Photos of sculpture: Experiments in distance, angle.
Altered photograph of a Henry Moore sculpture, located in San Diego Museum of Art’s popular sculpture garden.
Oh, no! Here come some “artsy” photos!
Today I walked through Balboa Park’s beautiful May S. Marcy Sculpture Garden. The grassy space, which is free to the public, contains several pieces of artwork belonging to the San Diego Museum of Art’s collection.
The garden’s most recognized sculpture is probably Reclining Figure: Arch Leg, which was created in 1969 by renowned British Modernist artist Henry Moore.
As I walked around the curvaceous sculpture, it occurred to me that different interesting photos could be taken depending on the angle and perceived distance. So I engaged in a bit of experimentation!
(Fear not! I didn’t touch the sculpture or step on the flowers! But I did lean over like crazy–and minutely cropped some images– to get the “close-up” images.)
Henry Moore’s 1969 bronze sculpture Reclining Figure: Arch Leg, on the grass in the San Diego Museum of Art’s May S. Marcy Sculpture Garden.Sunlit bronze sculpture photographed from a different angle. I adjusted contrast, brightness and sharpness, and cropped according to my eye.Same sculpture, different frame, different paths of reflected light. The physical object is itself unchanged, but has become something new in the mind of the viewer.The Modernist sculpture’s fluid curves and organic quality is suggestive of human form.Raw nature interacts with human art. A camera focuses on nearby details the casual eye might miss.The form of an abstract sculpture becomes more mysterious when the defining outer edges are eliminated with photo editing.A warmly glowing bronze surface, and a pair of eyes.The sculpture’s red-tinged bronze skin reflects Southern California sunlight.A closer view reveals craters and furrows. Small glimpses of beauty within a larger whole.A strangely perfect, silvery surface.Looking up into the light. Both self-contained art and the outer world are composed of the same elements, and can evoke identical wonder.
Downtown San Diego has been my home for many years. My online activities reflect my love for writing, blogging, walking and photography.
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7 thoughts on “Photos of sculpture: Experiments in distance, angle.”
Love your perspective on sculpture. I particularly like photos six and seven. I like that you can’t tell what they are but you know it’s something cool.
I looked at the pics on a new monitor at work which is much brighter than my own at home, and some of the images looked poor to me! I’m debating whether to redo a couple images…
Cool San Diego Sights! 
I’ve yet to walk in there…don’t know why 🙂
Great photos.
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It’s a fun place to check out some abstract sculptures!
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Love your perspective on sculpture. I particularly like photos six and seven. I like that you can’t tell what they are but you know it’s something cool.
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I looked at the pics on a new monitor at work which is much brighter than my own at home, and some of the images looked poor to me! I’m debating whether to redo a couple images…
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UPDATE! I re-edited three of the photos!
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Absolutely beautiful photos!
Great place to visit!
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Yep! One strangely sees truth in their beauty.
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