Photograph of the Day: Ocean Blanket

(Credit: Pizdaus, The House of Pics We Like)

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Surrealism at Casco Viejo, Panama

While I was scanning the Casco Viejo (Old Quarters), looking for interesting scenes for Lingua Franca, I practically bumped into two eye catching metallic statues.  One statue showed a lady concentrated over an old sewing machine and the other was a street peddler pushing a cart.  They appeared out of nowhere right where people walked in the area of Las Bovedas in the Plaza of Francia (France Plaza).

To me, they looked like surrealistic pieces of art in the style of André Breton or Salvador Dalí. I always enjoyed Dalí’s paintings.  They looked so…different. Surrealism as a visual movement had found a method: to expose psychological truth by stripping ordinary objects of their normal significance, in order to create a compelling image that was beyond ordinary formal organization, in order to evoke empathy from the viewer.

I needed to capture these sculptures with my camera.  And I did so in my own amateurish way of taking pictures.  To make them look decent, I sent them to my friend Michael Moore who has the skills of creating polished photographic images like I hadn’t seen before.

Michael Moore is a professional photographer, member of the Dallas Professional Photographers Association. He has other college degrees as well. This is how he defines himself at his photo Web site, Biographies of the heart Photography:

“I’ve attended the USAF School of Photography and served my country as photographer. I’m a member of the Dallas Professional Photographers Association. I have undergraduate and graduate degrees in business and several professional certifications.

I shoot portraits (on location or in my home) and those events and people that have special meaning to you. While I provide the standard photographic services like other photographers, I specialize in creating video biographies about the special events in your life through the language of photographs and music. I’m located just east of Dallas, Tx. You may contact me at bothphoto @ gmail.com (remove spaces) for references, session availability, pricing and a sample slide show….regards…Michael”

These are the photographs of the metallic sculpture that Michael, like a modern Mandrake, pulled out of his magic hat.  Enjoy.

This is what I saw at the Plaza de Francia in front of Las Bóvedas. It grabbed my attention immediately.

The statue is now shown in black and white and the change is dramatic, in search of a better word.

Michael exhibits his photographic skills to show us a sculpture that has an interesting liquefied appearance.

The appearance of this picture  reminded me of the movie  “The Terminator”, portrayed by Arnold Schwarzenegger.   In the movie, Robert Patrick played a lethal, liquid-metal, chrome T-1000 cyborg terminator.

The sleek, modern android was composed of poly-mimetic metal, meaning it could take on the shape, color, and texture of anything it touched (such as a porcelain-tiled floor), and could also mimic human behavior, such as imitating the voices of its victims; it could transform its hands into jaw-like blades, and completely absorb shotgun blasts to its midsection or head. In one remarkable scene, the T-1000 was shattered into pieces, but then the pieces reassembled themselves.

This final picture resembles a French impressionist painting, typical of the 19th century.

My visit to Casco Viejo was a breath of fresh air in the middle of a normally chaotic city.  I’m sure I’m in for other surprises if I keep my eyes wide open and my camera handy.  Life is so beautiful if you only stop your rush and appreciate your circumstances.  Good Day.

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Surrealistic Metallic Statues at Casco Viejo in Panama

Every time I go and visit el Casco Viejo, I find that things are changing for the better.  As you probably know, I was there last week in an effort to take some photographs for Lingua Franca, and also to find out what’s happening in that old part of the city.

I saw that the whole area is being renovated by both the public and private sector.  The restored buildings look exactly as they were when they were first built.  This is something that made me feel good.  Our Casco Viejo can easily compete with the ones in San Juan (Puerto Rico), Havana (Cuba) or Cartagena (Colombia).

For this post, I’ve selected a metallic statue.  In fact, there were two of them probably created by the same artist.  I almost stumbled into the statutes.  They were right there in the middle of the aisle in front of Las Bóvedas in la Plaza de Francia (France’s Square).  They were perched on several cement blocks.   One was a metallic seamstress and the other was a street peddler pushing a metallic cart.  They instantly reminded me of Pablo Picasso and Salvador Dalí.

After I returned home, I sent a whole bunch of Casco Viejo photographs to my friend, Michael Moore for his evaluation and advice.  He helps me by highlighting my mistakes in an effort to make me a better photographer.   I appreciate his support and guidance.  He also improves the photographs to levels I would never imagined could be reached.  From a simple street “point-and-shoot” photograph, Michael transforms them into exquisite photographic pieces.

For today, I’ll include several photos of the surrealistic metallic seamstress.  Tomorrow I will include  pictures of the metallic peddler and his cart.  Enjoy the artistic creations of Michael Moore, author of the Web site dubbed, Biographies of the Heart Photography.

This is what I mean by transforming normal photos into something else.

Photograph of a metallic lady and her sewing machine located at Las Bóvedas in the Casco Viejo of Panama City, Panama.

The same metallic seamstress, but this time the intensity of the colors can be appreciated.

Michael switched from a color photograph to a brownish photograph which adds charm to the picture.

This time Michael adds a little bit of greenish color to the photograph and intensifies its basic colors. Again, the attractiveness of the picture is enhanced.

When I purchased my digital camera in December, I had no idea photography was so exciting.  I thought it was just pressing the shutter and voilà a wonderful picture would magically emerge.  It requires a whole lot more than that.  I’m so glad I got into this hobby.  It’s like good wine, it gets better and better as time tics by.  Good Day.

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