and now for something completely different

This is a composite made from a photo my son Hunter took in downtown Calgary, and a picture I took of the Milky Way.

There is a photographer who used to do cityscapes with stars in the background. They were compositions when they weren’t easy to do with the software available at the time. He tried to show what cities would look like without light pollution. They were eerie. His name is Thierry Cohen if you want to check him out.

Many, if not most, of the astrophotography photos seen now are composites in one way or the other. Often the landscape is taken in one shot and the sky is taken in another. The time and place of the two or more photos can vary greatly. Like this composite for example.

The problem is composites are often presented as real. There is a photo of a nearby historic town with a well known mountain. Above the mountain the Milky Way shoots straight up in the east. The problem is the Milky Way is never in that position. It is a two photo composite. The photographer never presents it as such. The photo has been on magazine covers and sold as fine art photographs. It is probably one of the most well known photographs of that area. Yet the scene it depicts doesn’t exist. Does that matter as we enter an era of AI produced images? Where it is becoming impossible to tell the difference between what is real?

I have always appreciated documentary style photography. It is what I try to do on this site. It is to show change and also provide a record. That attitude probably comes from my family’s history in newspapers.

With this said, I like Hunter and my collaboration. It is not representative of reality, it is more symbolic. What would a city look like if the lights were off on a clear night? Would the world be a different place if we all could see the stars?

Hunter enjoys mixing music. Like his mixes, like art, like this photo, it is essentially storytelling and exists to make us think.

12 thoughts on “and now for something completely different”

  1. Jim R's avatar

    Jim R

    I like what you said about the compositions. It bothers me when a composite is obviously impossible with nothing said by the author about it being so. I agree with you about showing the reality of our world and how it can vary and also be consistent. Nice work by you and your son.

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    1. underswansea's avatar

      underswansea

      Thank you Carol. There is plenty to think about when we contemplate ‘what is possible’. Humanity is going to have a powerful tool in AI in the future. Will we use it for good? Or will it be owned by a few and used only for their ultimate benefit?

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  5. mountaincoward's avatar

    mountaincoward

    It’s a great photo. But, I’m like you normally and try to show things as they really were in my photos – I find my Zenith film camera best for that as it doesn’t do any processing. A lot of people think they’re dull compared to the digi photos I sometimes put out now but, the point is, it normally WAS dull on the day!

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