The Story Behind the Photograph #14
R Thomas Grant
Yin and Yang
I took this photo on London’s South Bank in early September this year. It was one of those gloriously hot and sunny days that we've had lots of this summer and I was out on a photo walk with someone shooting our usual London route.
Normally around here I stay at ground level where the crowds are, but for some reason on this particular day, I decided to climb the stairs to the upper level of the National Theatre, ostensibly looking for shots down into the outdoor drinks area. A few frames of ‘not much’ later and it was clear there wasn’t going to be anything to get excited about so we carried on around the terrace and onto the elevated walkway, there’s a good view down Theatre Avenue from there and I’d never tried it before so it seemed like it was worth a shot.
From that raised vantage point the thing that became immediately obvious was the way the shadow from the National Theatre cut the space below almost completely in half, creating a fabulous block of light and shade that split that part of the road in two right down the middle. Now I’m much more of a fisher than a hunter anyway and this opportunity was just crying out to be taken advantage of, so I got myself set up and started playing the waiting game.
I knew that I wanted someone to come along and hopefully walk right along the line of the shadow giving me one side in darkness and one side in the light, and if they were wearing dark clothing so much the better. Twenty minutes later I’d had several near misses, because people just don’t seem to want to walk in a straight line when you want them to, and I had a couple of frames that kind of worked okay but weren’t exactly right but I thought it was about time to move on.
Then right on cue these two lovely young women just strolled into the shot, walked through the space, and stayed exactly on the line where I wanted them. I got several frames off in quick succession, and as I pressed the shutter I knew straight away that I had the shot, that this one worked exactly as I envisioned it and the time spent waiting was vindicated.
That said, it was originally in colour, but on the train home, as soon as I reviewed it the title instantly popped into my head and I knew it would work much better in black & white. One girl in dark clothing in the light and the other girl in light clothing in the shadow could only be Yin & Yang.
After years of photography being relegated to high days and holidays, Robert has returned to it with real intention and the time to indulge himself. A Nikon shooter, from South East London who works in the City, he’s lucky enough to shoot in the capital several times a week and has already had an image displayed in a recent RPS Street Photography exhibition.
the.fotoapp.co/robgrant
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