There’s a picture on the cover of the Metro today which did what all great photos do – it made me stop & look again.
The Saturdays at T4 on the Beach 2009
It’s a shot, taken by Karwai Tang for Alpha, of girl band The Saturdays performing at T4 on the Beach at Weston Super Mare, but the interesting thing is that they’re photographed from behind. Instead of the usual image of Vanessa, Frankie & the rest, dazzling us with their choreography & push up bras, we see five sets of long legs and hot pants.
I wouldn’t go so far as to say The Saturdays look better from the back, they obviously have the charms to impress picture editors from various angles.
But what the Metro cover gives us, is a classic unexpected angle that completely changes the dynamic and the impact of the picture.
You’ll see it all the time in the papers. Scenes photographed from above, from below, from the side using reflections.. Usually it’s photographers doing whatever they can to make a dull story vaguely interesting.
Here it works perfectly. We suddenly see something we didn’t expect & by showing us something less obvious, we actually see a lot more.
post by: Tim Kerr (Director & Picture Editor of PA Photocall)
