C&C w PJ Copy

toragstorags Registered Users Posts: 4,615 Major grins
edited December 4, 2011 in Street and Documentary
PJ seems to be a step son in favor of some higher artistic calling. Here is a shot I would like C&C on;

in addition, for those who like the J in PJ, label or write a few sentences supporting the shot (no holds barred).

I'll leave it for a couple of days then fill in the context.

722888491_Ha2q7-L-1.jpg
Rags

Comments

  • RSLRSL Registered Users Posts: 839 Major grins
    edited December 2, 2011
    It's beautiful, Rags. Talk about ambiguity! The face in the background is what rounds it out. This is street photography on steroids.
    Russ Lewis
    www.FineArtSnaps.com
  • richardmanrichardman Registered Users Posts: 376 Major grins
    edited December 2, 2011
    OK Russ, please enlighten me.

    Really?

    OK, I looked at a few times. I can't see anything other than something I would not have shown to anyone (Sorry Rags). Obviously Rags thinks it's a good shot and you think it's a great shot. I need some enlightenment here.
    "Some People Drive, We Are Driven"
    // richard <http://www.richardmanphoto.com&gt;
    richardmanphoto on Facebook and Instagram
  • RSLRSL Registered Users Posts: 839 Major grins
    edited December 3, 2011
    Sorry for the delay in answering, Richard. I was doing some actual work shooting dress rehearsal for a local theater group.

    I'll confess I may have been a victim of somewhat irrational exuberance, but the shot really hit me. It reminds me somewhat of a night shot I made on a street in San Francisco in the mid sixties.

    The first question that comes to mind is: who is this person? I can't tell whether it's a man or a woman, though I'd guess woman. What is she doing? Is she a street vendor plying her trade at night? Is she homeless, wandering the streets with her belongings in a grocery cart? Is she both? The mystery deepens when you see the mostly hidden face in the upper right, and what looks like a reflection of a face -- his face? -- in a mirror a bit to the left. The lighting, of course, adds to the mystery. In this case I can't decide whether a greater sense of place would add to or detract from the effect of the image.

    I think it's interesting that nobody else has commented on this picture. I suspect that's because nobody can make sense out of it. The ambiguity is pretty overwhelming.

    To respond to Rags's comment abut those who like the J in PJ, the picture is a long way from PJ as it stands -- without comment and without supporting pictures. I'd title it "Woman on the road to Hell with a grocery cart."

    Eventually Rags is going to tell us the true story and it'll be nothing like what I've surmised.
    Russ Lewis
    www.FineArtSnaps.com
  • M38A1M38A1 Registered Users Posts: 1,317 Major grins
    edited December 3, 2011
    "Local street vendor Maria C. selling pornographic materials just South of the US/Mexico border"

    (As part of the underlying story on the porn industry?)


    It's an interesting shot for sure....


    .
  • richardmanrichardman Registered Users Posts: 376 Major grins
    edited December 3, 2011
    Hi Russ and Scott, I agree it's an ambiguous picture, but - SORRY Rags, I'll buy you a cup of coffee at Starbucks :-) - not every ambiguous photo is a good photo. It could very well be local vendor selling pornographic mags just South the US border, but I just don't see why this picture is a Wow.

    Also, my monitor is a calibrated Eizo, and I don't see the hidden face on upper right. I will check it on my wife's Mac, she adjusts her display per the Mac standard of "too bright..."
    "Some People Drive, We Are Driven"
    // richard <http://www.richardmanphoto.com&gt;
    richardmanphoto on Facebook and Instagram
  • DonRicklinDonRicklin Registered Users Posts: 5,551 Major grins
    edited December 3, 2011
    richardman wrote: »
    Hi Russ and Scott, I agree it's an ambiguous picture, but - SORRY Rags, I'll buy you a cup of coffee at Starbucks :-) - not every ambiguous photo is a good photo. It could very well be local vendor selling pornographic mags just South the US border, but I just don't see why this picture is a Wow.

    Also, my monitor is a calibrated Eizo, and I don't see the hidden face on upper right. I will check it on my wife's Mac, she adjusts her display per the Mac standard of "too bright..."
    I'm on a not too bright MBPro and I can see the silhouetted face in a car with his hand up reflected in the review mirror. He's facing left above the cloths pinned magazines at the front of the cart.

    Interesting shot to say the least!

