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East meets West
rainbow
Registered Users Posts: 2,765 Major grins
Many immigrants do not complain about the economy -- the economy has always been bad for them with minimum wage jobs and little opportunity for advancement. Instead, they do what they can to make ends meet, including working seven days a week in multiple jobs...
Here in San Francisco, this guy is headed for the supermarket a few blocks away to redeem his recycled treasure.
Here in San Francisco, this guy is headed for the supermarket a few blocks away to redeem his recycled treasure.
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I could see this as a photo journalism shot - an illustration for a story about people redeeming cans, about the immigrant struggle - though if that's what it is, you'd have to make darn sure that this is an immigrant. And a start on that would have been to have shot this person from the front, rather than from the back. As it is, shot from the back, we don't really know who or what he is. And, shot from the front, how would we know, unless you interviewed him, whether he is an "immigrant," or a second, third, or fourth generation something?
As a street photo, I have to be honest and say this really doesn't do much. Yes, it's a picture of a guy carrying cans. But it's not terrifically interesting photographically, and doesn't tell a story of any sort beyond that obvious 'guy carrying cans.' If, for example, he was framed by two apparently rich women shoppers coming the other way, glancing at him as they passed, that would be a street photo. If the photo included a couple of kids tossing cans in a trash basket as he walked by, that would be a street photo. You want to look for a real story, humor, pathos, tragedy, contrasts, and/or particularly ambiguity. The best street photos bring us up short; they make us stop and say..."wha....?!"
Shoot from the front; frame carefully; look for details - and keep shooting.
"He not busy being born is busy dying." Bob Dylan
"The more ambiguous the photograph is, the better it is..." Leonard Freed
Thanks for looking and for the comment.
Thanks for looking and for the instructive comments. I do see your points regarding this IF it were a photojournalism shot, which it is not. My commentary could be taken as such, but I provided it as background for the photo and gave my thoughts on the photo and why I posted it.
I do disagree that it is just "guy carrying cans". The method of transportation is what drew my eye to taking and posting this photo. This is a method of transport that has been used for thousands of years in China (I know this because the Shaolin monks in my movies transported loads this way while using the staff as a deadly weapon...). Yet I have never seen this mode of transport in the U. S. except by Asian immigrants around the Bay Area. I have seen it as an ubiquitous method in Asia. And yet he is just casually walking down a busy sidewalk with nary a sideward glance from other passerbys. So while this might have been improved by including his face, it would have been a completely different photo and told a different story.
-Fleetwood Mac
It is not a PJ shot, but is a "street scene" shot.
The following is copied from the introduction to this thread by the moderator:
"This forum is dedicated to the urban scene. In addition to photojournalism and traditional street photography, spontaneous shots depicting urban life belong here--even if no people are shown. It is not meant for skylines or urban panoramas, though; vistas should still be posted in the Landscapes forum. Street scenes and candids, back alleys, graffiti, dimly lit bars, etc., all may be posted here. So get out there and remember to look both ways before shooting."
So this is the appropriate forum for this shot. Had I shot the front facial shot, then it may have been debatable which forum would have been better to post in since there is inevitable overlap.
Oh come on...there really has to be some serious leeway in all these categories. Let's concentrate on the photos, what we can learn from each other, and how we can improve, rather than whether a photo does or doesn't technically belong here. There are very few people here who are experience photo journalists - although there are a few - and there is also, at this point, only a handful of people doing serious street photography. But we do have many people who appreciate both, and are trying to learn the styles, techniques, and mindsets involved in both.
"He not busy being born is busy dying." Bob Dylan
"The more ambiguous the photograph is, the better it is..." Leonard Freed
-Fleetwood Mac
One of the driving forces that led to the creation of this forum was the recognition that there is a major difference between shots that are carefully posed and lit and shots that are simply moments captured "on the fly," which is a more literal translation of "à la sauvette," HCB's famous phrase that is better known in English as "the decisive moment." The techniques are different, the issues are different and the audience may be different as well. A successful image speaks for itself; whether you call it street, pj, documentary or whatever is not very important, IMO.
I don't know that it matters that we can't see the face. The main thing of interest here is the sheer bulk of the cargo compared to the person carrying it. OTOH, if we saw an expression of fatigue, that could make it a stronger image. But maybe we wouldn't see anything more of interest. No way of telling, is there?
To the photo, the editorializing at the intro is a distraction. But I also don't feel the image itself is that strong. Compositionally, if I thought I had the chance I would attempt to get him side-on to the store fronts and other passers by. I think the juxtaposition of a traditional Asian method of carrying light, but bulky items in a Western setting would be interesting.
Thank you for your comments, both on the forum creation and the photo. I saw this forum as the perfect "home" for my style of shooting. When I first shot in high school with my friends, we knew nothing about careful composing or controlling lighting. We walked around and took pictures, then spent all night in our garage processing them. I still utilize this style of shooting, so I have a hodgepodge gallery of shots that may or not work as photos at the end of the day.
This photo reflects my style. I had just stepped out of the adjoining restaurant and "saw" this photo op. I found my angle, took the shot, and revisited it later. I did not think about chasing him around for the better angle or to tell a story better. But I liked it for what it was. If it makes someone wonder or makes think a little, all the better.
Thank you for looking and commenting. I do like to give background on my photos as I think it makes the photo more informative, though you may be correct that it distracts and perhaps detracts. Your angle suggestion is probably right on, too, but at the time it did not occur to me to look for this after I had captured the moment. Immediately after this, I opened my car door to let my mother in to take her home after lunch...