This photo works much better as a large print. It becomes more three dimensional. The sleeping student and his arm appear more pronounced in my framed 11x17 of this photograph.
The stretch of space between the foreground subject and the flat tableau of figures in the background create the magic of the photo. This composition exists almost entirely in the z-direction, in depth, not in the more usual x-, y-directions. Sure, your eye is drawn left and right (and a little up and down) but mostly it moves 'in' and 'out' of the photo.
I love how painting-like this scene is. Important objects surround the central figure as if placed there intentionally by a Renaissance painter to better characterize him. I love the variety of postures in the background: writing, thinking, day dreaming, sleeping (again). Again, it's like a planned composition, a painted or sketched study of student life.
I was lucky no one was sitting at the desk opposite this student. I quietly sat down opposite him and took my camera from my pocket. It has a leaf shutter. He did not wake.
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19.03
