Horizontal and vertical lines
This is my notes for TAOP exercise 2-4, “Horizontal and vertical lines”.
The exercise asked me to go out and find example of straight lines, and make 4 pictures of vertical lines and 4 pictures of horizonal lines. Ideally the lines should be strong enough to be the first thing a viewer would notice. I seem to have interpreted that slightly more literally than intended, and came home with pictures of man-made structures that are close to perfectly straight either horizontally or vertically.
 Picture 1: Drainage grate |
When seem from above, the perfectly straight lines of a drain cover appears vertical. |
 Picture 2: Waste bin |
To make the waste bins “blend in” more with the environment, the local council have covered them in nice fence panel cladding, giving a very natural (!) looking set of vertical lines. |
 Picture 3: Garage door |
Another example of planks forming perfect vertical lines, this time on a garage door. |
 Picture 4: Tall building |
No set of vertical lines would be complete without the converging verticals of a tall building. As well as the corner of the building, the symmetrical columns of windows also form a set of vertical lines. |
 Picture 5: Balconies |
Moving on to horizontal lines, this shot shows the front of the same building, with glass-glad balconies forming a set of parallel horizontal lines. The fixtures for the glass are arranged in columns which also imply a set of vertical lines. |
 Picture 6: Steps |
Horizontal steps on an outdoor staircase. |
 Picture 7: Lens testing wall of shame |
In some camera magazines and websites, it is popular to test lenses by photographing brick walls. This will quickly show any pincushion or barrel distortion in the lens. My lens seems okay, maybe courtesy of Lightroom’s automatic lens distortion correction algorithm. Oh, and parking is also not permitted, courtesy of Imperial Peking. |
 Picture 8: Roof tiles |
Horizon lines formed by roof tiles, with slightly converging verticals, due to the inclination of the rood. I included the orange and green plants in the bottom right to have a focal point to break the symmetry. |
Having now read the next pages in the course material, I realise that my interpretation is very litteral, and that I was expected to include some implied lines that was guiding the viewer’s eye.
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You may have misinterpreted the instructions (or as usual, they were badly written), but the result is some lovely abstract pictures.
Thank you Steve, that was kind of you.
Enjoyed the visual ‘geometry’ !