The embrace

Posted by Andrew Gould (Sydney, Australia) on 24 October 2007 in People & Portraits and Portfolio.

Taken in Martin Place in the Sydney city centre at 5:33pm on Thursday 23 October. I was walking around this pedestrian thoroughfare hoping something interesting would happen. The light was getting low, so I changed from my regular Sigma zoom to my 50mm f1.8 Canon standard lens (80mm in this digital format). I had taken a few shots of the Cenotaph war memorial, part of which you see here on the right, when I noticed the couple. Fortunately, they stayed there in that pose for quite a while, and I took several shots. This was the one I caught with the workers on their way home not obscuring my subjects.

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Comments (8)

Organik from Australia

Great capture Andrew! Love the b/w. I hope it isn't an office romance that you've stumbled across! ;)

24 Oct 2007 12:16am

@Organik: Thank you. An office romance? That would be funny if I'd caught them out! Well, their secret's safe with the few hundred or so of us on aminus3 -- and the rest of the world through the Internet!

Mandy from South Africa

BRILLIANT!!!! And the statue of the soldier in the foreground makes it almost look like a last embrace before he goes off to war!!! Excellent capture Andrew, love the arches of the building where they're standing. Love the B&W too.

24 Oct 2007 1:21am

@Mandy: I'm very happy you like it. It was as stroke of luck that they happened to be there just at the right time. I never thought about the connection you're making between them and the statue. I did, however, quickly realise that it would make a good, weighty counterbalanced to them in the composition. Black and white got rid of the distraction of the pink banner behind the soldier, on the right.

Thomas from fröndenberg, Germany

yes, b/w is a good choice !

24 Oct 2007 1:32am

@Thomas: Yes, Thomas. I found that black and white got rid of background distractions. I think it also gave it that classic black and white documentary style look, too.

MaryB from Staffordshire, United Kingdom

I love the gone but not forgotten image of the solider, you've created by putting the statue in the forground. I agree with Mandy it does look like a last embrace before setting off to war, between the couple under the arches!
A wonderfully composed shot Andrew :)

24 Oct 2007 3:13am

@MaryB: Thanks for the positive feedback on this one. As I said above in reply to Mandy, I never thought of that connection when taking it.

Miguel from Porto, Portugal

This is great. Classic shot. There's something cinematic about the scene. Maybe it's the "last embrace before setting off to war" as said by MaryB. Just great.

24 Oct 2007 6:14am