0 Comments
Viewing single post of blog Second Surface

First part of the description of:

Photograph 1

There are two figures in the bottom right hand corner of the photograph a man and a woman. Both have their back to the camera and are some distance away, perhaps the other side of the road. They seem unaware of being photographed and are engaged in some obscure action involving a cuddly toy. The man is white, slim and mid height with tousled mousey hair. His head is seen partially in profile and there is the suggestion of a beard without this being totally clear. It could be that his face is partially in shadow. He is wearing a blue and bright white striped shirt with short sleeves and blue trousers. The stripe in the t-shirt is cobalt blue and the trousers are a cerulean blue. He is wearing skate-type sneakers with a white sole. I imagine the sneakers are navy because this would make sense with the rest of his outfit but it is possible the sneakers are black. She is white, slightly heavier and mid-height with dark brown hair. Her hair is in a ponytail and, as her head is partially turned towards the man, I can make out a longish fringe that probably reaches her eyebrows and may be even slightly longer. She is wearing a navy, scoop neck fitted sailor top. It has two white stripes that follow the neck around; I imagine they trace a line back to the front but it may have folded lapels or some other nautical detailing. She is wearing a bright white 1950’s style circle skirt which emphasises her waist and hips and she has on some very simple sandals, probably flip flops in a nude leather or plastic. There may be diamante detailing on the sandals. I read the man and the woman as a couple because their outfits compliment each other so perfectly. I think the woman is probably the fashion leader in the couple and I would suggest that she has the prior interest in a retro-styled look. The man has done the minimum to show, if not 1950’s cool, at least a nod to the period detailing of the woman’s outfit. It is possible that the woman shopped for or assisted the man in choosing his outfit, or that they chose the items together when they woke up that morning. The cuddly toy reveals an alternate point of reference between the couple. It encapsulates something unseen, perhaps a child. In purely visual terms the toy is white so it matches both their outfits. The toy is also a literal link between the couple as both of them have their hand directly on it; she is giving it to him and he is at the point of receiving it. She is poised standing as if she has waited for him to catch her up and he is mid stride as if, after catching her up, he is turning to take the toy somewhere else. This is the moment when a crisis is averted and there is only some perfunctory legwork to do to make everything right.


0 Comments