A big conceptual concern of mine is taking note of things we usually do not see in our daily comings and goings, even though they are staring us in the face. Sometimes my goal is merely to compare them in a census like fashion like the seismically twisted cluster of gneiss from the Mojave Desert above, but more commonly, my goal is to use found or introduced objects to illustrate a concept normally not identified with their usual function.
In using this second approach, it is usually most affective to reposition the object somewhat removed from its usual surroundings. Isolation of the object in the environment introduces an almost cartoon like sense of monumentalism more akin to sculpture than is found in most representational photos. However, the removal of surrounding elements, and the iconization of the subject is just one of a number of strategies that can be employed to build out a concept derived from common objects.
To that end, let's turn our attention to the photo of the Arrow above. Firstly, this directional sign is found in a suburb south of San Francisco along the ocean. In fact, adjacent to it on both sides are many homes built in the 1960s and 1970s. Nothing unusual about this block at all, except for the fact that when you isolate the Arrow from the street, you are left wondering, "What is that sign doing on a bluff bordering the ocean?" My goal clearly was not to discuss the suburbs.
The Arrow is from a much more extensive body of work, and while it is not the best photo in the group, it allows us to explore many of the strategies we can use to create an icon from the everyday. Besides the already discussed isolation of the subject, this photo also makes use of the size distortions/space expansion associated with using a wide angle lens, along with a very its high depth of field. There was also the decision to photograph it against the dusk sky and illuminate this backlit sign with strobe. These secondary decisions further remove the sign from actually directing traffic, and move it in a direction of discussing flow, directionality, progress, or abrupt change without warning. It is almost like we have stumbled on a forgotten icon in the night, a symbol void of any context.
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