Balancing figure and space

The aim of this exercise is to use two images demonstrating a difference in balance between the people and the setting.

An ideal location for this exercise was the New York subway. From the same seat I took the following images:

 

The individual on the right of the first image is more central in the second.

The first image is much more about the sense of place in respect of emptiness - the reflection in the window shows no people on the opposite side of the carriage. It has a late night feel, enhanced by the passenger having no bags.

In the second. we still get the impression of an off peak service (the litter adds to the impression) but we have more passengers. The focus of the image is the lack of engagement between passengers, even those close to the camera who we may assume are known to one another.

So the balance of the image - the different perspective - has resulted in images that demonstrate an alternative slant; each image demonstrates a slightly different message, albeit within the same sub text of a partially empty subway carriage.

Often during this and previous course, I have worked on exercises that demonstrate in an analytical way what one instinctively knows. This is such an exercise; at one level it is obvious that the message for any image is unique and one takes that for granted. But this exercise demonstrates that concept by using a fairly subtle difference - using the same picture situation to take images with a different balance of people and place to demonstrate a different message.