AWAKENING Photo | TrekEarth

Photographer’s Note

AWAKENING

On February 20th the statue “Awakening,” a creation by American sculptor Seward Johnson, Jr. was removed from its site at Hains Point on the banks of the Potomac River in Washington, DC, and transported to a new site in nearby Maryland. Having visited the statue a number of times earlier with friends, I made one last excursion to the site in order to photograph the statue. The 30 m (100 foot) long statue is embedded in the ground, its 5.2 m (17 feet) long right arm protruding from the ground, his left knee and right foot breaking through the ground.

The inspiration for the statue is, I believe, German-American folklore from the 1770s. Rip van Winkle, a lazy, good-for-nothing who is constantly nagged by his wife, sneaks off to the hills, to take a nap. When he wakes up, it is a different world - twenty-years have passed! His wife has died; America has shucked off its colonial master, England, and declared its independence. The new nation, the United States, has no use for its former masters, or for its monarch, George III. But, Winkle, completely ignorant of the events of the last two decades, comes into town, hailing, “Long live King George!” He gets into trouble, gets arrested… but the events get murky after that.

Seward Johnson, the sculptor, is gentleman-artist whom I've admired over the years, was born with a silver spoon in his mouth (he is heir to the Johnson and Johnson Pharmaceutical fortune). He has lived the life of a prolific artist, instead of one as a profligate multimillionaire. One can be seated on a park bench, only to find that the individual sitting a few meters away is a life life Seward Johnson figure reading a book. An airplane can be seen coming in for a landing at Reagan National Airport, just a kilometer to the right (south) of Hains Point.

Nikon D200, 18-70 mm Nikkor lens, tripod. My friend, the young physician Sibel Gogen (Kibele66) had posted the photograph "Hands and Snow" that inspired me to produce this image. Accordingly, I would like to dedicate this image to Sibel.

Warm regards to all my friends at TE. In trying to put the final touches on the new book, "Leonardo's Universe" for National Geographic Books, my co-author and I have been burning the midnight oil. I've been able to do very little photography or critiquing during the past few weeks.

meltemi, isabela_sor, jaywalker, jonathan_hart, chpp, belido, jlbrthnn, stego, lucasgalodoido, Wandering_Dan, Charo, MLINES, Matthew-Watt, kdialyna, jhm, feather, carper, mursaloglu, ahmetgedikli, ChrisJ, kibele66, Dpbours, Henryk_Bilor, Emile, ahaberal, Angshu, evanrizo, Tue, Merline, ALIRIZA, papagolf21, jpinkham, JCG, Didi, avene, rigoletto, CatherineD, nivaldo, alvaraalto, jean11-3, Silversnow, erhan1958 has marked this note useful

Critiques | Translate

isabela_sor (42022) 2008-02-29 10:41 [Comment]

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jaywalker (12190) 2008-02-29 10:43

Hi Bulent, What a great piece of art, wonderfully photographed, the people give great scale to the scene &, from your positioning you have captured the giant brilliantly, TFS something I would love to see close up, kind regards Wilson.

gracious (20017) 2008-02-29 10:46

Hello Bulent,
Great low pov to view this masterpiece of sculture with a great a beautiful scenery!
good colour and details in the shot
well done
greeting
Tony

jonathan_hart (22570) 2008-02-29 10:53

hi Bulent,
a very interesting masterpiece you show here,
indeed the people makes us realize the dimensions of this uncommon statue
BTW the clouds are overexposed
regards
jo

erel (11532) 2008-02-29 11:04

merhaba
Çok hoş bir kare ve de konu teşekkürler sayende görebiliyoruz. tebrikler. EREL

chpp (3960) 2008-02-29 11:04

Hi Bulent
you got that statute very nicely, with good sharpness. very impressive. it seems pretty large compared to the people there.
very nice shot

cheers
C
PS: do you have a lower POV?

