Monthly Archives: January 2013

King Charles

The wreath is ephemeral and will be removed or rot away.  The 30th January was known in the Anglican Church Calendar as the Feast Day of St Charles the Martyr. It referred to the beheading – the regicide – of King … Continue reading

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Beachcomber

London is not the most obvious place for beachcombers.  His metal detector sweeps rhythmically back and forth.  Does he find anything? Photo: River Thames, South Bank, London January 2013

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Market

Two questions prompted by this picture.  Is a group incompatible with the idea of the rückenfigur?  Do the full faces destroy the essential concept of the rückenfigur?  Maybe ‘yes’ to both.  So it becomes more a ‘rear view’ picture; and does … Continue reading

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Authority

Figures of authority keep watch over the scene in front of them.  We keep watch on them. Or partial watch, we see only the shape of authority, it is not fully revealed and the anonymous black figures takes on an … Continue reading

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Separate

Sometimes the rückenfigur is introduced into paintings to establish scale.  Here the figure not only establishes the grand scale of the buildings, but in her own hooded world she emphasises the separateness of the street from the isolated, secured world … Continue reading

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Judge

This figure judging shire horses is closer to a rückenfigur than sone other rear view pictures I’ve posted.  He’s not exactly  a ‘halted traveller’ and he’s not contemplating the infinite, but, like a true rückenfigur, he knits together near and … Continue reading

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May Ball

Like the previous posting, this rear view focuses on dress.  It is a perspective often used in fashion photography, where the garment in important and the face is not.  Is this couple looking onto the future or reflecting on carefree college … Continue reading

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Looking Back

I have just started giving more serious though to the rückenfigur/rear view pictures I’ve been taking periodically in a rather unstructured way.  It has prompted me to look back through old contact sheets for early examples.  This is one I … Continue reading

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Lime Kiln Hill

Only in the flatness of Cambridge would this modest rise in the land (50m OD) be treated as a significant hill.  Its name is an evocative recording of local identity and history.  In the Green Belt, it is now identified … Continue reading

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