The National Theatre
In art, the hand can never execute anything higher than the heart can imagine."
- Ralph Waldo Emerson.
This is one photograph on which I would be happy to stake my reputation as a photographer. As far as I'm aware, it is the only photograph of this historic building taken from directly in front as you see here. The reason why all the other photographs are taken from an angle is that the distance across the street is usually too short to give a complete view of the frontage. And an extremely wide angle lens will tend to distort the image too much.
In this case my plan was to photograph it at night, to take advantage of the lighting (limited though that is - especially at the very top of the building). The early Art Deco styling is truly outstanding and typical of its time of construction in 1915. This marks the architectural shift from Art Nouveau to Art Deco and this building is almost unique in Australia in that regard.
My earlier photographs of the historic Palais Theatre and Luna Park in St Kilda (Melbourne) were a model for this shot, although of course they both needed to be in colour.* The grey and white tones of The National Theatre's original paintwork meant that black and white was the obvious choice here.
*[I will do a re-edit on both those photographs tonight and post them tomorrow - as I am not happy with the original postings, given they were processed before I started using Capture One.]
Speaking of processing, there is plenty here, but no AI. Everything you see is on the original RAW file, but obviously certain parts of the photograph needed to be enhanced by using adjustment layers. Another reason for choosing this angle of shot was to incorporate the building with arched windows on the far right under the glow of the street lamp. It will surprise no art buff to see here the influence of the great Italian Giorgio de Chirico (1888-1978).
The National Theatre was opened as a live theatre, but in 1934 became the first in Launceston to show "Talkie" films. It remained a successful cinema until 1969. At present it is the home of one of Tasmania's finest printing firms, Foot and Playsted.
The National Theatre
In art, the hand can never execute anything higher than the heart can imagine."
- Ralph Waldo Emerson.
This is one photograph on which I would be happy to stake my reputation as a photographer. As far as I'm aware, it is the only photograph of this historic building taken from directly in front as you see here. The reason why all the other photographs are taken from an angle is that the distance across the street is usually too short to give a complete view of the frontage. And an extremely wide angle lens will tend to distort the image too much.
In this case my plan was to photograph it at night, to take advantage of the lighting (limited though that is - especially at the very top of the building). The early Art Deco styling is truly outstanding and typical of its time of construction in 1915. This marks the architectural shift from Art Nouveau to Art Deco and this building is almost unique in Australia in that regard.
My earlier photographs of the historic Palais Theatre and Luna Park in St Kilda (Melbourne) were a model for this shot, although of course they both needed to be in colour.* The grey and white tones of The National Theatre's original paintwork meant that black and white was the obvious choice here.
*[I will do a re-edit on both those photographs tonight and post them tomorrow - as I am not happy with the original postings, given they were processed before I started using Capture One.]
Speaking of processing, there is plenty here, but no AI. Everything you see is on the original RAW file, but obviously certain parts of the photograph needed to be enhanced by using adjustment layers. Another reason for choosing this angle of shot was to incorporate the building with arched windows on the far right under the glow of the street lamp. It will surprise no art buff to see here the influence of the great Italian Giorgio de Chirico (1888-1978).
The National Theatre was opened as a live theatre, but in 1934 became the first in Launceston to show "Talkie" films. It remained a successful cinema until 1969. At present it is the home of one of Tasmania's finest printing firms, Foot and Playsted.