rossofuoco (6350) 2008-02-29 11:14

Hi Bulent
Foto impressionante e con un certo fascino.
Complimenti
Renzo

belido (16273) 2008-02-29 11:27

Hi Bulent,

very interesting artwork. I'm happy to know a lot of people is having the chance to check since it's touring other cities. The image is clear and well presented, reserving two thirds for the sky which has all natural colors. Very good work!
Regards,
Carlos

jlbrthnn (37601) 2008-02-29 12:27

Good evening Bulent,
Your photograph makes me discover this strange and pathetic work. I like this sculpture and the image you made. Your didactic note is interesting.
Cordially
Joel

chrislo (336) 2008-02-29 13:40

Hi Bulent,
What an awesome statue ! So realistic ! The sculpture of this giant waking up and trying to get out of the ground is so powerful it almost takes your breath away. Your photo brings out the compelling intensity of this magnificent piece of artwork, you’ve captured it perfectly well. I wish I could experience the feeling that the Awakening gives one day. Thanks for sharing world’s works of art.
Regards,
Christian

stego (22350) 2008-02-29 14:15

Hi Bülent,
Excellent presentation of that unique sculpture, impressive and quite dramatic. The people give a good sense of scale, letting us know how big is the monument. The shadow on the FG is a good lead-in and gives a nice depth and along with the clouds and the texture of the field on the BG makes it very dynamic.
The only thing less great is the burnt sky on the right, but that seems nearly inevitable.
Have a nice WE.
Cheers, José.

lucasgalodoido (16583) 2008-02-29 14:47

Hi Bulent,
very interesting this esculptures in the land, a great idea of artist. Your photo is ecxelent, great work!
Congratulations and Hug!

Wandering_Dan (3211) 2008-02-29 15:06

Hello, Bulent -

I've seen the bench statues before (there's one or more in New York), but this is different; it reminds me of those buried Cadillacs!

I did notice the airplane until I read the note, but I did see the people, and they are well-placed, both for scale and for contrast - whole bodies in between the pieces.

Nice!
Dan

MLINES (10856) 2008-02-29 21:30

Hi Bulent. I like this as Rip van Winkle was a popular story as a kid. This is an interested artwork, very creatively designed. Attractive composition with the lake as a backdrop. Good to see on TE. TFS. Murray.

kdialyna (3068) 2008-02-29 22:49

Good morning dear friend.
A very good photo from an interesting art work of the American sculptor.
Very good choice the low POV makes the statue to appears as if it causes the gods for a fight with him.
I liked the story with Rip van Winkle. I didn't know it.
I wish you nice week end.
Kostas

jhm (82201) 2008-03-01 0:32

Hello Bulent,

I think that the projection in a picture very difficult represent.
That the reality totaly otherwise is than the picture that we now see.
This very spectacular and nice presentation, you did very well addition the people beside the sculptures, this to the scale
Very well done, thanks for sharing.

Have a nice weekend,
John.

feather (49858) 2008-03-01 2:07

This is a scary artwork. It seems to echo everyone's nightmare of being buried alive. Your low POV works very well to emphasise the work and by including the people we have a good idea of scale. It's a pity that parts of the sky are over-exposed. A ND grad filter would have sorted that out. Nevertheless an excellent addition to your growing artwork collection.
Kath

Charo (31665) 2008-03-01 2:43

Hola Bulent,
Singulares y dramáticas arquitecturas en medio del parque. Estupenda toma con buenos colores y definición.
Cordialmente
Charo

carper (64546) 2008-03-01 9:49

a fine piece of art Bulent,
wauw 17 feet and unter the sand, very nice photo, good note and a fine one to look at, good photo and good job, have a nice evening.
gr. jaap

berek (28849) 2008-03-01 11:35

Merhaba Bülent bey,
bu fotografı geçen yıl görsem sizden kullanmak için izin isterdim. bir projem vardı adı awekening. bu kadar iyi anlatamaz bir başlık fotografı ellerinize sağlık. selam
Burak erek

