Passing Through

[aprilS]

[eob]

In my mind, the reflection of railroad tracks symbolizes something that came and went. Judging by the expression on the girl's face, this something was important to her - maybe her love, maybe her childhood, who knows... In any case, the mood is set clearly as sadness. That's my interpretation. But this is one of those photos that may be interpreted in many different symbolic ways.

From the more formal point of view, I think the composition is perfect thanks to the tight cropping that eliminates everything not vital to the message/mood. No distractions and the clear focus on what's important. I should also mention that I love the delicate tonality and soft illumination of the face contrasted with quite vivid tonality of the reflection.

[Ted Byrne]

It is the nature of the sojourner to never light. They are in but never of a place. Each stop is a stepping stone, a lesson, an experience. The sojourner builds a life from disparate moments and it is only her presence which ties them together. And since none of the people in any of the stops can understand what the sojourner finally understands, she is never understandable and hence never one of them. Always an exotic... the Martian who speaks colloquial English, Mandarin, Spanish, Urdu, or even urban rap with just the tiniest, but telling, accent.

She is never seen in full color...  Never passes the test when people ask, "Is she one of us?" And that failing is both the curse and engine of her life.

[habakuk]

If someone would ask me how to depict how it is, when you can look inside a human's thoughts... then this is how I would do it. The tracks really stand for a thought train... it is so very suggestive. I just adore the concept of this shot and the way it has been executed! Nothing to add, no idea to improve from my side. Thanks for the inspiration!

cheers
®

[Theo]

I agree with eob "I love the delicate tonality and soft illumination of the face contrasted with quite vivid tonality of the reflection". the picture as a whole makes me feel like i'm looking right into her thoughts. Very nice job as always


Yours

[aprilS]

Thank you all for taking the time to view and for your comments. It is so interesting to read the different interpretations.

They each resonate with me, but Roland I think you nailed it with the phrase "a train of thought." The composition does drill directly into her brain -- or at least, that's how it struck me.

eob, I hadn't caught the wistfulness, but now see it is there and ties to my initial impression of memories and possibilities.

Ted, I enjoy the (very poetic!) idea of a sojourner. This is/was definitely a temporary stop along her way.

As for the contrasting tonality, I'm so glad that struck you Theo and eob. (Hmmm...two eo's. :) It was something that jumped out when I was cycling through b&w presets; infrared on the reflections alone made me say "ohhh!", for a number of reasons.