I was visiting my friend Maddy who works at Chakra, the indian restaurant the the UTC and noticed how elaborate their liquor display was. The entire restaurant is dimly lit, to a very specific level, which I found out is quite challenging to perfect because Maddy has had to go through training just to light the restaurant in the right way. Looking at the liquor display I was confused as to what the effect of the lighting was supposed to be. The dramatic light has a swanky feel that I would associate with upscale restaurants and bars, but ones that are trying to have a hip appeal, perhaps to a younger crowd. I am finding it hard to articulate the feeling I get from this and I think that has to do with the exclusive feel of it, as if I am not quite cool enough to understand the appeal of this sort of quality. It is really interesting to me that I feel stuck when trying to describe this type of lighting. Makes me think I should see more.
I think you are getting close but here are a few things to think about that the lighting designer was probably considering:
ReplyDelete1. Color - The indian culture is usually associated with rich, powerful colors - mainly taken from traditional clothes and costumes for performance and dance.
2. Foreground and background - The LD has done a nice job at creating contrast - forground cools and background warms. Also, has done a nice job with mixing different cools in the foreground with varying warms in the background.
All of this leads to that "high end" look you are suggesting but with an Indian flavor - or at least an American view of that flavor.
Hope this helps,
Lonnie
That does help. I think i realized that what I was seeing was creating a very dramatic and rich look and was struck by it when I took the photo. It is interesting to me that in this area it is very apparent the effort that is going into making a high end look that is a bit more edgy than in other sections of the restaurant where the subtlety is what is important.
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