NZ Visual Diary - entry 160
time zone - along Queen Street
Let’s begin by dismissing an understandable first impression. This image is not a photoshop canard. Amongst Queen Street’s brags is that of being home to the largest outdoor LED display in New Zealand. The massive screen wraps around the north corner of a building at the corner of Queen and Swanson Streets.
The image of 19th Century Auckland depicted in this post’s photograph shares rotating visual space on screen with a range of mixed content - advertisements (see post 98) and public service or educational themes.
It is the juxtaposition of old and new Auckland - a bygone era and expressively contemporary commercial architecture - that appeals to me.
A high watermark of a successful city from an architectural perspective is its ability to treasure the finest elements of its architectural heritage, made manifest through a resolute commitment to historical preservation, while embracing new architectural expressions.
And so this image with its play within a play: a high-tech rendering of the visual past tense married with the fierce symmetry of contemporary architecture.
My thanks to Roberto and Doug for reminding me that the visual vocabularies of a photograph (light and form) must be cemented first before a photographer asks an image to serve also as a conversation about an idea or set of ideas. I believe they are correct: I got ahead of myself and let an idea overwhelm the visual grounding of the image. I greatly appreciate the feedback.
This is strange as it's one of my least favorite of your images but also one of the most intriguing and visually curious... So thanks.