Lower 9th... print suggestions?
keithwms

Lower 9th... print suggestions?

Is it worth printing, and if so, how? Comments/suggestions welcome.

I recently visited the lower 9th ward in New Orleans, which was swept away following the levee break after Hurrican Katrina. I had a cr full of impatient tourists and a few brief moments to try to sum up my thoughts in a few photographs. Atop the new levee, what I saw was this obvious geometrical construct- a pyramid-like figure, and on one side the devastation, and on the other side, the canal.

Considering the geometrical figure, my inclination is to contact print this or enlarge in a very modest way, aiming to preserve the dominance of the geometrical figure. Along these lines, I am also pondering a lith print, but haven't yet done one so suggestions are certainly welcome.

Obviously this is a square crop from 4x5, I feel that the square somehow befits the pyramidal figure. Obvious the print will need some dodge and burn, but this is just a quick neg scan to solicit print suggestions.
Location
New Orleans, Louisiana
Equipment Used
Converted 4x5 enlarging back + 65mm f/4 Nikkor
Exposure
adequate
Film & Developer
Acros, ID11
Paper & Developer
scan (see above)
Lens Filter
heliopan center filter
Keith, I to like the geometry going on here. My only thought on this right now is to burn everything except the center of the pyramid shape. Make the sky dramatic. So heavily burn the sky and then find a balance on the sides of the image. I would burn the foreground also as the unsharp area bothers me. I see this as a very dramatic image. Good luck with printing it again and let me see what you come up with.

Jim
 
Thanks Jim. I woke up this morning and said to myself, why is the sky even there if it is so light as to compete with the pyramid. So I definitely agree with you. I will work on it. It will look very different from this scan, that's for sure. When I saw the scene, the very first thing I thought was the $1 bill. I'll see where that thought takes me.
 
I was thinking a crop to remove everything above (and including) the tiny patch of dirt on the right, but that's just too abstract to be meaningful. I think you do have to keep the bridge, canal, and neighborhood/destruction. I like Jim's burning idea.

It does look interesting if you crop just to the top of the pyramid, too.

I messed with it a bit using tecniques that are not to be discussed here, cropping the top and burning the grassy parts a bit (and some of the top of the pyramid) and I think it's kind of a promising portrayal.
 

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levee4x4_sm.jpg
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