Ever since I moved to Providence, people have been recommending Newport to me as a photo destination. As an outsider, I had no idea what to expect, but I had high expectations coming from Boston and New York. I thought I’d see brick homes on cobblestone roads or sprawling trees and nature. I even tried to go during peak autumn – where all of the trees in Providence were glowing red and yellow. The weather forecasted partly cloudy weather without rain. If there was anything worth seeing in Newport, now would be the time.
Unfortunately, it didn’t turn out that way. The weather was overcast and gloomy with occasional light rain coming down. Because there wasn’t any sun, any possibility of glowing warm foliage were nonexistent. On the other hand, I did see the exteriors of absolutely massive homes that have been converted to public attractions. I’ve been told that some of them are still privately owned, which is mind-boggling to me. Some of them are large enough for 2-3 families to live in comfortably without stepping on each other’s toes. I made sure to leave a mental note to go back for a tour in the future during non-pandemic times.
Another nice part of the trip was the seaside views that I experienced. Believe it or not, I sorely missed the ocean and the horizon. Newport had plenty of that. On particular beach, I happened to notice a man standing at the end of a jetty casually fishing. It was raining, windy, and the waves were crashing all around him. But there he was.
The image itself wasn’t too interesting, but I decided to take some creative liberties with the edit. Black and white with a heavy vignette to push moodiness. Then I added a ‘widescreen’ crop to cut out most of the white sky and useless water. The end result is something that would resemble a screenshot from a movie.
I have no idea who this man is and I’m willing to bet that I will never see him again in my life. But I was about to catch this unique moment in time. A snapshot of his own little movie.
Andy Chen Photography 