  The names can also be read on the second row of headstones in the midground, where areas of sunshine break through the branches of the nearby tress.  The background also has a few areas of direct sunlight, but the names are no longer distinguishable on the many rows of headstones. This gives the false impression of the soldier’s anonymity, which is not deserved.

In the late afternoon sun, the Millennium Carillon in Naperville stands guard over the DuPage River.  The sunken river which runs from the foreground into the distance is starting to darken as the sun get lower in the sky, while the mid-ground of the looming tower and trees along the river bank are bathed in the inviting warm glow of light.

The winding horizontal path emerges from the background into the right foreground and contrasts with the vertical trees and people. The dark, well worn path  stands out next to the tan colors of the dried grass and leaves that dominate the mid and foregrounds.  With all the bare trees around them, you can sense the texture of the leaves scattered on the ground and the crunching sound they would make if you were to walk on them.  The foreground space is balanced between the women on the right and the large tree looming over them on the left. 

The photo across the Fox River shows both the near and far banks, and the line of the pedestrian bridge joining them on the left.  The stillness of the water reflects the trees on the far bank, as the morning sun starts to rise. The picture was taken at the Fabyan Forest Preserve in Geneva, Illinois. One can just make out a picnic table under a tree in the left foreground, anticipating the energy of the coming summer.

The fallen horizontal tree resting four feet above the ground and already causes a contrast with its vertical cousins at a stand of trees in the Morton Arboretum.  The bright orange cable that was added to the scene is looped around the fallen tree and adds more contrast. This include the texture of the flimsy cable to the rigidity of the tree, the bright orange cable against the dull brown tree bark, and the curvature of the cable loops in a forest of straight lines made by the trees.

The picnic table in the foreground looks out across the pond at the Herrick Lake Forest Preserve in DuPage County.  The unseen forest behind the viewer blocks enough sunlight to casts a uniform shade across the entire foreground as well as on the partially frozen water that dominates the midground.  But the stand of trees along the far bank of the background are bathed in a brilliant glow of morning light as the sun starts rising in the sky. It is nature’s ultimate movie theater, sitting at the table and looking out and across to the opening scenes of a bright, beautiful new day.

There are many reasons I like this photo of a roll of paper towels sitting atop an open toolbox.  The white paper towels stands out against the colorful red toolbox as the late afternoon sun streams in from the window. The rectangular shape of the drawers and lid, contrast with the curved shape that make up the oval of the paper towels and its cardboard tube.  You can sense the soft, absorbent texture of the paper towels, ready to sop up the mess that is about to come.

With the camera set on continuous shooting mode, I positioned my camera and had my wife toss a roll of paper towels into the air. It took a few trys.  The streaming, free flowing trail of white as it unrolls in the air conveys an adventurous, care-free spirit in defiance of the cold gray of the garage roof and its hard symmetric lines.  The curves that make up the object contrasts with the straight lines in the background.

A street inlet of the municipal storm sewer system is something we probably drive past dozens of times a day. As the subject of assignment for a photography class, it reveals several interesting things.  The metal components are made up of different types of castings, each developing its own unique patina as it ages.  The concretes of the curb and the horizontal surface also seem different. The small leaves and twigs that have built up on the grating disrupt the strong pattern of the openings. It shows that a spring snow thaw reveals its own unique colors.

What is unique about this photo of a storm sewer inlet along the street, is that it focuses our attention where five different colors and shapes meet at the same point. The boot is aligned in the direction toward the same point. The dirty snow and the crud built up on the grating indicate the transformation that must occur before spring.