Let’s stay in the “Shape” category. Here’s one of my all-time favourites.
Brazília, the capital of Brazil, is a unique city, with a unique (hi)story and unique architecture. Some parts of it just look like taken straight from some 70s sience fiction movie (check out some more photos here), created by the master architect Oscar Niemeyer. For photography, perfectly white, space age looking buildings and deep blue sky (if you use a polariser) just work together.
This photo here was taken in the entrance of the Museu Nacional da República (National museum), which looks like a big huge white ball buried in the ground with just the top bit sticking out. I was looking for an interesting angle, with few, clear lines and strong contrast. I first composed the picture so that I wouldn’t have the lamp in bit, but then decided that including the lamp would give it a tad more balance and something concrete to look at, apart from the shape created by the wall.
However, the more I look at it now I thing it might have been better to leave the lamp out… that would simplify, purify things even more. Ah well, too bad.
