Photo by @dantom on Instagram
As I sat scrolling through Instagram on Wednesday, I found myself doing more scrolling than looking at pictures. Fortunately, @dantom's marvelous photo broke the monotony that unfortunately plagues Instagram. I found myself staring at his photo, trying to figure out why I fixated on it. The composition certainly has a lot going on, but at the same time his photo is simple and it makes sense. After what felt like hours looking at his photo (probably about a minute or two) I realized that the reason I enjoyed his work so much was because it had that elusive artistic quality to it. While this differs in taste for everyone, this "artistic quality" is the feeling one has when they look at a work of art and say "ahh, that's art." It's the feeling I get when I look at the grand masters (especially the impressionists) and it's the feeling I'm constantly searching for when looking at modern art (I often don't find it).
The color palette, first and foremost, aided in giving me this feeling of seeing real art. In my own work I struggle to balance color; too many colors often looks like a snapshot and having only a few colors is a difficult task. What I've never understood is why, when I come across a beautiful scene— say a beautiful garden with lillies growing on the pond— filled with bright, vivid colors, taking a photograph that accurately conveys the beauty of that location is near impossible. The reason this phenomenon perplexes me is that when I go to an art museum and look at Degas or Monet or Van Gogh or Seurat, they use incredible colors and a variety of colors, too. Likewise, they fill their canvases with overgrown trees and bushes or a troupe of dancers, creating complex compositions. So then why can I not recreate those same compositions photographically? While I do not have the answer, I think @dantom might. In his photo he incorporates oranges and blues, greens and yellows, even bright pink. More importantly, he does so without making his photograph look like a snapshot that anyone with a point and shoot could have taken.
I think that Dan Tom's use of subject in the photo (combined with the leading lines of the road) really brings this composition together. For some time I thought about whether this composition would work without cyclist and I think it would, but I think that the balance the cyclist provides to the luscious trees and brightly-colored buildings creates a tight-knit more striking image.
Finally, I'm not sure how he's done this, but however he's edited the photo truly is incredible. Dan managed to render bright vivid colors, while at the same time making them look matted. The photograph doesn't look like the high-gloss photos you'd see in a magazine, it looks like a painting. I think this photo would still work with the high-gloss (maybe higher contrast?) look, but it would look more like a documentary image of India (or wherever this is set) rather than an art piece. Whatever he's doing to give his images that painterly look really makes his work stand out.
I cannot say enough good things about his photo; it inspires me to go out and try to both replicate and improve on his look, because he's accomplished something I truly admire. His work inspires me because it makes me question why I like the photo and it inspires me because I feel the need to know how he made his photo. Check out @dantom on Instagram— he's got an extremely impressive feed.