Covered

pier 2, originally uploaded by Tetsuya Blues.

Purposely obscuring part of a picture is one way artists sometimes force us to fill in the blanks. On two levels, that comes into play in Tetsuya Blues' photo above. The "2" is partially hidden behind the subject's head, while the head itself is turned away, obscuring the face. The number is easy to fill in, but the face isn't. We are left to wonder who this person is, unable to give this person an identity.

I like how my focus keeps shifting between the wall and the figure. I start with the circled numeral, then the enclosed head within. The sharpness of the subject draws me down through the contrasting textures of hair, fur, and creased fabric. And then I look to the Japanese text in soft focus behind.

With the gaze of the subject directed away from us, it's almost as if the focal point of the photo is that wall. I especially like how centered both foreground and background are. There's a tricky balance here that I think Tetsuya Blues has really nailed beautifully. I can't stop staring at this photo.