Vantage Point

Jeff Rauch


Much like the image Knoxville, Tennessee, 1971, by Lee Frielander in the Stephen Shore book, the vantage point of this photograph creates a certain unique visual illusion. The monocular vision of the camera makes it seem as though the buildings in the background are resting on top of the street sign in the foreground, when they are actually in two completely different spatial planes as this scene would be seen by a person's binocular vision. If the photographer were to have taken the picture just a bit above, below, to the right, or to the left of this particular vantage point, this photograph would not have the same visual effect as it does, and perhaps have a completely different meaning as a result.