“Persepolis”
This looks like it could be an interesting film, but what really interests me is the excellent composition and lighting in this still. Look how clearly the girls are framed by the L-shape foreground. The eye is also drawn to them through the high contrast of black and white and further drawn to their faces which are drawn simply and, once again, with high contrast. The image is nicely balanced by the use of the scroll pattern on the far left. It’s heavy enough to balance out the image, but not distracting enough that it draws you away from the girls. A simple triangle formed with all 3 girls keeps the eye mainly focused on that group, but there is enough interest in the rest of the picture to keep it interesting (bins, broken glass and windows).
The lighting not only provides a great composition, but it’s also very atmospheric. As you would expect in a photograph, the high contrast peters out gradually in the background providing a a sense of rich depth. Finally, while most of the image is in a flat shade, certain areas are highlighted with a tecture. Check out the road, the highlight on the tree and the building. Again, this is almost a photographic style if printed in high contrast. I think it’s particulary brave to shade the road jet-black in the foreground and high-white in the background. What further contrast of shades could there be? And still it looks like the same surface.