The photo above is the result of a recent outing in Old Québec. Why is the photo displaying such a bizarre mood? Well, the actions of authoritarian governments around the world were enough to change my photographic perception for a moment. A montage was therefore necessary to let the emotion flow through on that day.
Photography Theory
The collection of buildings in this part of the city is of interest, but to produce a special effect, I used considerable cropping. The square format leaves out unnecessary details from the original image. I didn’t want any distractions, just the essentials.
I also imagined a threatening sky over the old constructions of Québec City. But how to express this danger without retouching a normal photo? Indeed, the sky is often too beautiful or too banal to convey a sufficient impression of discomfort.
Editing the sky from a RAW file remained the solution. After digital processing, I achieved a combination of mismatched colours that disrupted the scene. The semblance of a face appeared in the clouds, an effect I hadn’t intended. But I kept it. The whole thing takes us back to a world somewhere between dream and reality.
Click on the link for more photos of Québec City and Île d’Orléans in spring on my blog.