I was walking along George Street towards the intersection with Margaret street when I have noticed this girl walking out of the Wynyard Station. The girl was dressed in black and white clothing and had a black scarf. Her pale, exotic face was very striking, even seen across a road three lines wide. She was trying to catch a taxi.
I stopped in one of the bus stop shelters on the opposite side of the road and tried to see how I can photograph her in an interesting way. There was really no “scene” and I decided to move along, when a taxi stopped 20 meters away on my side of the road. The girl moved to the right trying to see if the taxi will be vacated, but it wasn’t her day and the taxi drove away. However, the girl kept moving to the right until she stopped in front of a large, bright red mail box. And there it was – my scene unveiling just in front of me.
With the girls monochrome clothing and rather dull tones of the sandstone building behind her the three colourful mail boxes really provided an interest point and a strong visual impact. I took the photo and instantly though that it looked like selective colour. Normally this is achieved in Photoshop by removing all colours with exception of some highlight element. Yet this photograph did not need any post processing. The girl and the wall already looked as if she was photographed in black and white or slight sepia, while the three mail boxes stood out with their bright colouring. Not to mention an implied rule of thirds at play created by these mail boxes.
