Nighthawks

I thought I'd write a little entry about the picture I've used as my title background. I've copied it into the blog itself in case I change the title at a future date, and make this entry obsolete.


Most of you know I am a keen user of Facebook. It's a wonderful way of sharing information with friends and former work colleagues as well as meeting new and interesting people. One such person is Andrea from Scunthorpe. I've never met her in person, and it's unlikely I ever will, but our profiles are linked together so we get to view each others photos and updates.


On one occasion, one of Andrea's friends posted a series of photographs onto the web. By the look of the pictures, this person works as a fashion photographer as most of the other entries were of models, clothes and shoes. In amongst those though were one or two landscape and 'artistic' shots - this one included. It was an instant hit with me. Everything about it was perfect. I want to know what the cafe customers are talking about. I can feel the warm rain on my face. The blurred person on the crossing gives an inanimate picture a sense of movement. It works so well in sepia too, I don't think I would have been so instantly drawn to it if it had been full colour. I got in touch with Andrea, who in turn got in touch with the photographer and she kindly gave me permission to reproduce it for my own use, including this blog.


You may wonder why I have called this entry 'Nighthawks'. It's the name of a painting by Edward Hopper that I first came across in 1986 in the film Ferris Bueller's Day off. Not long after that I saw a spoof version of the picture where the central figures were replaced by Marilyn Monroe, Elvis and James Dean. It wasn't until a few years ago that I found out the pictures title, thanks again to the movies, Hard Candy this time.


As you'll see, there isn't anything physically similar between the two, but when I saw the photograph, it reminded me so much of Nighthawks. Perhaps it's the fact that we have a cafe and street scene simultaneously in both...


...or perhaps I'm just going potty!

I may add another entry later concerning another photograph from the same source. They captured an image of a staircase and made it look exactly like an Escher painting.