When taking a photo, the smallest addition or change, like some colorful lighting or a wide-angle view, can really take a picture from oridinary to extraordinary. That’s what these award-winning photographers form our Photography 2021 competition did, and the results speak for themselves!
We are surrounded by rocks, whether in nature or in the form of building material and as such we don’t think much about them. American photographer Michael Schoenfeld challenges that mindset with “Ordinary Rocks” (above). A Gold-winning still life series produced during Covid lockdown, Schoenfeld wanted to give the rocks a “poetic allegorical personality”, which he achieved with his selection of rocks and his use of colorful light.
In the first image, the rock is cast in bright shades of purple and indigo light with touches of pinks and oranges. The grooves along the bottom are pronounced, catching your eyes and making you follow them from end to end, while the orange crystal also catches your attention with how it stands out against the dark blue background and purple body. The other images of the series do the same thing, providing multiple things to look at and reconsider regarding these mundane natural objects.
