Depressing?

lizzard_nyc · November 25, 2009

Was walking home from the train and heard the song "Oh Susanna" looked up and saw this.
I just found it really depressing...anyone else?

rteest42 · November 25, 2009

lizzard_nyc wrote:

Was walking home from the train and heard the song "Oh Susanna" looked up and saw this.
I just found it really depressing...anyone else?

Not Depressing, per se, but, yeah---something... something not comfortable... and the color really emphasises the 'offness'....I also love the thanks for shopping sign juxtaposed with the beer signs....
Nice shot!

sara505 · November 25, 2009

I think your hearing the music when you saw the scene gave it a context that doesn't quite come through w/o the music.

this is the inherent problem w/wedding dance pics, too, imo: they seem so fun at the time, but later, w/o the music, blah.

black mamba · November 25, 2009

I agree with Sara. I think the combo of music and the scene must have generated the mood for you. I like the shot, though, Liz.....even if it is a little off-kilter.

Take care,

Tom

lizzard_nyc · November 25, 2009

rteest42 wrote:

Not Depressing, per se, but, yeah---something... something not comfortable... and the color really emphasises the 'offness'....I also love the thanks for shopping sign juxtaposed with the beer signs....
Nice shot!

Glad you like the shot. So it's not just me that found it uncomfortable.

lizzard_nyc · November 25, 2009

black mamba wrote:

I agree with Sara. I think the combo of music and the scene must have generated the mood for you. I like the shot, though, Liz.....even if it is a little off-kilter.

Take care,

Tom

Sara and Tom,
I agree that when I looked up when I heard the song, it gave me a a little "you are entering the Twilight Zone" kind of vibe, which is why I took the shot.
I liked the parent there with the child, but that is what added to the blue feeling. A parent putting a couple of quarters out for his kid's entertainment, infront of that harsh neon colored store that sells, beer, cigs and lotto tickets, plus it was cold and damp, just felt melancholoy--but maybe you are right and you just had to be there.

Not looking down my nose at the beer and cigs mind you--it was probably the beer I drank that made the shot tilted:D --

Tom--glad you liked the shot.

Flyinggina · November 25, 2009

Very moody shot. I love the colors and the lighting. I have to agree with others, though, that depressing is not what comes to mind when I look at it. More just slice of life.

It is interesting to me that, even with the cars in the foreground, I have no way of knowing that this was taken in the city versus in the Texas panhandle (for example) - other than knowing where you shoot.

Also, I would love to see a bit more of the people (father child?), although if they are both facing away from the camera (I can't tell about the adult), I don't think it would add much.

I'd straighten it, though.

Virginia

lizzard_nyc · November 25, 2009

Flyinggina wrote:

Very moody shot. I love the colors and the lighting. I have to agree with others, though, that depressing is not what comes to mind when I look at it. More just slice of life.

It is interesting to me that, even with the cars in the foreground, I have no way of knowing that this was taken in the city versus in the Texas panhandle (for example) - other than knowing where you shoot.

Also, I would love to see a bit more of the people (father child?), although if they are both facing away from the camera (I can't tell about the adult), I don't think it would add much.

I'd straighten it, though.

Virginia

Maybe that's just it Virginia--"slice of life" and it can be depressing.
Funny I've been going around my neighborhood taking photographs--My goal is to document my neighborhood and show that NYC is much more than Manhattan--Also lately I've been missing TX, so I thought "what better way to combat the missing TX blues, than to photograph the exact opposite". But I feel like I havent' been capturing the positive aspects but more the "ugly" side of it--I'm sure it's in the eye of the beholder---and this eye is missing TX right now.

I hope it's a passing phase.

bdcolen · November 25, 2009

lizzard_nyc wrote:

Maybe that's just it Virginia--"slice of life" and it can be depressing.
Funny I've been going around my neighborhood taking photographs--My goal is to document my neighborhood and show that NYC is much more than Manhattan--Also lately I've been missing TX, so I thought "what better way to combat the missing TX blues, than to photograph the exact opposite". But I feel like I havent' been capturing the positive aspects but more the "ugly" side of it--I'm sure it's in the eye of the beholder---and this eye is missing TX right now.

I hope it's a passing phase.

Not depressing - Weird. Really interesting weird.

lizzard_nyc · November 25, 2009

bdcolen wrote:

Not depressing - Weird. Really interesting weird.

I can live with weird--specially interesting weird.

rainbow · November 25, 2009

I have come back to this a few times. And I like it. I can see where you get the "depressing?" There is a harshness to the lighting (not just photographically...) that gives the impression of starkness. And yet, even in harsh, tough, stark, etc. settings, people adjust and live their lives. And that is illustrated perfectly by the man/girl/horse in shadows just off to the side.

A powerful, wonderful capture for me.

rteest42 · November 26, 2009

I can see what you mean, its not the ugly side, its the..well, its the way it is for so many, right?...