mursaloglu (5134) 2008-03-01 16:44

Dear bulent bey
I thank you first for your comment and your very kind words. Then your picture remind me the first scene of the famous thriller movie The pelican brief, it was very touching... A great compo and perspective realy one succesfull one. Great POV best regards sir ihsan

ahmetgedikli (21799) 2008-03-02 0:39

Merhaba Hocam,
Konu güzel, bakış açısı, ışık, renkler, açıklama güzel... Selamlar, saygılar.
Ahmet

ChrisJ (70019) 2008-03-02 2:03

Merhaba Bulent

I can also see some elements of surrealism, with influences from Salvadore Dali. Good capture of this striking artwork, with excellent colour & sharpness. Tfs!

kibele66 (2910) 2008-03-02 7:36

Merhaba Dear Bulent,
Thank you very very much! Your dedication of this masterpiece is a great honor for me. I am very happy to inspire you. By this way we met this amazing piece of art. It is a very interesting statue (or maybe collection of 4 statues)and gives the impression that there are still some pieces buried under the soil and will come out from the soil one day. You`ve captured this huge statue with a perfect lighthening and POV. Also the piles of the clouds above and the color of the soil add a more real effect.
Morever I enjoyed the story of the statue very much.
Thanks for brightening my day!I added this masterpiece to my favourites.
Selam, sevgi ve tesekkurlerimle
Sibel

Dpbours (218) 2008-03-02 12:05

Hello Bulent,

Long live king George! Haha, funny story. I like a note like this one. The statue is interesting, but I'm not impressed by the sky - especially to the right. The note makes the photograph here!

Greetings,
Dennis

Henryk_Bilor (20365) 2008-03-02 14:05

Hi Bulent
Interesting. Who buried this man? Nice capture.
Why didn`t I know anything about the NG..?
Regards

Emile (19883) 2008-03-02 20:12

Hola Bulent.
Looks like a giant is coming out of the ground, a great masterpiece, the sculptor caught the awakening idea very well. Your low POV give us a very good view and the people add scale to your wonderful shot.
I wish you an awesome success with your new book but please don't go away for long time.
Have a nice week.
Best regards.

Matthew-Watt (4463) 2008-03-02 22:41

Hello Bulent,

It is good to see the occasional post from you here on TE, but we can all appreciate that you are very busy at the moment. This is a wonderful idea for a statue; at first glance it is almost startling. I am sure that some young children would be quite frightened of this concept! The people in this landscape are perfect indicators of the large size of this statue. The softer lighting has caused some shadows of note on the FG which give the photograph further character. Thanks for the post, best of luck with your new book!!!

Matt

ahaberal (6455) 2008-03-03 0:51

korku filmlerindeki gibi,yine çok farklı bakış ve anlatım
elinize sağlık hocam
kaçkarlardan selamlar

setenay (7604) 2008-03-03 4:07

Merhaba Bülent Bey,
Son derece farklı ,sıradışı heykel çalışmasını mükemmel çekimle harika göstermişsiniz, tebrik ederim.Elinize sağlık,Selam ve saygılarımla
setenay

tober (3944) 2008-03-03 13:43

Merhaba Sayın Hocam, hakikaten çok etkileyici bir çalışma. Bizzat yerinde gidip görmek daha da farklıdır eminim. Arka planda dolaşan insanlar olmasa, böyle bir heykel cansız bir tabiatın ortasında daha bir başka dururdu gibime geliyor. Gerçekten etkileyici ve aynı zamanda felsefî yanı da olan bir eser. Çok saygılarımla, Tolga

jrj (34779) 2008-03-04 1:11

A most original and interesting piece of art Bulent - and a good tale to go with it. Your capture is good to present this extraordinaire creative 'on the ground' work..