    :D

    Don
    Don Ricklin - Gear: Canon EOS 5D Mark III, was Pentax K7
    'I was older then, I'm younger than that now' ....
    My Blog | Q+ | Moderator, Lightroom Forums | My Amateur Smugmug Stuff | My Blurb book Rust and Whimsy. More Rust , FaceBook     .
  • RSLRSL Registered Users Posts: 839 Major grins
    edited December 3, 2011
    richardman wrote: »
    Also, my monitor is a calibrated Eizo, and I don't see the hidden face on upper right.

    Richard, That may be your problem. There's also a hand over there on the right, behind the face.

    I have a hunch that this is one picture people either are going to love or hate and nothing in between.
    Russ Lewis
    www.FineArtSnaps.com
  • michswissmichswiss Registered Users, Retired Mod Posts: 2,235 Major grins
    edited December 3, 2011
    I'm in the completely indifferent category on this. In my mind, it's simply too underexposed for any potential story to come through. If the dark exposure was meant to add moodiness, then I don't think it works. It also feels too tightly composed and the aspect ratio looks slightly non-standard. If it's been cropped, I feel it could be helped with a little loosening. Overall, the shot might fit within a series of images but as a standalone PJ image? Nope.
  • toragstorags Registered Users Posts: 4,615 Major grins
    edited December 4, 2011
    torags wrote: »
    PJ seems to be a step son in favor of some higher artistic calling. Here is a shot I would like C&C on;

    in addition, for those who like the J in PJ, label or write a few sentences supporting the shot (no holds barred).

    I'll leave it for a couple of days then fill in the context.

    722888491_Ha2q7-L-1.jpg

    First thanks to the folks who looked in & commented

    M38A1 hit the nail on the head & Russ caught the ambiguity.

    Simple pictures of expressions of human behavior usually don't need titles or text. Complicated pictures from different places do (re: Reuters 100 best pix). Some pictures tell a story; some can't if the viewer is deaf. Verbal context can help allow the viewer to better "see" the picture

    For context: People living in the southwest have a third world country within walking distance. at the border crossings coming into the US the lines of cars are long and the waits can be 1-2 hours or more.

    During the wait, rivers of humanity pass between the cars; selling goods, venders desperately looking for eye contact to hopefully make a sale. Not only vendors, but cripples & beggars and the guys whose rags have wiped a hundred wind shields). I always fall for the guy with no legs sitting on a dolly. People throw money on the ground for him and its tragic to watch him get coins or dollars that blow under cars.

    A title that I would put on the shot; Worlds Brush Without Contact

    What I see in the picture, is a man in a car with the windows rolled up, a virtual prisoner in his car (1/4 mile away from freedom); avoiding the presence of a light painted vendor from another world. The red light supports the "other" world aspect. Hey M38, I didn't notice her product. I'll have to keep an eye out for her next time I go thru..mwink.gif

    Shot at night with available light (headlights and tail lights) thru the windshield. Grainy , yes - underexposed, perhaps.

    In any event that's my take (from one of the bubbles), if a vendor would comment on the shot - it would be entirely different. We all bring baggage when looking at an image.

    I enjoyed the comments ... thanks
    Rags
  • M38A1M38A1 Registered Users Posts: 1,317 Major grins
    edited December 4, 2011
    torags wrote: »
    First thanks to the folks who looked in & commented...

    M38A1 hit the nail on the head...



    WooHoo! What did I win? :D

    I suppose it helps that I'm just a few hours from a border crossing...


    .
  • richardmanrichardman Registered Users Posts: 376 Major grins
    edited December 4, 2011
    I can see it, but my opinion does not change. I don't hate the picture, but I will put it in the "missed" pile. In this way, I agree with Jennifer.
    "Some People Drive, We Are Driven"
    // richard <http://www.richardmanphoto.com&gt;
    richardmanphoto on Facebook and Instagram
  • RSLRSL Registered Users Posts: 839 Major grins
    edited December 4, 2011
    And I'll stand by my original critique.
    Russ Lewis
    www.FineArtSnaps.com
  • toragstorags Registered Users Posts: 4,615 Major grins
    edited December 4, 2011
    M38A1 wrote: »
    WooHoo! What did I win? :D

    I suppose it helps that I'm just a few hours from a border crossing...


    .

    My respect and admiration.... Oh wait, I have neither... :D
    Rags
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