Luxury Apartments

[FootLoose]

I took this shot earlier this year but I didn't know how to bring out what this perspective made me feel about this building. Today I was killing a few idle minutes flicking through a book on photography and saw a photo of some building in the USA that the author had processed something like this. So I tried to "emulate" it.

I am interested to know your response to this style of processing. ie how it makes you feel about this building; what kind of building you think it might be.

[dubaiphil]

A great conversion, Greg

The composition, symmetry and repetition lead themselves perfectly to B&W (it was probably a colour image with limited palette anyway), and the high contrast really helps too

[IzzieK]

Is it a B/W or a coloured one? Beats me but I see some yellow tint so I think this is a coloured version...or just a mono version, not exactly B/W. I like it though...

[Shadowman]

Processing works for me, building looks like an apartment building but cannot make out the rectangular object that appears in each section. Also has a dormitory or prison cell look to it.

[Rebel]

I quite like this...

Not sure its shows perspective, but I do like the diagonals and it does have an abstract feel to it for me.

Doesn't remind me of "luxury" apartments though, more like the council estate tower blocks in London.

[AB26]

The impression it creates in my mind is that of a hospital or old age home.

Interesting: if I focus at the tip of the sunlit wall in the centre of the image the whole image flips and it looks like you took the shot from the right top instead of the left bottom end.

[Mike Buckley]

I see this image more as an abstract of straight lines intermixed with triangles. It works very well for me.

[FootLoose]

Thanks Phil, Izzie, John, Matt, Andre and Mike. I'm glad you all seem to have gained a similar impression about the building - dormitory, prison block, council block, hospital etc. Those are the kinds of feelings I had about it. It is in fact an upmarket hotel that was only completed in recent years, but when I saw it I did not think it represented a quality residence - just a stack of boxes within boxes.

So, I wanted to show my reaction to it. As I worked on it, I could see the increasing contrast was bringing out more of that 'penitentiary' look about it, with the vertical bars in the railings and the triangular spikes so I pushed the whites to bring that out.

Phil, you are right, there is very little colour in the building. It's concrete grey and the initial conversion to B&W didn't change the colour much.

And, Izzie, I did add a touch of yellow tone to make it look a little 'grungier'.

John, I am pretty sure those rectangular objects are air conditioning units.

Mike, I was thinking about that abstract nature of it, too, but hopefully I held it back just enough so that it contributes to the image but does not become the subject of the image.

[purplehaze]

Greg, I like this image very much. I looked at it earlier today on my phone and guessed air conditioning units, built-in cribs seeming more than a little unlikely. It certainly doesn't say "luxury" to me, but I live in a 90-year-old house, so I guess that tells you something about my taste in architecture.

[ashcroft]

I am interested to know your response to this style of processing. ie how it makes you feel about this building; what kind of building you think it might be.

I like photography in this style, and the subject matter - although I know that a lot of people don't. The reason I like shots like this one is that they portray something more general and diffuse about the world we live in. Yes, it's nice to have a very objective recognizable pretty scene and stick it on your wall, but we also benefit from shots like this as they help shape the way we see the world more generally.

Was I waffling too much there

[TonyW]

The perspective in this picture is interesting because there isn't any. It's more like an isometric drawing, which is why there is the ambiguity that Andre noted. The rectangular objects extend a long way into the rooms and that makes me think it is not air-conditioning but more likely wardrobe units. That's still a bit of a puzzle to me though.

The repetitive patterns are quite striking and make for a good picture.

[bnnrcn]

+1 to Phil's comment, I loved the image and PP

[FootLoose]

Janis, Rob, Tony and Binnur thank you for your observations and comments.

"Was I waffling too much?" No, Rob, I am always interested to hear other peoples thoughts and philosophies on photography.

"wardrobe units" Hmmm... the comments here are making me wonder more about what those things are. I will have to venture down to that site again and investigate further.

[Brownbear]

Hi Greg,

Great image, beautifully processed. I adore the gold/light against the black/light. Even though I am not familiar enough with this type of image to show full appreciation or offer any useful feedback, I especially like this image because it holds my interest, and keeps me looking at it to try and figure it out. My first thought is of a sanitarium, likely because it is so dark and foreboding inside. I see the golden light outside of the building as a sign of hope for the future. I'm truly not sure where that came from, just sprung to mind. It could be that I ate too many Christmas treats today - ie; my mind is addled from too, much sugar.

[FootLoose]

But Christina, your feedback is very useful! You have given me your honest opinion of what you see in this image, and how you read it. I can't ask for any more than that.

I am grateful to everyone who has responded because the original image is rather drab and so I used my processing skills, such as they may be, to try to convey what I felt about this building and I am very pleased that everyone has picked up on what I was trying to express. So this is a landmark image for me: I have been able to use photography to communicate a personal statement to other photographers.