Charlotte, I'm not sure what I think of these images. I do know it takes some familiarity with something to "like" it oftentimes. I'm totally unfamiliar with this sort of image.
I find them complex and somehow strangely evocative. I find them unsettling. Now, I must keep looking til I have familiarity so I can partial out the influence of the unfamiliar and hopefully, what's left will be response to the images themselves.
I agree with Rachel that there's something "unsettling" about these, particlarly the second one. But only just.
The point I was trying to raise in dialogue with Charlotte was that being able to manipulate your viewers' emotions with otherwise emotionally-neutral content is a very valuable skill to develop. Once you're there you can deliberately apply such a strategy in a variety of subtle ways to your images to convey deeper messages. (That's precisely what's going on today in the true "fine art" photography world, some good and some phony.)
Let's take, for example, that seemingly simple second image of Charlotte's (above). An empty beverage glass with a plastic straw sitting on a wicker chair. We get the strong, but unproven, impression that the chair is outdoors on a bright, sunny summer day. We also imagine that the person who drank the beverage may have sat in that chair. The chair itself contains such a strong, high-contrast wicker weave that we also get the soft impression of a patterned and ordered. You see how much inference such a seemingly simple image can convey?
But what if we added subtle elements to that scene? For example, what if the straw was glass instead of plastic? How about a colorful marble sitting at the bottom of the glass in the remaining liquid? A bright red smear of fresh catchup on the chair? You see? These are all emotionally-neutral elements but their placement in this scene adds subtle mystery and depth.
One other way to create subtle "unsettling" impressions in a scene is to frame it in a slightly odd way. For example, I photographed this scene purposely off-center, placing the only overt action (the boy with the football and the tennis player) just a bit tight right. My goal was precisely to add a subtle edginess to an otherwise idyllic image.
The possibilities are endless and are worth exploring to hone one's skills at using a camera to convey intended impressions and meanings. I think you'll be surprised at how powerful that image frame can be when you begin to deliberately manipulate its contents.
Just have fun!
