The accidental subject

Internaut · August 2, 2009

Believe it or not, I spent five nights in Hong Kong in April and did very little street/people photography. Somewhat remiss of me bearing in mind the locals are generally a friendly bunch. Walking down Nathan Road, late on a Sunday afternoon with my longest lens attached the the camera from watching a Kung Fu demonstration in Kowloon Park, I thought I'd take a few snapshots of Nathan Road as it started to light up in the early evening. None were good (just wasn't inspired) but one stood out because it accidentally had a subject. Here he is:

Separated from the rest of the image by little more than an accident of distance, direction, intention and posture (and the fact that like me, he clearly didn't have a care in the world at that point), I actually have a subject in a photo where none were intended. I'm guessing walking home from work (or to work, bearing in mind Hong Kong lives 24/7) but I'll never know.

My reason for posting here? Simple! I wanted to know if others see the image as I see it.......

michswiss · August 2, 2009

Yep. I saw what you meant straight away. I've taken shots like this before, although yours is particularly nice. Lot's of detail to explore and, of course, the subject. I'm glad you had the "one moment" of inspiration.

bdcolen · August 2, 2009

Internaut wrote:

Believe it or not, I spent five nights in Hong Kong in April and did very little street/people photography. Somewhat remiss of me bearing in mind the locals are generally a friendly bunch. Walking down Nathan Road, late on a Sunday afternoon with my longest lens attached the the camera from watching a Kung Fu demonstration in Kowloon Park, I thought I'd take a few snapshots of Nathan Road as it started to light up in the early evening. None were good (just wasn't inspired) but one stood out because it accidentally had a subject. Here he is:

Separated from the rest of the image by little more than an accident of distance, direction, intention and posture (and the fact that like me, he clearly didn't have a care in the world at that point), I actually have a subject in a photo where none were intended. I'm guessing walking home from work (or to work, bearing in mind Hong Kong lives 24/7) but I'll never know.

My reason for posting here? Simple! I wanted to know if others see the image as I see it.......

I'd suggest that there are actually many subjects here, and the one you are pointing to is the least interesting.

But to bring them out, I'd suggest this crop - it gives you the people, their interconnections, their juxtapositions, and their lack of connections, and still gives you lots of signs and street dressing, but brings you much closer in on the various subgroups. Without the crop it takes real lingering over the image to discover that it's an image worth looking at. (You really don't need the Rollex sign, IMHO)

WI think this should remind us that if you're going to shoot meaningfully on the street, you should either get close with a wide lens - which really is the preferable approach, and if you can't bring yourself to shoot that way, get close by using a longer lens. But shooting from the middle distance - or creating images from the middle distance - tends to produce jumbles.

B. D.

Internaut · August 3, 2009

Thanks for the comments and the crop

michswiss wrote:

Yep. I saw what you meant straight away. I've taken shots like this before, although yours is particularly nice. Lot's of detail to explore and, of course, the subject. I'm glad you had the "one moment" of inspiration.

Thanks very much for looking and commenting.

bdcolen wrote:

I'd suggest that there are actually many subjects here, and the one you are pointing to is the least interesting. But to bring them out, I'd suggest this crop - it gives you the people, their interconnections, their juxtapositions, and their lack of connections, and still gives you lots of signs and street dressing, but brings you much closer in on the various subgroups. Without the crop it takes real lingering over the image to discover that it's an image worth looking at. (You really don't need the Rollex sign, IMHO)

WI think this should remind us that if you're going to shoot meaningfully on the street, you should either get close with a wide lens - which really is the preferable approach, and if you can't bring yourself to shoot that way, get close by using a longer lens. But shooting from the middle distance - or creating images from the middle distance - tends to produce jumbles.

B. D.

Thanks very much for demonstrating crop. I didn't think the photo would stand up without that really gaudy Rolex sign (which I had my eye on when I actually took the shot so I guess that was to be the subject) but it actually does quite well without it.