evanrizo (456) 2008-03-04 9:44

Hi Bulent, it looks a little like a horror scene, a little macabre,-:)
A very good dealt photo from a very good POV and with nice light.
Have a nice evening.
Evangelos

Tue (25608) 2008-03-04 15:06

Hi Bulent,
A great photo of this great work of art, accompanied with an informative note. Funny only to see one leg, one hand, one arm and a head above the ground. You caught the sculpture and the landscape with a pleasant light and fine colours. Good work, thanks for sharing!
Regards,
Lars

Angshu (33551) 2008-03-05 0:21

Hello Professor "A"
Quite an incredible piece of artwork...Rip van Winkle awakes and struggles to get up! Looks like 5 different pieces in the sculpture meticulously placed to give the impression of the giant sculpture. The people are so important to show us the scale. A very interesting compo., where I like your low POV, the inclusion of the FG & also managing the horizon at 1/3 level. The sky is a bit blown out, but I do see a plane there, I think. Well done!
With Warm Regards
Angshuman

ALIRIZA (16197) 2008-03-05 13:14

Merhaba Bülent Abi,
İlginç ve o kadar da sıradışı bir heykel. Işık, renkler ve bulutlu gökyüzüyle harika bir kompozisyon. Ellerine sağlık...
Ali Rıza

Merline (6574) 2008-03-06 0:45

Hi Bulent,
I enjoy very much this piece of macabre art with a black sense of humour! Your composition makes it very attractive, with the people to give an idea of the scale, and those warm colors and lovely blue sky make this an almost surrealistic piece with great visual impact.

TFS
Regards
Michèle

adores (15463) 2008-03-06 16:59

Hi Bulent!
I had never seen this statue before, it's unusual but really interesting, and really big also. The composition is really good with those people around. I also like the plane in the sky, far away. Good idea to get a few shots before they move it.

meltemi (9746) 2008-03-06 22:57

Hello Bulent,
I know I'm in late, bur recently I'm not very active on TE. I saw this image from you when you posted it, but I didn't have the time to write a critique. So here I am, I think that this vision of a huge bearded man struggling to rise from under the ground is very fascinating. I've read that it is most artist's ideal to inspire creative thought in those who view his works, from the giant rising in anger at world pollution, to the giant sinking after having been conquered. Your way to frame the image helps very much to do this, together with the special light you were able to catch. A very effective work and note, as always.
Warm Regards.
Stella

Signal-Womb (11675) 2008-03-08 14:26

Haha, that's just great Bulent. I think Iv seen this before somewhere but only the arm and head was visible. Id say he would be a good match for "Finn McCool" :) Best regards Steve..

jpinkham (844) 2008-03-13 19:03

Nicely shown, Bulent. It's a rather powerful sculpture, once one begins to take it in, and your perspective shows it well. The pedestrian in the image, and the trees, lend a sense of scale, and the clouds form a plausible backdrop, though it looks like the exposure was a bit tough. Soon enough, we'll again hear the sound of the Old Dutch playing nine-pins in the Caatskills (to use the old spelling).

papagolf21 (56159) 2008-03-14 1:38

Bonjour, mon bon ami Bulent,
Félicitations pour votre don de nous étonner en nous présentant des compositions originales.
Je reste bouche bée devant ces sculptures !
Un grand merci du partage et très bonne journée, mon bon ami.
Amitiés.
Philippe

JCG (25147) 2008-03-14 12:09

Hi Bülent,

An original sculpture. I imagine that seen sky this work of art must be even more impressive. The people on the ground bring a good scale what enables us to appreciate the size of the sculpture. An interesting photograph and thank you for the note always so instructive.

With all my friendships and a very good WE,

Jean-Charles

Polonaise (5634) 2008-03-15 10:45

How to answer an art with Art...?
Is it even possible ?
Yes, it is possible but, rather difficult.
This Dalisque, amazing scene - is worthy every effort possible to presented it with the magnitude, which only a good photography can provide...
Some surprising POV, some final finishing, some close-op or , as a matter of fact - any dirty trick a lens can provide - should be used here without any hesitition...

