This image was taken by the well known ‘brummy’ photographer Richard Billingham, his focus was to take photographs in the environment in which he grew up in, and this was taken in a street by his childhood residence, a council flat in Birmingham. My eye is immediately drawn to the car, positioned in the centre, however, I believe that it is the immense shadow that hangs over it that provides a stark contrast in tone and colour, which results in the car being visually prominent. The frame captures a peaceful, cloudless sky, the 1990’s car, and the urban environment, in which he supposedly grew up in. The frame also captures a very geometric strip of road and curb; this gives the photo proportion, and makes it more pleasant to look at.
The calm and peaceful background contradicts with the stressful image of the car, the midground, and its depressing surroundings in the foreground, resulting in high contrast lighting. The photo, evidently, was taken in broad daylight, empathising the shadows and making them more crisp and overall, boosting the quality of the photo. It would seem that the midground and foreground have been tinted to give off a worn effect, forming a cohesive display with the surroundings, to convey a depressive image.