As far as street photography goes, I'd have preferred to have had th 9-18 or 14-42 with me (had the 40-150 with an effective FOV of 80-300).

Gringriff · August 3, 2009

Internaut wrote:

Separated from the rest of the image by little more than an accident of distance, direction, intention and posture (and the fact that like me, he clearly didn't have a care in the world at that point), I actually have a subject in a photo where none were intended. I'm guessing walking home from work (or to work, bearing in mind Hong Kong lives 24/7) but I'll never know.

My reason for posting here? Simple! I wanted to know if others see the image as I see it.......

I like the photo.

I was and am more drawn to the three men (two in white and one in dark suit) talking on the left side behind the bike. I am wondering what are they talking about or what stories they are telling.

Yes I agree it is somewhat busy with a bunch of stuff to take in and I don't mind the Rolex sign. It adds color, but I am still drawn to those three guys on the corner.

cmason · August 3, 2009

I agree with the OP, the Rolex sign and the street background/setting really add to the photo. To me cropping removes the setting and changes the feel.

It might be fun to goof around in Photoshop, perhaps adding some faux motion blur to the other people, further isolating your individual subject, or perhaps adding some lens blur...

pipilio · August 3, 2009

Internaut wrote:

Believe it or not, I spent five nights in Hong Kong in April and did very little street/people photography. Somewhat remiss of me bearing in mind the locals are generally a friendly bunch. Walking down Nathan Road, late on a Sunday afternoon with my longest lens attached the the camera from watching a Kung Fu demonstration in Kowloon Park, I thought I'd take a few snapshots of Nathan Road as it started to light up in the early evening. None were good (just wasn't inspired) but one stood out because it accidentally had a subject. Here he is:

Separated from the rest of the image by little more than an accident of distance, direction, intention and posture (and the fact that like me, he clearly didn't have a care in the world at that point), I actually have a subject in a photo where none were intended. I'm guessing walking home from work (or to work, bearing in mind Hong Kong lives 24/7) but I'll never know.

My reason for posting here? Simple! I wanted to know if others see the image as I see it.......

I haven't figured out how to manipulate the image to illustrate what I see. But I see another picture if it is cropped horizontally at about the level of the top of the basket on the left side of the image and vertically to remove the uninhabited trees on the left but to include the young man pointing out of the image. the image then shows the heads and torsos of the sidewalk crowd being watched over by the watch sign.

Ed911 · August 3, 2009

Respectfully, I disagree. I think the crop kills the image. Look deeper...the image isn't just about the people...it's about the people and where they are...the crop woefully reduces the impact of the ambiance.

The "where" is what makes the people interesting in the first place...it makes me ask, who are these people that live here and what are they doing. So, in this case, I find the location to be very important in understanding the "who" and the "why" when capturing pedestrians at large and their personal interactions. I find the crop too restrictive.

I like it just the way it is...snappy...with wow...an excellent capture.

lgunnz · August 3, 2009

I have to say the crop really does take something away from the image. I can't put my finger on it but the crop just seems...boring. No offense intended, I just prefer the original.

torags · August 3, 2009

I like the paisley of humankind approach here also... Where the pattern brings more to the table than the individual parts.

Some individual clumps can be interesting, it's just a different approach.

Nice work BTW. The quality of the shot is good, which is not always the case here.

Richard · August 3, 2009

lgunnz wrote:

I have to say the crop really does take something away from the image. I can't put my finger on it but the crop just seems...boring. No offense intended, I just prefer the original.

I prefer the original as well. Clearly, we are not in Zurich, which adds a touch of irony. The additional context is a plus IMO.

torags · August 3, 2009

Interesting you said that. I saw the irony in the sign; but only because I was told by the OP it was in Hong Kong.

I didn't get it from the title nor the ethnicity of the people.

Perhaps an example the the text channeling the viewer's mind....

Rags

The accidental subject

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