Polar bears in an abstract almost-polar landscape but with an unclean look that to my mind suggested our influence. It is not the smooth white world you would expect of the arctic, instead there's a grubbiness and warmer tones. Five bears picking around for scraps waiting for the sea ice that seems unlikely to arrive. And maybe there's some of our trash in there as well. Perhaps we are tired of hearing about this particular scenario but that's what came to my mind.
Of the five bears that I added I like the one in the bottom right corner most. It blends in nicely but still stands out well with the contrast against the blue. I almost decided to remove the other four and leave it as a lonely bear but in the end kept the group as a scene with an extra dimension.
This is what that lonely bear looks like by itself. If it wasn't so tucked away in the corner this might have been my preferred version.
Bears are iconic in general and the shape of polar bears is subtlely but distinctly different to their southern cousins but as my artwork depends on silhouettes they are difficult to work with. Their rounded bulk without much sticking out, such as antlers or an elegant long tail, means virtually the whole animal needs to be seen which limits how a composition can work. Perhaps that's why I use the five-bear version, having made the effort to work them all in.
As always I love all the weathered detail in this background. The peeling flakiness and subtle tonal variation are pleasing to my eye but unlike much of what I photograph I would not call this one beautiful.
This is how the photograph looks without the bears and rotated/flipped back into its original orientation on the fence.
These bears are hanging around half way up the fence just in front of the blue telegraph pole. A really strange place for polar bears given that this photograph was taken in Thailand.
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