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Matt Ragen

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Things That Are Black

This gallery is thematic and includes photographs that have deep, dark black elements. Sometimes, these black spots are the point of the photograph (silhouettes) and sometimes, they are the background that form the contrast for the image. However, in all cases, without the black points for contrast, I don't think the photos would work the same way.
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The outline of a man, at sunset, exiting through the iron bars into the prison yard of a jail in South Africa.
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The outline of a man, at sunset, exiting through the iron bars into the prison yard of a jail in South Africa.

jailfreedommanbarsdoordoorwaygatelocklockdowncellprisonyardprison yardpenitentiaryoutsideexitshadowoutlinesilhouetteiron barssecuritysecureprotectionconfineconfinementprofilebacklitbacklightgridopeningRobben IslandCape TownSouth AfricaAfrica03731smugmug

  • A group of spotlights illuminating a stage with a bit of lighting flare.
  • A black silhouette of a boy jumping and being suspended in mid-air by bungee cords.
  • Reaching for the sun in a South African township, a child's hand grasps the wires on a fence as if stretching for freedom. The sunburst is located at the tip of the middle finger.
  • A broken window, with cracks radiating from the shattered hole in the center, in a high school in a South Africa township near Cape Town symbolizes a future life with little or no hope.
  • The outline of a man, at sunset, exiting through the iron bars into the prison yard of a jail in South Africa.
  • A bleak and dismal view through a prison window. The bars over the window with the only view of coils of barbed wire on a wall is symbolic of the lack of freedom for prisoners.
  • Logs burning with red hot embers in a camp fire pit on Cannon Beach.
  • A hook used to lift boats out of water is suspended over the horizon from a piece of tacke. It is almost silhouetted against a dramatic cloudy sky.
  • A couple, sitting on a pile of rocks at the beach, are watching a colorful sunset.
  • Silence, Etres Mortels (or Silence, Mortal Beings) is a warning sign in the catacombs under Paris where millions of skeletons are buried.
  • A detailed view of the ironwork on the main arches of the Eiffel Tower.
  • Hundreds of little tea light candles are lit at Notre Dame cathedral in Paris to give emphasis to people's prayers. The candles were flickering through the exposure which results in a soft image.
  • A statue of a saint with a copper halo on the Charles Bridge in Prague is silhouetted against a cloudy sky.
  • A view of Charles Bridge and the Old Town of Prague at night with reflections off the Vltava River. This is a romantic location to view the bridge.
  • A swimming pool at night is illuminated to a luminescent type of sapphire blue color.
  • A painter's shadow against a wall as he paints the wall with a paint roller. (Note: The paint roller has a little bit of motion blur as it is actively being rolled over the wall surface.)
  • A smear of rust making a kind of drip-like pattern from where a scrape on the side of a ship has removed some of the protective paint. The black paint shows off the contrast with the patch of orange red rust.
  • A very rusty anchor that has been raised on a cargo freighter; there is a high degree of contrast against the black paint of the ship.
  • A jump silhouette sequence with a snowboarder in mid-air. This starts with the intial jump with a spray of snow trailing behind, the peak and then just about to land. The profiles are left in black and white as a series of cut-outs.
  • Two carved pumpkins, lighted with candles, are placed in front of a backdrop of hundreds of googly eyes that are lit up with ultraviolet light. One pumpkin is carved as a snake and the other with a sorcerer's hat.
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