By Wayne Sherriff.
While meandering through Adelaide city parklands looking for something suitable to photograph, I saw this marble memorial in the distance with what appeared to be a life-sized statue adjacent. As I got closer it became apparent that it was no ordinary figure…
Dark Angel, by Wayne Sherriff
… it was a magnificently sculptured bronze angel bearing a palm branch and standing on the steps.
The building itself did not seem imposing and the sculpture, although the main feature to my way of thinking, seemed like a most effective afterthought.
It was a dull day so I returned another time when the light was better and shot it handheld from different angles.
That’s my hat on the steps and was deliberately placed to counterbalance the composition and add a visual distraction to the strong presence of the main subject… what I now refer to as my ‘Dark Angel’.
Some post editing was done to cause a slight colour shift and some vignetting added (it is not HDR tone-mapped).
The monument in Angus Gardens, Adelaide, South Australia was erected in 1915 and attributed to WR Cotton. It is dedicated to George Fife Angus and John Howard Angus, pioneers, pastoralists and philanthropists.
Nikon D7000 camera with Sigma 10-20mm f/4-5.6 lens
Don’s response
Photographing monuments such as this one, present their own special challenges. However worthy, many of these edifices, visually speaking, are staid and rather dull.
And that makes Wayne Sherriff’s Dark Angel all the more impressive.
By thinking his composition through beforehand, waiting for the best time to make the photograph and even being unafraid to turn his hat into an apposite prop, he makes the ordinary interesting.
