NAPLES STREET PICTURES

None of these photographs have been put through photoshop

I saw this shot as we alighted from the coach when we first arrived in Naples.  We had walked across a plaza  full of parked cars and scooters and wanted to walk over to the Duomo ,(Naples cathedral) in the background.  I noticed that almost everyone was sitting with their backs to this fabulous view, it remindes me of a photograph  by Gary Winogrand .

 The sun was so bright I had difficulty with exposure and tried to get a balance between the bright background and dark foreground in anticipation that I would be able to correct in photoshop.  What I should have done was take at least two shots, one for each exposure level in order to blend them later.  I like the composition though with busy people adding interest in the foreground with a figure in the centre looking into the view.

World's Fair, New York 1964

Here all the interest is on the people, with the viewer eavesdropping on their conversations.  The 'eye' naturally reads a photograph from left to right and a slight drop off to the right keeps your eye travelling through the area of interest, drawing attention to the central figures by the 'frame' of the men at either end.

I loved the colour of these city buildings although bright sunlight has bleached out the facing building.  Here again exposure was difficult because of the bright sunlight and shadows cast by tall buildings.  It was the colour 'Pompei red' and repeated window decoration which I found interesting, I think the arches in bottom left draw you into the picture and the bright patch on sunlight takes you up to examine the pattern of the windows.

It was the taxis lined up two abreast with figures on top of the arches looking down that drew me to this shot.

Here taxis parked form a pattern, also using the rule of thirds to position towering pillars travelling up and figures forming a full stop at the top. 

It was a great day for washing.  Long sheets hanging emphasise the narrowness of the street and encourage you to look up into the view and examine the repeated balconies.

This building was really crumbling with age but had new additions stuck all over it, with a woman gazing out of a giant poster.  I liked the way she was placed in the bottom right with a white scooter in front. 

For sale signs stuck on a crumbling wall, it was the image of Vertruvian man with Leonardo printed over it that caught my attention.  Repeated posters form a pattern with their shiny covering of plastic contrasting with the crumbly texture of the wall.

There were lots of street vendors but I had to get a shot of Barbie on her bicycle, the trouble was they expected me to buy as well.

  A diagonal compostion seemed best here since Barbie was larger and would have obscured the figures from the other direction, by focusing on the nearest figures and letting Barbie fall slightly out of focus, I have encouraged the viewer to look at the focused area first then travel throught to top left. I thought this added more interest rather than a straight, full on shot.

More washing, with scooters caught in a strip of light.

Yellow topped bollards formed an avenue into the street with the action caught in a narrow strip of light between buildings.  Washing hanging draws you upwards with the strip of sunlight almost acting as an arrow to the focal point of the riders.

I suppose the strip of high contrast road and sky draws you into the picture, but I also wanted the people passing the time of day, standing in the shade.

I like his pink scooter, very macho.

The rider here is placed in the bottom third of the picture with his head slightly off centre and looking to the side, he forms a focal point for this street scene with towering buildings and sunlight behind pointing down to the action.

Lots of interesting local shops in the backstreets.

Although slightly underexposed, I like this shot of a street market,  all the action is happening in the bottom left with the vendor in his pink shirt being the main focal point.  The yellow building wall encourages you to look upwards and then down the shaft of light back to the action behind the vendor.  There are lots of textures here with leafy vegetables, smooth yellow wall and crumbling wall above.

This cafe in a very grand setting was patronised by lots of smart people.

It is interesting how the tables line up, pointing to a view, framed by an archway, of repeating patterns of windows. Here again I used the 'rule of thirds' in composition.

People in this shot illustrate the scale of the building, with arches and dome carrying pattern up through the shot.

Still Naples, with a couple of guys working on their boat.  The main focal point is the boat in the bottom left with figures slightly below and to the right of centre point.  Boats moored, hills in the distance any sky make up layers of interest and add perspective.

The beach is very much a part of city life with local people spending alot of their free time there since they have no private outside space.

I think the white chair forms a focal point, with the grape vine separating and adding perspective to the layers of boats and city buildings.