Geometry of Light

€100–€600

EN

          When Belgrade is observed from above, ordinary architecture begins to resemble a drawing. Staircases, railings and rooftops turn into lines, while the sun becomes the main draftsman, pulling long shadows across the surfaces.

          In this photograph, the railings create a rhythm of parallel lines, while their shadows build a new, almost independent structure of space. What from the street appears to be just a passage between two levels of a building, from the air transforms into a pure composition of forms — the triangle of the staircase, rectangles of pavement, and deep fields of darkness.

          At the beginning of the 20th century, the Russian avant-garde painter Kazimir Malevich sought to reduce visual art to such elementary geometric relationships, while the photographer Man Ray showed how shadows themselves could become equal elements of the image. In their works, line, surface and light cease to merely describe reality and instead form an independent visual language.

          Seen from above, something similar happens to the city. For a brief moment, Belgrade stops being a collection of buildings and streets and begins to resemble a large abstract graphic — drawn with light.

SR

          Kada se Beograd posmatra iz vazduha, obična arhitektura počinje da liči na crtež. Stepenice, ograde i krovovi pretvaraju se u linije, dok sunce postaje glavni crtač koji preko njih povlači dugačke senke.

          Na ovoj fotografiji, ograde stvaraju ritam paralelnih linija, a njihove senke grade novu, gotovo nezavisnu strukturu prostora. Ono što je sa ulice samo prolaz između dva nivoa zgrade, iz vazduha se pretvara u čistu kompoziciju oblika — trougao stepeništa, pravougaonike pločnika i duboke površine tame.

          Takve prizore je početkom XX veka pokušavao da svede na osnovne geometrijske odnose ruski avangardni slikar Kazimir Maljevič, dok je fotograf Man Rej pokazivao kako senke mogu postati ravnopravni elementi slike. U njihovim radovima linija, površina i svetlo prestaju da budu samo opis stvarnosti i postaju samostalni vizuelni jezik.

          Kada se grad posmatra iz vazduha, događa se nešto slično. Beograd na trenutak prestaje da bude skup zgrada i ulica i počinje da liči na veliku apstraktnu grafiku — nacrtanu svetlom.