In this series, we present a look-book of authentic photographs collected by the writers and editors here at Envato Tuts+. We hope these pictures inspire ideas, help kindle new projects, and give you a better understanding of visual communication.
Today's Image: Office building. This image is by liufuyu and it's available on Envato Elements.
A Closer Look at This Image
Office buildings are popular subject matter, but this one seems to grab the eye. Let’s look at some of the reasons why.
Forced Perspective
Looking up at a building is nothing new, it emphasises and exaggerates the idea of height; but what I think is different here is that the perspective is a little skewed and then nicely framed by the curved walkway or road above.
I wish there was a tiny bit more of a gap between the two blocks on the right and the top of the frame, it’s all a little tight, but then perhaps there’s something we can’t see that might have ruined the effect had the photographer chosen to do that.
What We Don’t See
What a photograph suggests can often be just as powerful as what it actually shows; even more so sometimes. Here, we can see some more tall buildings reflected in the skyscrapers featured, which reinforces the idea that we’re seeing a bustling metropolis rather than just a few scattered buildings.
We don’t see any cars either, which isn’t unusual for the angle and perspective, but is at odds with what we’d expect from a cityscape.
Juxtaposition
I mentioned bustling metropolis and this image just screams city, but the cool colour edit, lighting and materials of the skyscrapers themselves make the buildings look sleek and clean—the opposite of what you’d expect from a busy city.
The trees in the image help with this contrast too. We can also just about see rows of green bushes peeping through the railings at the top, there’s a lot of greenery going on here and this juxtaposes nicely with how we’d usually imagine a city: dirty, smelly, and noisy.
Reading a Photograph
We'd love to hear your take on this photograph, and if you're not sure where to begin, then How to Read a Photograph will get you started with how to analyse photography. Mostly, it's just saying what you see and how you feel about an image!
