2/21/2005: Fighting sheep

Undertoad · 02-21-2005, 08:37 AM

xoxoxoBruce, who is on fire finding images, finds this one which is just brilliant. It's the Chinese city of Huaibei holding an annual spring festival, and part of it is watching sheep fight.

A whole lot can be said about this one, I think. First of all, WHAT A GREAT SHOT. Not only did the photographer capture that exact moment of collision, s/he was able to frame the shot perfectly from a design POV. Notice how the people land about a third of the way down the shot, and the sheep collide at about the second third. Maybe the photographer got lucky and could crop for design, but just as likely s/he figured out where that shot was and found the right place to be to get it.

Even the colors express that design principle. Check it - the lower third is all tan, including the sheep; the middle is an array of different colors, and the colorless sky borders the top. The ratios are not exact thirds... that would be less intereesting to the eye.

And then there are the people, all staring intently, a sea of expressions. Happy? Interested? Bored? Excited?

Like cockfighting, is this people making animals fight for their own enjoyment? Or is it a natural process of nature in which there's no harm just watching? Are we, as IotD readers (and WaPo readers, since that's where xoB found it), also participating in this? Do we get a weird enjoyment from watching these animals fight? Would we rather not see it? Is it OK for us to enjoy the image even if it required some level of brutality to get it?

I dunno.

02-21-2005, 08:37 AM	#1
Undertoad Radical Centrist Join Date: Jan 2001 Location: Cottage of Prussia Posts: 31,423	2/21/2005: Fighting sheep xoxoxoBruce, who is on fire finding images, finds this one which is just brilliant. It's the Chinese city of Huaibei holding an annual spring festival, and part of it is watching sheep fight. A whole lot can be said about this one, I think. First of all, WHAT A GREAT SHOT. Not only did the photographer capture that exact moment of collision, s/he was able to frame the shot perfectly from a design POV. Notice how the people land about a third of the way down the shot, and the sheep collide at about the second third. Maybe the photographer got lucky and could crop for design, but just as likely s/he figured out where that shot was and found the right place to be to get it. Even the colors express that design principle. Check it - the lower third is all tan, including the sheep; the middle is an array of different colors, and the colorless sky borders the top. The ratios are not exact thirds... that would be less intereesting to the eye. And then there are the people, all staring intently, a sea of expressions. Happy? Interested? Bored? Excited? Like cockfighting, is this people making animals fight for their own enjoyment? Or is it a natural process of nature in which there's no harm just watching? Are we, as IotD readers (and WaPo readers, since that's where xoB found it), also participating in this? Do we get a weird enjoyment from watching these animals fight? Would we rather not see it? Is it OK for us to enjoy the image even if it required some level of brutality to get it? I dunno.

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