Miami, Wynnewood Walls, Chinese Tourists
“Eyes are the windows to the soul.”
— Origin unknown mid 1500’s
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“Look into the eyes of the person next to you” said the charismatic rabbi midway through the service. I walked out. This was too intimate for me to do with a stranger. Not long after, he was hounded out of the community for committing boundary violations with female congregants.
We street photographers generally avoid eye contact when we are taking photos without permission. Should we make eye contact, then it’s best to ask. Sophisticated brain studies have demonstrated the creation of empathy when two people look into each other’s eyes. But what if one of the two is a mural?
These two teenage Chinese tourists in their pretty white dresses were having so much fun at Wynwood Walls, the graffiti/mural neighborhood in Miami. It was infectious and before long they were posing for me. Communication was by smiles, gestures, and many giggles. When they saw the striking mural of a woman, they seated themselves in front of it and pretended to arm wrestle. I took their photo.
Rather, I took her photo – the mural’s. She had become the subject. Her eyes, her gaze, the parted full lips, the purple of her skin, the red of her hair; she was no simple backdrop. She was no playful teenager but rather a seductive, sensuous woman whose presence overwhelmed the girls even though they were in front of her. The cables and shadows, rather than detract from her beauty, like a veil, added an element of mystery to her gaze.
Foreground, as in this case, does not need to be in front of. Here, Mural in the back is undoubtably foreground and the girls in front, alas, background.
