Joanne Mason Photography

This week’s Lens Artists Challenge is presented by Sofia, and it’s a fantastic one: Cinematic. As a passionate film buff, I frequently find myself thinking about my images in cinematic terms. Since I rarely include people in my photographs, I concentrate heavily on lighting, composition, and the feelings the image elicits to produce photographs that seem truly cinematic to me. It’s all about capturing that movie-like essence!

I shot this image years ago in the old sculpture garden at MOMA in NY. (The sculpture garden is no longer there.) I was struck by the juxtaposition of the seated lady and the Henry Moore scultpure (“Family”) I can easily imagine this image in a movie scene: The sculpture seems to foreshadow something dark and eventful, while the woman sits unaware of what’s coming. The audience knows (or suspects) more than the woman. The scene represents a tense moment in the movie.

In the following two images, I was seeking to create what is known as “Kurosawa Lightning,” having studied Kurosawa. (Akira Kurosawa, a Japanese master of the cinema, frequently used a lighting style characterized by: strong light above, broken by long shadows and creating a “dappled” effect. The lighting emphasises a “noir” look. Stanley Kubrick spoke highly of Kurosawa and employed Kurosawa Lighting.) (The teahouse is in Descanso Gardens, Pasadena.)

Is there anything more ominous that this bare tree in winter? Hitchcock would have loved it! It reminds me of the “look” in his early Brtish films, particulary “The 29 Steps,” and, later, “The Birds.”

Do we know what the men in the foreground are discussing? This image, with the Sydney Opera House in the background, establishes an air of mystery and exotic places.

I think this is another “noirish” scene. The tall trees on either side of a path leading to an empty bench create a sense of mystery and ambiguity. The audience’s senses are put on alert, the tension raised.

The wild country filled with foreboding shadows, the cloudy sky, the rugged hills in the background: A perfect setting for something dark and mysterious. (Might have been a western.)

“There are many stories in the Naked City. This is one of them. [dum dum dum]” You can probably tell that I like Noir.

Thanks to Sofia for a great challenge. I had great fun pulling together these images. Next week is Ritva’s turn to challenge us.