Response Essay/ Lee Dong hyun/ Tuesday 56

The lives of two cities                The picture illustrates two cities with two different lives. One seems to be a subtle and a peaceful one while the other shows more active and busy life. The left picture is the scenery of Chende and the one on the right is the photo of Beijing; both were taken in China. The viewers of this picture would find it obvious that the two subjects of the picture displays quite a different characteristics.              The one on the left is the city of Chengde. The object that stands out the most is the temple in the middle of the mountain. It is a three-story building which appears to be an ancient temple. Also along the coast there are other several small structures that looks to be some kind of shelters. Considering the background there are also some distinctive features. One is that there is a river at the bottom of the picture. The current is not strong but very subtle. Also the picture is surrounded by mountains. The mountains are neither grand nor small. The overall mood is that it is very peaceful. One factor that causes such mood is movement. There are no signs of movement is the picture. There are no birds flying in the sky and there are no people walking along the coast nor any animals in the photo. Only movement that can be predicted is the slow flow of the river. As a result, the dominant trait of this scenery is subtleness.              On the other hand, the picture on the left shows a contrasting view. The four buildings are the objects that stand out the most. The one on the left is the highest followed by the second building, the fourth building being the third highest and the third building as the shortest. Within the first three buildings, lights are turned on. The second building has the most lights and the one the right still seems to be in construction. On the contrary to the left picture, this one shows a busy life of the city. Similarly, movement influences such decision. Even though there are no people or animals in the picture, the viewers can easily detect active movement by the look of the stream of lights on the roads. Those lights show the endless movement of vehicles. In the end, one thing that viewers can remember the most about this picture is active light.              There are few similarities between the two pictures but a number of differences. As mentioned above, movement is one noticeable difference. Also, the time of the pictures taken is also a contrasting point. While the picture on the left has been taken in daylight, the one of the right has been taken in night times. Finally, the buildings on the left harmonizes with the nature with a river at the front and mountains at the back. On the other hand, there are no signs of nature in the right one where everything has been made by humans. The difference between the mood is that while the left is very peaceful and subtle, the right is very busy and active. Therefore, the two pictures are very different from one another.              In conclusion, two photographs illustrate a two different aspects of the environment. One shows one that is peaceful and harmonizes with the nature while the one on the right portrays one that is very lively and artificial. Because the difference between the two photograph is too vivid, the pictures are not appropriate for comparison. Rather, they are apt for easy contrast.