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Essay: Lovers in a Café (Gilberte Brassaï) Lovers in a Café Gilberte Brassaï (real Gyula Halász) was a master street photographer. He has highlighted the nightlife of his favorite city, Paris in many of his photos. In the photo series Lovers in a Café, he took many beautiful pictures of couples in a café. The following picture reveals the eternal love captured at the moment through the eye of the camera. It is a small Cafe, Near the Place dItalie (Jeffries, 2001).Lovers in a Café1 (www.metmuseum.org)In this picture, Brassaï portrays compositional scale by framing his subjects.
Both the gazes of the lovers is reflected in the two mirrors. This artwork looks elegant and seems formal. Usually, the photographers tend to focus on photographic realism that portrays harsh realities. This picture creates a connection between photographer and the subjects. This technique makes the picture more sophisticated.Brassaï considered Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec as his influence (Janson and Janson, 2004). The interesting thing about this picture is that, even though, the man has his back to the camera the photographer has been able to capture his eyes.
The mirror reflection gives the picture more meaning. The way he is looking at his lover is full of love and romance. The woman is smiling, and both of them seem to be in love with each other. Kissing or fondling is a very natural act, but the photographer has highlighted it and captured it in a timeless medium. The picture is black and white, and there is hardly any posing. Both the subjects appear to be in the moment.Brassaï used capture the beauty of streets, frogs and rain in the garden at night (Sayag, 2000).
He was fascinated by the nightlife. This time is also associated with romance and lovemaking. Cafés are also usually filled with people and couples at this time. His photographs are in black and white color that resonates with the nighttime. The picture under discussion is black and white in color, which makes the pictures traditional. The lovers are seated inside a booth and about to embrace each other. The man is leaning in for the kiss; he is holding his prize with both his arms. The woman brushes her hair to reveal her face to make it accessible for her man.
Her chin is lifted up, and her eyes are locked in with the mans eyes as she welcomes every move of him. The audience in this photograph is the teacups and the table. The subjects are completely ignoring what is going on around them. They are immersed in the magic of love. The onlooker can witness this magic moment from three angles. They can get a glimpse of what is in the reality. But a more profound and intense reflection is visible in the mirrors revealing the passion the man has for his woman.
The woman is enjoying every bit of this passionate advances of her man. They might be unfair that the photographers are taking their pictures but probably did not have a good idea that sides of them are being captured through the mirror. Brassaï’s work creates art out of ordinary moments. Probably he best understood the importance of any moment that can be made profound with the right technique. ReferencesJeffries, S. (2001) The dark lord. The Guardian. Retrieved May 12, 2015 http://www.
theguardian.com/culture/2001/feb/06/artsfeatures Janson, H. W., & Janson, A. F. (2004). History of art: the Western tradition. Prentice Hall Professional.Sayag, A. (2000). The Expression of Authenticity. Brassaï: The Monograph.The Metropolitan Museum of Art. (2015) The collection online. metmuseum.org. Retrieved online September 16, 2016 http://www.metmuseum.org/collection/the-collection-online/search/262720
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