By Scott Shephard
I am revisiting a scene I photographed in November. And, you may recall, I've already posted one of the photos from the series. But I couldn't resist posting another.
Why? Well, today I'm caught up both in the technical aspects of this photo, which was taken on November 24 at 8 am in Grand Central Terminal in New York City, and the deeper symbolic meaning of this shot.
Technical? A long exposure without a tripod meant that I had to brace my camera on a railing. I took several photos with different shutter speeds before I got the right look of the moving people. A longer exposure made the moving people almost disappear. I then created a black and white version because it seems a little more surreal that way.
Symbolic? I should let you fill in the blanks here but I will offer one interpretation: In American culture, movement is championed as a good thing. Inertia and stasis are negatives. I.e "If you don't keep moving, you get left behind."
But the only people in this photo who are close to being sharply focused are those who are standing still. I think we should stop and stand more often. Don't you think we would see and feel more if we did?
Canon 5DIII 0.7s f/8.0 ISO500 16mm