Good photo Bulent, but lacks the kick in the teeth.
As a substitute - it provides a warmth of the sunny day and a really wonderful note...

Stay cool, pal.
Keep us alive

g.

Bluejeans (32021) 2008-03-15 16:11

Ola Bulent,
Muito interessante esta obra de arte bem dramática com o homem se afundando na terra implorando para os deuses o salvarem , bom enquadramento da foto ,parabéns !!!
Um abraço Gonçalo

Didi (35998) 2008-03-16 1:22

Salam Bulent
Looks like the last scene of Planet of apes film.
Very interesting sculpture, a dramatic original subject.
I suggest for you to use a grad filter to make a balance exposure with the clouds.
Well done.
Cheers.

avene (10940) 2008-03-17 21:01

hello Bulent,
an artowrk that is both scary and uplifting, a rare combination, don't you think? or is it meant to say that without experiencing the darkest fears no true awakening can come?
I quite like how you have composed the photo, the people casually walking among the elements of the statue work well to remind that without even noticing it we can pass a person who is living through the most important moment in his/her life. on the other hand, I agree with George that it would be interesting to see more drama here, may be a black and white version would have it? just pondering :)

with kind regards,
Kristine

rigoletto (26100) 2008-03-19 10:14

Merhaba Bülent Bey,
Gerçekten de çok etkileyici bir sanat eseri. Özellikle yanında gezinen insanlarla birlikte sunmanız boyun muazzamlığını da ortaya koymuş. Bilgi notu her zamanki gibi son derece öğretici.
Selamlar,
Deniz

CatherineD (4860) 2008-03-25 11:48

Hello Bulent,
Very impressive statue. Your photo, with his good light and great sky is a good hommage to the artist. Thanks for sharing,
Catherine

PJE (19401) 2008-03-28 21:31

Bulent the impact of seeing this sculpture like this really has a dramatic effect by seeing it with the distant perspective flat land in Maryland. Add to that the drama in the clouds above all make this a good photograph. The low angled lighting as seen by the shadow lines in the ground in the lower end of the frame bring good lighting to the setting. I think with a NDS filter you could have darkened the sky for added drama and perhaps better exposure!
Thanks for sharing Bulent!

Chris3 (511) 2008-03-29 9:36

Hello Mr. Bullent,

You had an excellent idea to take a photo of this statue.It seems very impressive.Excellent use of light and great POV.

TFS
Christos

nivaldo (13000) 2008-03-29 13:32

WoW... That´s really very impressive, Bulent!
Real "schocking", my dear friend!
Very interesting!
TFS.
Um abraço, de Recife,
Nivaldo
SAÚDE for you ! :-)

alvaraalto (5229) 2008-03-29 13:55

Hi Bulent,

This is an intriguing and more or less macabre sculpture, but also very fascinating.
As always your info is very educating.

Groet Rob

coco (27766) 2008-03-30 22:36

Hi Bulent.

The light and the composition anhences this place. You made a good work with this photo.

Regards.

(the link is very good too)

jemaflor (39211) 2008-03-31 11:42

Hi Bulent,
Impressive result, interesting idea ... as the end of the world, terrible effect, well taken.

davide72 (323) 2008-04-15 14:41

Ciao Bulent la tua foto mi da la sensazione di una rinascita dolorosa.
Le persone accanto alla scultura ne danno le dimensioni ciclopidi .
Bravo tu e bravo il creatore di quest'opera .
Ciao Davide

somkiat (1096) 2008-06-02 4:53

hallo bulent,
great shot.you captured my unseen shot.good showing.
nice composition.
regards
somkiat

Silversnow (2107) 2008-06-04 14:11

very interesting sculpture you make us discover here, quite the interesting note :)