119 - Nightclub Stairs

119 - Nightclub Stairs
Originally uploaded by gingerpig2000

Another city, another bar-in-a-cellar. These are not 19th century squared-off basements, these are your arched storage cellar from 200+ years ago, and often exist as a second level of basement. The steps down are not in front of the building, they go straight down under the building, and since the cellar is so deep the steps are very steep.

I wanted to create a night club feel, even if the picture was taken in the morning with sunlight streaming down the steps. There were some difficult choices to be made and it took some work not to lose all the information I wanted to keep. This is also one of those images which look better when larger - when you get closer what you see changes.

I often watch people trying to deal with painting exhibitions, especially if the exhibition follows some kind of timeline where the first pictures you see are the oldest. When face to face with some form of modern art which shows little recording-like resemblance to a distinct subject, people tend to shy away, uncertain. I like to drag people closer, to see the more three dimensional qualities that many of them have, to break down the feeling that one should say 'oh, yes, it's a bowl of fruit' but rather to engage in how the picture makes you feel, for example.