Paul Pfeiffer

This image, "Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse (17)" by Paul Pfeiffer, uses an odd perspective to shift the viewer's perception of the scale of the basketball player in the foreground and his relationship to the stadium and the crowd. The camera is set on the ground and is pointed upwards at the athlete, whose head is obscured by the glare of the lights on the far-away ceiling of the arena. This creates the illusion that the basketball player is a giant; people already have the perception of basketball players being unusually tall, but the perspective from the player's feet makes it seem like the viewer is like an ant in relation to the subject, and the fact that the lights obstruct the view of his head makes it seem like his head is actually at the ceiling, being touched by the lights. Then, the proximity to the player's feet and the placement of the camera on the floor make the crowd on the opposite side of the court seem miniscule, which adds to the illusion of the player being impossibly huge.