violent silhouette

pyroPrints.com

Well my translucent idea, was apparently not translucent :dunno
If you disagree, let me know (http://www.dgrin.com/showpost.php?p=544245&postcount=6)

So here is some silhouettes.

The End.
Warning, the following image contains implied violence, follow the link if you wish to see it.
http://www.divshare.com/download/595908-53e

Samurai dawn.


I have another "shoot" scheduled for tomorrow, so I'll see what else I can do.

Angelo

In light of all the recent deaths-by-gunfire; 34 dead at Virginia Tech, 3 dead at Fresno State, not to mention all the soldiers in Iraq, I find this first image extremely distasteful. So much so that I can not bring myself to any additional comments.

I would hold you in high esteem if you would voluntarily remove it.

pyroPrints.com

Angelo wrote:

In light of all the recent deaths-by-gunfire; 34 dead at Virginia Tech, 3 dead at Fresno State, not to mention all the soldiers in Iraq, I find this first image extremely distasteful. So much so that I can not bring myself to any additional comments.

I would hold you in high esteem if you would voluntarily remove it.

There has been deaths by gunfire, since guns were invented, so I think you'd find the image distasteful regardless of the recent events. That being said, I realize some people such as yourself will not want to see this image. I will not be removing it completely, but I will add a warning and a link instead of showing the image directly.

VisualXpressions

great concept... needs to be in a different pose though... try, same side stance, back hand with sword overhead pointing forward slightly downward, forward arm straight out in front, hand kind of like a claw... to get the full ninja effect you might try more props... like a scarf around the mouth and head so all you see is nose and eyelashes... or maybe not... I think sillhoette of the face is important...

This particular pose doesn't work for me because I loose the front arm in the torso and part of the sword is lost in the back arm...

Keep working on the concept though I think it's great.

Winston

I just looked at your link... the gun silhouette could be quite disturbing to some... in the end though that particular shot is just the sillhouette of a hand gun... if you really wanted to have an emotional impact with a hand gun execution photo... sillhoette the person being shot with head down so you see side of face and gun to the back of the head... maybe not might make some folks sick... any way, good luck...

pyroPrints.com

VisualXpressions wrote:

Keep working on the concept though I think it's great.

Winston

Thanks. It's really my first time working with strong lights like that, so I'm kinda learning as I go along. I'll see if I can do a reshoot with different poses

Chrissiebeez_NL

hi pyroprints!

first of all: the samurai shot doesnt do it for me.. i dont know if its me but i get more of a baseball feeling with the position of the silouette then a samurai.

the first picture i looked at through the link certainly brings a whole more emotion with it. Dgrin is not the place to vent political ideas so it would be a shame to see the discussion going that way because it would limit the creativity to only 'safe' shots. I for myself live in the netherlands where it is illegal to carry guns (unfortunatly there is a lot of illegal smugling going on from belgium) and im glad for it. I think it is a provoking shot wich can fall bad with some americans given the recent happenings but can also be considered a harsh reminder of the sad reality that guns kill people. provoking images dont have to be all bad. the pictures of vietnam were shocking and sometimes downright sickening but showed the world the true face of war instead of the heroic and romantic view portrayed by the government. Here, pictures caused the protests and ultimatly the end of the war. But in the end this is a decicion the moderators of Dgrin must make for each case: creative liberty or safe, unprovoking forum.

for the photo: the point or meaning isnt totally clear to me. the silouette sits straight up 'looking' straight into the camera which for me (again: i havent even seen a gun before) seems odd. the hand that is holding the gun looks quite small (and hairyless ) so my feelings go out to a boy of girl/woman. If it is a boy or a girl i would be even more hessitant to sit up straight and 'take it like a man' (?). So in conclusion i think you created a strong photo which is going to induce a lot of emotions and feelings (especially now) but for me is not conveying your intentions optimally.
Then again, it could just be me not getting the picture
furthermore, can you see if you can get a shot where it is truely a siloutte? i can see his ears and that takes away a bit of the strong composition.

maybe work on the composition a bit with placement of body and gun (to the head? like in a threatening fashion with the head slightly bent due to the pressure of gun?) and show us some of the results (if allowed).

pyroPrints.com

Chrissiebeez_NL wrote:

hi pyroprints!
maybe work on the composition a bit with placement of body and gun (to the head? like in a threatening fashion with the head slightly bent due to the pressure of gun?) and show us some of the results (if allowed).

