Abstract Photographers – Kyoto, Japan

This may be a rather odd and non-standard photograph. I was drawn to it as I looked through my Olympus PEN-F viewfinder, which is often set to a contrasty black and white. It’s a photograph of two middle school girls taking a picture.

Abstract? Yes, I guess. The crisp shadows are my favorite which are projected to the floor with nearly identical poses. The strong folds of the skirt and outstretched point and shoot positioning arms make for an odd shape. I think it works for its simplicity, high contrast and shadowy black and whites. I certainly wouldn’t have seen it, if it weren’t for the Olympus “mono profile 2” setting, rendering this scene.

I took this picture 11 seconds after I shot this one, which gives a better context of what was happening. Two photos at the same place, at basically the same time but entirely different. I wonder how many other alternative and wonderful compositions I’ve missed because I didn’t see well enough. That’s the great thing about photography and its big challenge.