What makes this image work so well, Kal, is the fact that we can't see where has fallen from or where he may be headed. How far is he falling? The fact that you have blurred this image makes it seem all the more shocking. It is the exact reverse of Arnold Hardy's famous 1946 Pulitzer Prize image of a woman plunging from a burning hotel in Atlanta. See:http://gtalumni.org/Publications/techtopics/win93/pulitzer.html It stops action, suspending the terrible consequences to come. We feel her helplessness because we can see where she is coming from and have an idea were she is falling. Both images appeal to the imagination of the viewer. Yours because of what is not seen. And Hardy's because of what we see.
This one definitely gives us that feeling. The blur is very important here, but in my opinion what really makes our hearts stop is the fact that we can see that the child has lost her grip and it's hopelessly falling...
This one calls for an imediate response and I think that everyone who sees it will try to reach out and hold her.
Yes Jeroen, the same feeling, of being out of control (love the facial expression in yours by the way). Fear and thrill all the same time, and knowing that we just can't stop it. An adult would hide it, a child just shows it....the right hand outstretched is what I like about this picture, it is a sign that she wants it to stop, but it won't...something that should be a pleasure has become terror.
Guest
13-Oct-2005 23:00
Right on, this is what I like! Have a look at the URL below. Same idea, different execution.
great. this is not just falling... this is precipitating... and it is not diificult to feel
in what kind of a hell.
A deeply dramatic and anxious image through a "just" children play.
Respect, you KNOW I like this.
