Moments of the streets
As I´ve mentioned in earlier posts, we´ve had an unusual foggy winter so far here in Oslo. As I wandered by the Opera House the other day, the fog poured in from the sea at the same time the darkness was about to set in.
And this particular combination put a spell on an otherwise dull rush hour.
When I left work yesterday, I caught the Underground downtown to purchase some coffee for the weekend (the mere thought of a coffeless weekend is unbearable, isn’t it?).
It’s only a couple of stops between my office and ‘Jernbanetorget Station’ (which translates into something like ‘Railway Station Square’), so it’s a short ride. The strange thing is that although it was a clear afternoon as I entered the carriage, five minutes later, upon leaving the train, I was met by a rather thick wall of fog.
Standing on the seaside of the main railway station, I watched the commuters hurrying for their trains back home. And in the fog this scene came to life.
As you probably have guessed, photographically speaking, I´m immensely found of the fog. And this winter we´ve fortunately had quite a few lovely foggy days. This shot was taken a bit earlier in January, at about 5.30 p.m. It was pitch dark, and I had installed myself on the top of a bridge. As I stared through the dense fog for something to capture, I spotted these persons approaching each other under the glow from the lanterns.
Of course, I had to give it a go!
About a month ago, I was on my way to work early on a foggy morning. Realizing how the mist was living a life of its own, restlessly producing a continuum of quirky scenes, I stayed a while near the bottom of the steps leading to the underground station, trying to document the events as they unfolded. I´ve previously written a word or two about it here.
This picture is another of the ones I came home with that day. Not seeking to draw any unfounded, not to say outright unjust comparisons with the lady who is about to descend into the haze and darkness of what´s below, my thoughts nevertheless is pointed in the direction of Sparafucile, the “man of the sword” i.e. the hit man from Burgundy, from Giuseppe Verdis opera Rigoletto. You see, I once had the pleasure attending a performance at the Gothenburg Opera, where they rather ingenious interpreted Sparafucile as a man from, lets say a bit “underground”…
Living in Norway, where the elements often turns out to be quite interesting, people always keep telling me, “Such an awful weather we have today. It’s certainly impossible to take pictures now.” And I’m always thinking, “Why??”
Photography is all about light (and composition). And the weather conditions itself is a just force that drives the light settings. So only taking sunshine photos restricts ones creativeness, I think. The weather brings so many interesting effects into the scene, and is arguably the photographers’ best friend, not his worst enemy! (But this is just my opinion. At the end of the day, the important thing is, of course, to enjoy being out with your camera!)
This shot was captured earlier this week. It was morning hours, and a specially murky one too. I was on my way to work, feeling quite miserable. Approaching the stairs leading down from the Underground station, the fog whirled up copious amounts of haze everywhere, turning people into ill-boding structures.
Frankly speaking, I was really a bit under the weather that morning, but nevertheless I withstood the urge to seek shelter with a nice, warm cup of coffee, and instead forced myself to rise my camera and linger around for a while.