2 4 #3

System

Hellmet


Amtrak

Mike Lane

The weird convergences you've got in the Amtrack one make it a no go. It's difficult to even really get what I'm looking at. My eye can't settle in on anything in particular.

Swartzy

The wheelchair in the cart is good
The rest is too busy and distracting. How bout a crop maybe or reshoot. I like the idea but it's not quite there (at least for me).

urbanaries

agree with mike, no focal point in the amtrack. need subject isolation.

IMO neither are very competitive.

System

urbanaries wrote:

agree with mike, no focal point in the amtrack. need subject isolation.

IMO neither are very competitive.

I can live with that. Not sure I'll have time to shoot again before monday though. Friggin' wedding shower this weekend.

A lil' blur for dof.

urbanaries

truth wrote:

I can live with that. Not sure I'll have time to shoot again before monday though. Friggin' wedding shower this weekend.

A lil' blur for dof.

that helps. not sure if its your watermark now or the askew bus sign that are confusing my eye.


what's it look like in color? there's a lot of graphical highlights/ repetition going on. color may delineate the elements enough?

i love the concept, somethings just "meh."

System

urbanaries wrote:

that helps. not sure if its your watermark now or the askew bus sign that are confusing my eye.


what's it look like in color? there's a lot of graphical highlights/ repetition going on. color may delineate the elements enough?

i love the concept, somethings just "meh."

Trust me, it's better in b&w. The meh part is the photo. I shot it as I was walking by. Never even stopped and it shows. At the time I just thought it was kinda humorous. Now I kinda wish I'd taken 30 seconds and thought it through.

System

Shot this today and it's a right up the gut take on the theme. It just doesn't speak to me the way the woman in the helmet does. There's such a sadess in her situation. Maybe it's that I see here in her helmet every day. I dunno. It's a dark and gritty image that does not scream at the theme. That's more my style. I've entered the ties but knowing me I'll swap em out for the woman and lose.

evoryware

The ties are definitely spot on, but I like the hellmet shot more than the ties. I know you say you are going to be busy this weekend, but can you reshoot that since you see her everyday? I think living in New York it's not so irregular to me cuz I see all kinds of stuff, but maybe a different day or position or even an irregular crop.

LiquidAir

I have to say I am a bit uneasy calling the "Helmet" shot irregular. To me it appears that she is wearing the helmet to protect her head because she has a disease (MS maybe?) which puts her at signficant risk of a falling and hurting her head. Calling that irregular brings up the thorny and often ugly question of what we consider regular. My sister-in-law has MS, so for me the issues surrounding it are arise nearly every day. She is wheelchair bound now, but in the past she has ended up in the hospital more than once with head injuries from falling. Personally I prefer to think of her particular condition as uncommon rather than irregular. That said, I am certainly aware than not everyone in this world shares my point of view.

I know you are not one to shy away from controversial topics, but personally I don't find that this photo by itself brings up the question of what is regular and irregular in the spectrum of humanity. It is only by entering it in a competition with the theme "irregular" that those issues come up. Your ties shot expresses irregular by doing two things: it first sets the standard for the regular by showing the racks of ties all tucked in; then it features the irregular by centernig the one which is hanging loose. The "Helmet" shot shows only one person. For her to appear irregular she must break the pattern of a pre-conceived notion of the regular. Some people, who share that implied notion of the regular will get it; other people who don't, won't.

System

evory ~ I'm really tight on time and the weather is being unkind. I only took this shot becuase I was out of her sight. I have no desire to invade her space. The shot was from across the street and I really liked the way the bus framed it. Anyway...

Liquid ~ I'm not sure what her disability is but I'm pretty certain it's mental adn not physical. The iregularity in my virew was in her though process or choice to wear a motorcyle helmet every day. I suppose you could be correct but she gets around pretty good. Her real tick is that she's always writing on this tiny notepad. I also don't think irregular carries the negative conotation you seem to feel from it. Perhaps that's due to your sister-in-law's condition, perhaps it's something larger in our society, but to me it simply means outside of the dominant paradigm. To me that's usually a good thing. I know I'd hate be seen as regular. Picturesque on the other hand I could live with.

LiquidAir

truth wrote:

Liquid ~ I'm not sure what her disability is but I'm pretty certain it's mental adn not physical. The iregularity in my virew was in her though process or choice to wear a motorcyle helmet every day. I suppose you could be correct but she gets around pretty good. Her real tick is that she's always writing on this tiny notepad. I also don't think irregular carries the negative conotation you seem to feel from it. Perhaps that's due to your sister-in-law's condition, perhaps it's something larger in our society, but to me it simply means outside of the dominant paradigm. To me that's usually a good thing. I know I'd hate be seen as regular. Picturesque on the other hand I could live with.

It is one thing to choose to live outside. It is another entirely to be forced to. To me, there is a great difference between a photo that says "look at me, I am not like you/them" and a photo that says "look a her, she is not like us." A subtle distinction maybe but at least to me it is important. While is it certainly possible to take a photograph that coveys irregular by showing someone unconstrained by the ball and chain of convention, personally I don't get that message from this photo. To me she looks like someone who's situation has taken many choices away from her and who's difference has made her less free rather than more free. I could easily be completely wrong about her actual situation but that is what I see in this particular shot.

System

No, I think you're right on target. The point being that either way there is an irregular behavior and the photo does indeed show that. In no way am I insinuating that she is better off for it or is she free to choose. To me the photo evokes a deep sympathy and forces the viewer to try to grasp the plight of the woman. I don't feel it belittles her or her situation, at least that certainly was not my intent.

damonff

I love them both. They're original.