Blog 21 05 07 Turning Torso

The Turning Torso apartment building in Malmo, Sweden was designed by Santiago Calatrava, who is not only an architect, but a sculptor. It was completed a year before I took the photograph and was inspired by one of his own sculptures of a human “Twisting Torso”. 

The oblique angle of the image to the lens is not the only reason that appears to make the floors and windows not be horizontal, but when viewed from far off, you can see clearly that the residents are in no fear of their furniture sliding out one side of the building. The effect is psychological and a magnificent example of trompe l’oeil. Fool the eye, in English.

Technical

Even using the 18mm option of my zoom lens, unless you photograph the building from a boat half a mile out in the Sound separating Malmo from Copenhagen, it is nearly impossible to observe the building far enough away to see that it is vertically and horizontally normal,.

Given the failing light, a tripod was imperative and in the absence of a cable release, I used the self-timer to avoid camera shake from my pressing the release button.

Settings

Camera: Nikon D70

Lens: Nikkor 18-70mm f/3.5/4.5 G IF-ED

Drive Mode: Self Timer

Focal Length: 18mm

Auto Focus-Area Mode: Single

Aperture: f/22

Shutter Speed: 1/20s

Exposure Mode: Aperture Priority

Exposure Compensation: -0.3 EV

Metering: Centre-weighted

ISO Sensitivity: 320

Format: Raw

Tripod mounted

Place : Malmo, Sweden

Year: 2006

Copyright Paul Grayson 2021 All Rights Reserved