This is a picture showing a root from a tree forcing its way through the road as it extends itself. The picture shows how nature will always be superior to man-made objects such as the road. The fact that most of the picture is taken up the road and only the root, the grass growing in the grooves and some scattered leaves represents nature is a representation of nature’s place in our urban society. While nature still exists in our urban society, the space it takes up is much smaller as compared to the spaced taken up by man-made buildings and objects. Also the road surrounds the root which is symbolic of the way man tries to control nature and bend it to his will.
Where the lighting of the picture is concerned, it can be divided into three parts the shadowed part at the top of the picture, the lighted part in the middle and the shadowed part at the bottom. This is symbolises the process by which man attempts to control nature. At the beginning, man knows little about nature and it is obvious that nature is rules over man, hence the dark shade of lighting. In the middle part, man starts to learn more about nature and obtains sufficient knowledge to seemingly bend nature to his will. The bottom part depicts nature’s backlash towards man and is therefore in a darker shade.
The shape of the root is also symbolic. At the first part of shadow, the root is straight, signifying that nature is still clearly in control. At the part of light, the root is curved, signifying that nature has been seemingly bent towards man’s will. At the bottom part of shadow, the root once more becomes straight signifying that nature once more becomes clearly in control. On top of that the bottom part of shadow also includes cracks in the road which symbolises the backlash effect of nature once man has tried to control it too much.
This picture shows several bushes of bougainvillea hanging from the roof of some benches. This picture shows that when used correctly, nature can be used to complement man’s creation and vice versa. The way the bougainvillea covers the benches protecting anyone who chooses to sit there from the scorching sun and how the benches provide the Bougainvillea with space to grow in the picture highlights how nature and man’s creation exist in harmony and form a symbiotic relationship with each other in today’s urban society.
The colour of the two components also illustrates how nature and man-made objects complement each other. The benches which represent man-made objects, is a very dull brown colour which is further shadowed by the shadow cast on it by the bougainvillea. This symbolises how man-made objects often see the appearance as secondary, the most important point being the efficiency of the object. The bougainvillea on the other hand which represents nature is rather colourfully, mostly bright green with flashes of pink. This represents how nature is always so refreshing towards the eyes. When the two of them are used together, what man gets is a good mixture of efficiency and beauty.
This photo shows a dustbin surrounded by leaves of different shape and sizes. The centre of attraction of this photo is quite obviously the dustbin as it is in the centre of the picture and it is also a different shade of green, making it stand out from the lighter green of the leaves. This highlights how more emphasis is placed on man-made objects as compared to nature in our urban society.
However the photo also depicts a phenomenon which is becoming increasingly common in our urban society today. Man in our urban society is starting to realise that we cannot afford to neglect nature as we are dependent on nature. This is symbolised by the “PLEASE KEEP OUR GARDENS CLEAN” sign on the dustbin. The fact that the sign is in the centre of the dustbin is akin to the way conserving nature is beginning to take centre stage in most countries. This photo also shows that man is protecting nature from man himself as the dustbin which is used to collect litter which would only been thrown there by man himself.
Elstan Leow 2C'06
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