Fire Extinguishers

The red glow against the green reflected pond background must have alerted you from afar that something out of the ordinary was floating in the distance. It took your camera and a 500mm lens to zoom in and record the misappropriated object. In the process you've managed to capture the most unusually placed fire extinguisher in this challenge.

For me it was the aerial view that made your fire extinguisher stand out from many other entries. You could have photographed it straight on from a low angle but your choice of a top shot has resulted in a completely different take. The rough earth-coloured background textures contrast nicely with the smooth red metallic sheen to give your cornered cylindrical object that extra bit of gloss.

You don’t give any indication of how, why or where you took your captivating composition. The absence of a title and description intrigued me. Why would a bunch of fire extinguishers be left standing together like this? They look like a flock of open-mouthed fledglings waiting for their parents to feed them. Despite not liking untitled photographs your mysterious entry enthralled me enough to give you a top ten placing.

Although comparatively small within your composition, one’s eye is immediately drawn to the fire extinguisher. The complementary colour red against the green is the reason why your subject pops out so strongly. I can understand why you left the brown base to include the red reflection but personally I would have cropped it out to make the extinguisher one hundred percent dominant within the frame. Nevertheless this is a superbly composed rule-of-thirds, minimalistic still life.

Fire extinguishers in public galleries make interesting subjects because in many circumstances they can appear to be an actual exhibit. Your entry taken in a Palermo museum is a case in point. Hanging from what looks like a curtain chord the extinguisher has become very much an integral part of the furniture. Well done for spotting this anomaly and presenting it in a unique and creative composition.

I’m surprised more people didn’t use the obvious connection between fire and fire extinguishers to benefit their photo submissions. You’ve not only grabbed the opportunity but used it in a very unique way. Your imagination was fired to transform the apparatus into a burning candle by placing a simple flame on top. What a great idea and one that candle makers might want to purloin for a new line of novelty wick burners.

I’m not a fan of selective colour photographs but in this case it really works. I’m ready to believe that the black and white Victorian decor is real and hasn’t been converted to mono. The leading lines of the studded doors, tiles and wood panelling encourage the viewer’s eye towards the main subject of your photograph. You've cleverly made the proportionately small, red fire extinguisher jump out of your predominantly mono composition.

Discovering an extinguisher after the fire had done it’s damage made me smile. A bit like shutting the stable door after the horse has bolted. Placing the thing on the outside balcony ensured that it wouldn’t get burnt at the same time as not being fit for purpose. The pièce de résistance of the photo is your subtle touch of realism with the wisp of smoke escaping from inside the burned out building. It goes to show that you have a clever sense of humour which I think is a necessary skill in photography..

You’ve certainly made sure that your submission would get noticed by packing in as many fire extinguishers into the frame as possible. A smorgasbord of fire fighting equipment displayed at some kind of museum makes a very compelling composition. A slice of fire fighting history is on show here from the early gold extinguishers to the more recent red examples. Mostly we take photos to please ourselves so how lucky were you to find this treasure trove of extinguishers and have the right competition come along to fit your photo. What a perfect fit.

This is a beautifully constructed minimalist composition. The triangular lit piece of cracked flooring points (like an arrow) towards the red fire extinguisher lurking in the dark corner of the room. These two simple elements tell the narrative with maximum effort and minimal fuss contributing to a piece of fine art photography.