Man Reading at the Beach, Santa Maria di Castellabate, Italy
Man sitting on a red plastic chair reading, in this photograph, surrounded by the beach accoutrement and toys from his family. The man is reminiscent of a rough ancient Roman solider but is engaged in a cerebral activity. The classical device of a pyramid of the central arrangement of the family’s group of object contrasts with the convex structure of the 19th century background of buildings and a temporarily constructed soccer field. Shadows along the left edge of the frame measure space to the larger crowd of bathers providing compositional unification while showing a psychological isolation of distance. Although the reader is a part of the setting his deep contemplation of the book internally isolates him from the environment.