Tuesday, February 24, 2009

Bench Press

Throw Some Light On The Matter

Photographs copyright: DAVID McMAHON


What’s silver and red and dotted around the business district? The answer is very simple - benches.

I often walk past these benches during the day and of course, all I see is the moulded silver strips that comprise their form. But four or five weeks ago, we were walking past them on a long summer evening - and I suddenly noticed another aspect.


As dusk advanced, there was a soft red tone to them, emanating from lights switched on automatically under the benches (see photo above) bathing them in a glow that evoked some space-age invention. Even the most mundane sights can look transformed if you take the time to view them differently.

(Extra, extra, read all about it: I've been interviewed here. Thank you to all those who have followed this link and checked out the interview. There have been so many wonderful comments that I've tried to reply to each one personally - but you're setting a cracking pace. My humble and heartfelt thanks to all of you for the wonderful tributes and thoughts you have shared on the interview.)


Visit the creative team behind That's MyWorld Tuesday.

39 comments:

JEM said...

A treat for the eye and the soul. Beautiful.

Craig Glenn said...

Looks like a warm place to sit!

Craig

Muthering Heights said...

I love the way you captured the beauty of this simple object.

Mojo said...

I'm glad you showed us what that was, because I would've laid awake nights trying to figure it out.

As always, a unique perspective on the everyday.

French Fancy... said...

What a great idea lighting up the benches from underneath.

Carolina said...

Great shots again! You have such a good eye (well, two I hope ;-)).
Oh, and in answer to your comment on my Bachpost: flattery will get you everywhere LOL, thanks!

Unknown said...

What a neat idea with the benches David. In a way they remind me of the lit seats for every victim of the OKC Bombing at the Memorial.

Johnnny said...

Hi David and all: I love weird pictures where there's color along with an interesting pattern, but one doesn't necessarily know at what they're looking. (I avoided ending that sentence with a preposition.) Kit and I posted a new/old add-on poem we wrote once while staying at a sub-standard motel in Grand Forks, North Dakota. More later, Johnnny!

Daryl said...

Warm but not easy on the tush

Marty Shaw said...

Very cool. I tried something similar a few years ago with the older style wooden slat benches but ignored the newer metal ones. Now I see that was a mistake. Thanks for sharing an artistic view of an every day object that we usually take for granted.

Robynn's Ravings said...

You stopped and took the time to "see." Thanks for the heads up to the rest of us to do the same.

Cheffie-Mom said...

Wow, the benches look so warm! I never would have guessed benches from the first photo! Amazing!

Anonymous said...

I love that you see beauty in the most mundane things and sweetly teach us to see it too.

squawmama said...

Simply lovely David...

HUGS,
Donna

Anonymous said...

Thank you.
Good louk

Anonymous said...

Looks like a warm place to sit!

Louise said...

I've never seen a bench lighted from beneath. Very photogenic.

Tiffany Norris said...

Space-age indeed! Fascinating!

Maggie May said...

Well, I really thought that was venetian blinds at first.
You must have felt you were sitting on hot air!

joey said...

Congratulations ... saw you were chosen a blog of note so popped over, thoroughly delighted by my visit. Love your photos!

The Quintessential Magpie said...

Very, very cool shot!

Sheila

Anonymous said...

I like that first one especially - I am always intrigued by close-ups that make an objcte look like an abstract painting.

PERBS said...

WOW@ A bench at night with that lighting is simply divine. I have a bench blog and want to link back to this om this next week. My friend in France who also has a bench blog will enjoy seeing it. Ü

Gail said...

They used to electrify chairs and keep them in special rooms in prisons. Now there are backlit benches on public streets. Hmmmm...

cheshire wife said...

Very perceptive. It reminds me of the bars on an electric fire but you probably don't need them in Australia and don't know what I am talking about.

Sylvia K said...

These are such great shots! shots that make a simple bench really beautiful and different and interesting. You do great things with your camera, David! Love it!

Muppet Soul said...

I'm a big believer in breaking your eye open - trying to throw away old associations and assumptions and seeing things 'for the first time', etc.

I love that up-close photo! It reminds me of this material we used to make bracelets out of at summer camp. :)

imac said...

Another Bench mark - my friend. great shots of a wonderful item.

Guy D said...

Wow that is very cool, great myworld post David.

Have a great week!
Guy
Regina In Pictures

Jane Hards Photography said...

The second has a muscial intsrument feel so that image hit the right note. Beautifully captured light and colour.

® ♫ The Brit ♪ ® said...

Hi David,
looking at your first photo I never dreamed that could be a bench! extremely beautiful!
"The beauty of art can be found in the strangest of places!"
All the best, Donnie

Nessa said...

We have benches along the river near my house and I've always loved the view through the slats.

Anonymous said...

Lovely photos, in their own right. I would never, ever have guessed what you photographed if you hadn't told me.

betty-NZ said...

Very excellent find! Definitely something unexpected. Thanks for sharing with us!

Janie said...

It does look like a space age invention. I'll look twice at benches from now on.

Pijush said...

Wonderful Work David.. awesome

VALKYRIEN said...

So simple and so beautiful! And I read your interview with interest!

Deb said...

Too cool! I never would have guessed from the first photo what this was a picture of...I think this might be one of my all-time favorite authorblog pictures! I love the lines and the hot colors. You have a great eye - I would have just kept on walking. Thanks for helping me to look at the world with a different lens!

Hilary said...

You never fail to find those wonders in everyday places.

I just read your interview. You're always a treat. :)