Two Leaves on Black

"Two Leaves on Black" by Barry J. McWayne 1943-2010

I've chosen to highlight the photograph “Two Leaves on Black” by Barry J. McWayne, former curator of the fine art collection at the University of Alaska Museum of the North. Barry was a longtime Alaskan photographer who died suddenly in the summer of 2010; I'd previously heard of Barry but hadn't seen any of his work prior to my visit to the museum.

Two Leaves on Black immediately caught my eye, as I was captured by its cleanliness and simplicity in contrast to the many different pieces of art in the gallery, indeed, if I were to choose one word to describe this photograph, I would choose “contrast”. If one desires to highlight any particular subject there are few better ways than to place the subject against a non-reflective black background, the contrast has the intended effect of bringing the subject directly to the forefront of the viewer. “Two Leaves on Black” does just this; captured in greyscale the two subjects stand in stark contrast to the black background.

The two subjects are centered side by side, which doesn't always work in photography, but in this case it works well, as it draws the eye directly to the subjects and then gives the eye the task of differentiating between the two; balance is provided by featuring leaves of two different sizes, and though the tips of the leaves are equal in height, the body of the leaf on the left is smaller and appears to be deferential to the leaf on the right, whose body is fuller, which provides a sense of completion to the photograph, almost like a puzzle piece that has found its place. The smaller body of the left leaf and the full body of the right leaf draws the eye from the upper left to the lower right of the frame, providing a nice diagonal path that leads into the rest of the picture and also covers both subjects while the eye is guided over them. I love how composition is thought through to make a truly great photograph.

Texture is rich within the two subjects, the cell structure and veins of the leaves speak to its organic makeup, indeed, it almost resembles the surface of ones skin yet through its shape and form it remains distinctly arboreal. Leading lines abound in this photograph, starting from the stems of the leaves, the eye is drawn up towards the middle of the leaves by the main vein, then allowed to wander up each individual vein to explore the texture and different shades of grey within the leaves which gives the viewer a sense of place.

Capturing the subjects in greyscale removes the distraction of color and allows the viewer to focus on the other visual components of the photograph; as mentioned before- the texture, form, shape, and lines; however, in addition to these qualities, the greyscale tones also gives the leaves a burnished look as the tone transitions from light to dark which adds body to the photograph and prevents it from appearing flat; the dappling of the tones also gives the subjects the appearance of being sunlit, as they would be if they were still on a tree. This is a great photograph- simple, yet its composition speaks volumes. I'm glad to have enjoyed it.