I guess to me, the fact this appears to be at night, when children should be in bed, and the overall setting--the color, the beer signs, and the thank you, all these together give it a certain melancholy... you expect the ride, the child-like experience (the music you hear) to come with something softer, safer, than a bodega on a street corner in the city...

PMC · November 26, 2009

I really like this! The colours really invite me into the picture, into the shop almost.

Depressing? I don't think so. At the time the picture was taken, the father was being attentive to his daughter. If the father had been leaning against the wall having a smoke, detached from what his daughter was doing, then I think it would have a more melancholy feel.

Anyway, great photo!

lizzard_nyc · November 26, 2009

rainbow wrote:

I have come back to this a few times. And I like it. I can see where you get the "depressing?" There is a harshness to the lighting (not just photographically...) that gives the impression of starkness. And yet, even in harsh, tough, stark, etc. settings, people adjust and live their lives. And that is illustrated perfectly by the man/girl/horse in shadows just off to the side.

A powerful, wonderful capture for me.

Thank you Rainbow.
I took this shot a few days ago and I kept going back to it and felt I had to post it. Glad I did.

lizzard_nyc · November 26, 2009

rteest42 wrote:

I can see what you mean, its not the ugly side, its the..well, its the way it is for so many, right?...

I guess to me, the fact this appears to be at night, when children should be in bed, and the overall setting--the color, the beer signs, and the thank you, all these together give it a certain melancholy... you expect the ride, the child-like experience (the music you hear) to come with something softer, safer, than a bodega on a street corner in the city...

Funny, I've had my kids at one point or another on that same ride and it never bothered me. Must have just been many elements coming together that made me see it in a different way.

That's a very convienent bodega btw:)

Thanks for coming back to comment.

lizzard_nyc · November 26, 2009

PMC wrote:

I really like this! The colours really invite me into the picture, into the shop almost.

Depressing? I don't think so. At the time the picture was taken, the father was being attentive to his daughter. If the father had been leaning against the wall having a smoke, detached from what his daughter was doing, then I think it would have a more melancholy feel.

Anyway, great photo!

Thank you PMC:D .
And welcome to the forum.

I like your take on the shot--

Hope to see some of your shots soon.

rteest42 · November 28, 2009

lizzard_nyc wrote:

Funny, I've had my kids at one point or another on that same ride and it never bothered me. Must have just been many elements coming together that made me see it in a different way.

That's a very convienent bodega btw:)

Thanks for coming back to comment.

See??
It's just the combination that strikes you... if you 'know' the area, and it doesn't have any bad connotations, and you expect the music, because you've heard it before, and all that, it must simply be the combined elements captured that are lending something else to the images story...

Patti · November 29, 2009

I like it. I don't find it depressing although it does remind me of Nicholas Cage wandering the streets of Vegas looking for a bottle. It the light and colours of that mood.

Quincy T · November 29, 2009

This is an awesome shot. It's honestly moving just looking at it. I love the "silhouette" style, and this brings it out in spades.

warpig602 · November 30, 2009

I like it as well. I think you captured an image that will be remembered by that little girl and her dad for a long time. having kids of my own makes me appreciate this shot even more. It creates a very nostalgic feeling for me.

lizzard_nyc · November 30, 2009

Patti wrote:

I like it. I don't find it depressing although it does remind me of Nicholas Cage wandering the streets of Vegas looking for a bottle. It the light and colours of that mood.

Funny you say that--that's one of the most depressing movies ever!

But I think you nailed how I felt.

Thanks for taking the time to comment.

lizzard_nyc · November 30, 2009

Sword and Scales wrote:

This is an awesome shot. It's honestly moving just looking at it. I love the "silhouette" style, and this brings it out in spades.

Thank you:)
I love the response this single shot has garnered.
Everyone that looks at it seems to "get it" in their own way.

lizzard_nyc · November 30, 2009

warpig602 wrote:

I like it as well. I think you captured an image that will be remembered by that little girl and her dad for a long time. having kids of my own makes me appreciate this shot even more. It creates a very nostalgic feeling for me.

Thanks for looking and commenting:)
FYI--I did not know the little girl or her Dad, they were/are unknown entities to me and therefore they will never see the shot.

I think if I knew them I would not have had the initial negative response I had to the shot. I would have felt like you, that it's a sweet moment of a Dad and daughter.

warpig602 · November 30, 2009

lizzard_nyc wrote:

Thanks for looking and commenting:)
FYI--I did not know the little girl or her Dad, they were/are unknown entities to me and therefore they will never see the shot.

I think if I knew them I would not have had the initial negative response I had to the shot. I would have felt like you, that it's a sweet moment of a Dad and daughter.

I assumed you didn't know them, I just know that I remember doing the same thing with my girls. I could see how your initial response would "depressing" as you stated in your original post. Like others have mentioned, without being there it is hard to guage the mood. On the plus side even though people dont view it the same as you it still stirs some sort of emotion in them.

Depressing?

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