Photo by Noah Devereaux, www.noahdevereaux.com, blog
One of my favorite photographers has always been Robert Frank. He has an amazing ability to convey theme and concept within a documentary context, but the thing that I loved the most viewing his photographs when I started was that they were a reminder of one simple point: great pictures can be found everywhere. Like yesterday’s daily picture, careful observation is the truest skill at hand. Noah Devereaux’s image illustrates how ideas can be communicated in the simplest of forms. It’s a great statement about the nature of weddings, consumption, and closure, and it’s a picture almost no one would bother to take.
There are two things that really makes the picture work. The first is the slight sense of movement by the waiter, which gives the picture just a hint of flow and makes it more lively than it would be if everything was sitting on the tray. The second is the fork. Stabbing at the remains, it is forceful, but it also balances precariously, seemingly defying gravity. It gives the picture a whimsical quality that makes it a perfect closing image and summation of the wedding day.
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