Critique Welcomed Riviera United Methodist Church
- Thread starter Brian Moore
- Start date
Gary R. Smith
Well-Known Member
I tried to crop the bottom diagonals off by moving the image down in my browser so it gets cut off by the bottom of my screen just above the dark brick which goes from the left side to the right but that didn't seem to help. For some reason I want to eliminate the foreground that is out of square with everything else in the image. Interesting study in black and white angles and perspective.
Rob MacKillop
Edinburgh Correspondent
Exactly how I see religion…
Brian Moore
Moderator
A number of factors conspired and compelled me to frame the image as you see it. First, the church is built on a slight grade running downward from left to right. Secondly I didn't have a wide enough focal length lens to eliminate the grassy verge in the foreground yet still get the entire building into the frame. Finally I had to step slightly onto the roadway to get the entire church, yet there was a car parked in the most inopportune spot; this prevented me from getting the church centered in the frame. (You may have noticed it's not truly symmetrical.)
Out of square,...?
Rob MacKillop
Edinburgh Correspondent
Straightjacketing. Fascist overtones. Control. A threat behind the smile.
Gianluca Drago
Well-Known Member
@Brian Moore, one of your notable architectural photos (although this isn't one of my favorites, if I'm honest).
Rob MacKillop
Edinburgh Correspondent
But setting my feelings about religion aside, it must have been a difficult shot to get right. Did you have to resort to software trickery to get all the angles ‘right’ or right-angles right? I’m detecting or feeling a bit of tension in it, somehow.
Brian Moore
Moderator
You're right, Rob. It's actually one of my early attempts at architectural photography. This (as well as the other factors I outlined in my response to Gary) made it a difficult shot to make. Angles were all wrong. Straightened it up with software.
Ralph Turner
Well-Known Member
The two canopies are like giant robotic arms reaching out to embrace (or crush) the viewer, depending on their point of view. A very striking image of a rather brutal structure.
Gary R. Smith
Well-Known Member
Brutal? I just think it's "modern". I wonder when it was built.
Ralph Turner
Well-Known Member
Maybe 'brutal' is a little harsh, but pretty it ain't. Maybe modern industrial. I do like the image, though.
Gianluca Drago
Well-Known Member
Here is an article by Brad Nixon (I didn't know him before a Google search) about this church. It calls it "International Style modernism", while others call the style "Constructivist". I think Modernism is OK.
Brian Moore
Moderator
It's a modernist design. Architect was Richard Neutra, who was one of the giants of modernist architecture. Late 50's design.
Ralph Turner
Well-Known Member
My bad regarding the building's architectural style, I'm no expert on these things 
. I guess my tastes are more old fashioned 
. I guess my tastes are more old fashioned
Brian Moore
Moderator
It's style matters not, Ralph. It elicited an emotion in you. That's good enough for me.
