I superimpose the silhouetted woman walking her dog, along with a shadow of a palm tree, upon one of the many historic Art Deco structures in Miami Beach. There are almost a thousand historic buildings here, earning it a designation as a US Historic District. I abstract this image twice over in order to convey its mood and atmosphere. I only describe a small part of the building in the background – including just enough of it to define its design by stressing the shape of its windows and how they conform to the building’s curving corner. The yellow and green colors are very important to the scene as well – they symbolize the seemingly carefree atmosphere of this touristic destination. The silhouette and the shadow are important abstractions, in that they indicate the relaxed, tropical feel of the place, but do not describe the subjects themselves. I leave much to the imagination here, and that what abstraction is really all about.

Rather than make a postcard view of this picturesque castle, I moved my vantage point in order to place the sun behind its crenelated tower and exposing on its glowing edge to create an abstracted silhouette. I used a 24mm wideangle lens to include the spidery overhead tree branches and take advantage of the thin clouds. The resulting image allows the viewer’s own imagination to fill in the details. The Knights of Rhodes originally built the Palace in the 14th century. After this Greek island fell to the Ottomans it was used as a fortress. The Italians occupied Rhodes in 1912, and rebuilt the palace into its present grandiose medieval style as a summer residence for King Victor Emmanuel III and later for Fascist dictator Benito Mussolini.

This visitor seems to be patiently waiting for the day to end. I moved my vantage point in order to place his head between the leaves of an overhead tree, and backlight him with the reflected sunlight bouncing off the building in the background. The backlighting throws him into a silhouette, creating anonymity, and transforming him into a symbol of all who must wait.

I use back lighting to silhouette a woman on her way into the Scottsdale Library, gesturing forcefully as she carries on a cell phone conversation. I place the silhouetted figure against a setting of bold geometrical forms – the woman’s silhouetted fingers extend just below a concrete wall, and are echoed by the rectangular facing rising on the wall behind it, as well as the bowl-like shade on the lighting standard at the left edge of the frame. A black triangular shadow extends behind her, echoed in turn by another triangular shadow in the upper right hand corner. These triangular shadows reinforce the abstract thrust of the woman’s silhouette and carry its effect throughout the image.

As we departed from this Mogosoaia, seat of Wallachia’s government in the late 17th century, I turned around and looked back down the long entrance path towards the palace’s two story gate. There were two tourists on top of it it, one of them framed in an arch, having a conversation. I made a number of images as they talked, and prefer this one for its gesture. A bowed head and outstretched hand suggests deference, reasoning, and humility. The figures become symbolic because I abstracted them with backlighting, making them into silhouettes. The leaves from surrounding trees also become silhouetted, and blend into the scene. Meanwhile, the sun has gone down, leaving a pale peach colored glow in the sky as a background.

The tourists have gone home. Oatman is left to its few residents. One of them sits on the steps of its shuttered hotel, smoking a cigarette. I use my vantage point to abstract him, reducing him to a hand, leg, and foot. The hand falls into silhouette against the tattered yellow wall. On the window behind him are pictures of the town’s semi-wild burros, which wander the streets looking for handouts. A small poster warns against feeding carrots to baby burros – some have choked to death on them. Shortly after I made this image, the man tossed aside his cigarette and vanished, leaving the hotel to the famous ghosts reputed to stalk its halls.