Indeed you're right, but on-screen it's rather hard to tell the brightness of the paper base. The small difference between the white paint and the Ice sign remains.
Nevertheless, this print seems to recall the sensation of looking at something in bright sunlight. One almost screws up one's eyes.
The same tone on a different subject - let's say a piece of paper on a desk - wouldn't arouse the same reaction even if the print's tonal range was similar.
@David M You gave me cause to think about this more deeply (and thanks for that!).
I think you are onto something substantive here. There is the artefact as rendered that causes one level of response. But there are likely other psychological triggers and atavisms - neural memory from personal history or something instinctual from our respective cultural roots - that causes us to see an artefeact through the filter of those memories. We are both seeing through our eyes but also through our memories.
As another example of this consider this image:
Now the image is the image, is the image. It does, in some degree, evoke that sense of blazing sun on the wall. (I had to print this way down with a soft VC light to get it where I wanted.)
But what draws me to this image as well it the surrounding story. I had just shot that image, finishing the afternoon shooting a roll for testing purposes (details below). It was beautiful out and very peaceful in the country. As I left, I saw a pull-out area across the road with a utility service vehicle parked there. A young man was laying on the ground in obvious medical distress. He likely had appendicitis and was in a lot of pain. His pain began to subside but I stayed with him until his wife could get there some time later to get him to hospital.
I remember taking the picture. I remember seeing him on the ground. But what really connects to this day is the conversation we had about his life. A life that had gone from significant drug abuse, to a Christian faith, to marriage, to a good job with the utilities company. His energy to do right and make a proper life was inspirational even as he sat there in pain. I never learned his full name or where here lived exactly, but I'll never forget him or that day.
No one could get any of that from this picture. None of it is in evidence. But it is deeply wired into my psyche. The picture is far more than just "the picture" for me. It is this gentle reminder of how good can triumph over abject destruction ... and it is echoed, quite unintentionally on my part, by the beauty found in the decaying wood.
That is what this picture means to me and why it is in the workbook.
Only I could have known that story or its significance. And that is why I say that art isn't primarily for the audience but for the artist.
Technical Details
[August 2025] Lightly Faded
Leica M4, 50mm f/2 Summicron, Kodak TMX, semistand developed in Pyrocat-HDC 1+1+200, scan of selenium toned print
In short, a "test" image became a memorable moment and something from my own autobiography.
