The book-dummy for my Instant Nomad series is now into the next phase; testing various images to determine how to strength my narrative about travel and anxiety. Last week I was discussing and evaluating various staged photographs that I had created. I have considered using the photo above, which has been included, then replaced, and I am still evaluating it for the subtle qualities to elicit visual tension.
In retrospect, there a some aspects of this photo that I really like. The things in the image that don’t work as well for me are driving me nuts. When traveling you rarely get an opportunity to evaluate your hotel room, and so making do with what you find. This room had an interesting little porch area, but I had not realized how the lighter porch overhang would show up in this night photo. If I had a chance for a do-over, I would have raised the camera tripod higher to eliminate that overhang but that would have also truncated the far towering office building.
That odd colored night sky has been vexing to adjust, although the unnatural colors created by all the city lights does make this a bit more surreal, thus it is becoming an interesting aspect that is growing on me. Nevertheless, I will probably spend a little bit more time tweaking the content of this photo, perhaps evaluating a black and white version or cloning out the light colored outside overhead.
Cheers
Doug
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Current exhibition:
May 7th – 29th, 2021, Southeast Center for Photography (SEC4P), Greenville, South Carolina. A group photographic exhibition on the theme of Flora, juried by Wendi Schneider. Opening concurrent with Greenville’s First Friday events while there will not be a formal artists reception of this exhibition due to the pandemic.
Singular Images 
Hmm, Doug, when I take this photograph as what it is – only a photograph, no memories of the situation available – I find no fault with both the color of the night sky and the overhang. In my eyes, both can support my personal interpretation of the image: There is no natural night sky in a city, so that slightly off color does not contradict my expectation. And the bright balcony roof outside gives a nice background for the silhouetted head, plus it creates a mood of compression, something I feel as completely adequate for the assumed situation of being alone in a foreign (read: not your hometown) city.
But these are certainly my subjective interpretations of this image – coming from a different point of view than yours as the auteur.
Markus, thanks, I appreciate your perspective. Photographers bring so much internal baggage with their own artwork, that helps to ‘see’ it through some else’s eyes. You provide a nice validation that the resulting photograph does resonate with some of my intent. Cheers!