Thanks for your comments, my reshoot would most likely be less violent. My initial idea involved a man and a woman, but since the woman was not around, I decided to experiment with the lights anyhow, since I had minimal experience with shots like these. And to make it more interesting, I decided to use whatever props were laying around the house (which happen to be a bb gun and a decorative sword. So I think these shots were more focus on technique and not so much on a solid message. Hopefully with a reshoot I can rectify that.

PS: Never though I'd hear some one say anything bad about belgians. I guess Dr. Evil was right about them: "[Dr. Evil] was raised by Belgians, which is what made him so complex and evil."

Chrissiebeez_NL

ah, that explains.. try to be real carefull with that because with a silouette the only way to convey your image is through body language. im interested in your follow up shot but i think you have a good strong 'canvas' with the yellow/orange background.

P.S Belgians import everything that is illegal in the netherlands but are a lot more fun at the same time. you can see (and feel it while driving) that they rather sit in a bar and have fun then fixing the road or putting up a few roadsigns. anyways...

VisualXpressions

Chrissiebeez_NL wrote:

hi pyroprints!

but can also be considered a harsh reminder of the sad reality that guns kill people.

Chris,

People kill people... guns are simply a tool, inanimate objects that can't do anything by themselves... cartain types of guns were designed to kill people... but they can't do it unless a person is pulling the trigger...:D A more accurate statement would be... "People sometimes use guns to kill people"

I think your statement might be part of the reason guns are banned in your country just something to think about...

Winston

Chrissiebeez_NL

VisualXpressions wrote:

Chris,
A more accurate statement would be... "People sometimes use guns to kill people"

I think your statement might be part of the reason guns are banned in your country just something to think about...

Winston

raah, got me there.. yeah that is true, but if people dont have the guns to kill people.. they can't kill them now can they? (not efficiently at least ) oh it doesnt matter, i hate guns, war and violence, i'm a hippie :ivar

oh and i didnt get the last part because english isn't my main language and sometimes the rethoric is somewhat lost in translation..

lets stick to the photographic aspect of this whole thing ok?

VisualXpressions

lets stick to the photographic aspect of this whole thing ok?

[/QUOTE]

You bet, I mean, OK, this is a photography board after all... I know what you mean about the lost in translation thing... I lived in Japan for 4 years and Sardinia Italy for 5...

LiquidAir

Both the hand gun and the sword are tools expressly designed expressly with the intent of killing people. The intent is there whether anyone uses them or not. If you are going to use such strong images, I think you need to be very clear on why you are including them and what you are trying to say with them.

tsk1979

The End is disturbing. Even if sombody had never see the photos the Virginia Guy released of himself with handgun, even then its disturbing.
But if we ignore the politics, its a good shot in concept. Powerful.
I have seen many disturbing images on the web. Like of children starving to death in Africa with a vulture waiting. It won a Pulitzer. That image was infinitely more disturbing than the one you posted.
In the end its your call. If we start shooting only non disturbing things all we will see on the web is star trails and lighhouses or ships.
So its your choice.
I also had a choice. There is a unpoliced six lane expressway which runs a short distance from my house. Every couple of weeks or once a month we have a street racer who loses control, and you come across a toppled car standing on the roof, airbags deployed.
I could have posted such an image in irregular, a car upside down is irregular. Even in the current challenge there was a possiblity I could get such a shot against the sun. But in the end I decided against it. I found it disturbing. Powerful shot nonetheless.
So its really your call. If you like it post it. In my opinion, in a contest the quality of the photograph and the idea should be judged, not the political motive.

On the pure photography side, that shot could have been better. Its monotonous. Can't you do it in the evening on a terrace or something. Even the most uninspiring sunset(the one I have with tripod) shows color better than artificial lights.

I assume you are fairly up north, so at your latitudes the sunset is long drawn, and not abdrupt like we have here. You can get much better colors than me.

Swartzy

Please allow me..
Pyro.....let me give you my observations as a photographer, commenting on this particular shot photographically speaking. Forget all the other associations momentarily.

Here's what I see (as looking at it the first time without reading comments)

1st thought: "What is it"?
2nd: Look's like a guy in his apartment with a moving box on the left and he's holding something (that I can't quite make out) like a baseball bat....hmmm....what is he holding?

So, I read some...and it's a sword? Well look at his eyelid....there is no intensity suggesting that he's got a sword. The pose doesn't give me the sense of an impending strike....you might want to get rid of the moving carton too.

Good concept....I would preferrence a bit different pose and backgound. Something that when looking at it, we say, wow...now that's intense.