Resting

Richard · December 13, 2009

C&C always welcome.

rutt · December 13, 2009

Excuse me, I couldn't see past the processing issues here to comment, so the first thing I did was this:

OK, are these people related in some way beyond just resting in the same spot? There seems to be no interaction. Perhaps that's the point? But so what?

I see the potential: the woman in the wheelchair looking at the young women in the background. Was she beautiful when she was young? Did she enjoy her youth? And the young sitting woman looking at the woman in the wheelchair with her foot on the wheel. Is this her mother? Grandmother? Is she thinking about her own passing youth? The picture of the flamenco dancer emphasis the power of youth and beauty. But if this is the point of the image, it's too obscured by other elements to have the powerful impact that it could have.

For example, the book and the folio are repeated shapes along a diagonal which draws the viewers' eyes away from the juxtaposition of women. Instead we see the man reading and the older men, centered, doing nothing in particular. These are irrelevant to the theme of women and age and detract from the impact of the image as a whole.

Closer to the two women and keep the seated man out? That would have been better. Here is a square crop version:

This isn't quite ringing the bell either, but it shows how powerful a distraction those two V shapes in the diagonal are. Remove one of them and story of the women emerges with much greater impact.

All in all, I spent an interesting 20 minutes on this, so I have to say it was thought provoking.

Wil Davis · December 13, 2009

I love the composition, but I can't resist thinking about a thought bubble coming out of the girl's head with something along the lines of "…ah! here comes a suitable truck, now just watch this, Grandma!

"

- Wil

sara505 · December 13, 2009

Wil Davis wrote:

I love the composition, but I can't resist thinking about a thought bubble coming out of the girl's head with something along the lines of "…ah! here comes a suitable truck, now just watch this, Grandma! "

- Wil

I was afraid to say anything - but that's all I can think of too - my eye just keeps coming back to that foot on the wheelchair, poised for one good shove.

Glad you said it first, as I was feeling quite evil.

rutt · December 13, 2009

sara505 wrote:

I was afraid to say anything - but that's all I can think of too - my eye just keeps coming back to that foot on the wheelchair, poised for one good shove.

Glad you said it first, as I was feeling quite evil.

Wow could I have looked so hard and missed something so obvious?

sara505 · December 14, 2009

rutt wrote:

Wow could I have looked so hard and missed something so obvious?

Obviously, you don't have a wicked bone in your body.

Richard · December 14, 2009

Interesting analysis, Rutt. I like your PP tweak--though I think I would ultimately prefer something between mine and yours--but I think the crop destroys the composition. I see it as an 'X' centered on the woman's face, and I like the repetition of the v form and the parallels of the legs. TBH, I never paid any attention to the flamenco figure, but FWIW, unlike other forms of dance, flamenco dancers do not have to be young, and typically are not. What caught my eye, and the reason for the shot, was the young woman's foot casually resting on the wheelchair. I must confess that it never occurred to me that she was harboring evil thoughts, but who knows?

bdcolen · December 14, 2009

Richard wrote:

Interesting analysis, Rutt. I like your PP tweak--though I think I would ultimately prefer something between mine and yours--but I think the crop destroys the composition. I see it as an 'X' centered on the woman's face, and I like the repetition of the v form and the parallels of the legs. TBH, I never paid any attention to the flamenco figure, but FWIW, unlike other forms of dance, flamenco dancers do not have to be young, and typically are not. What caught my eye, and the reason for the shot, was the young woman's foot casually resting on the wheelchair. I must confess that it never occurred to me that she was harboring evil thoughts, but who knows?

First, I too prefer a treatment in between Richard's original and Rutt's treatment - I like the added detail on the white legs, but feel the face of the middle woman is now too dark, and I assumed the painting was a bit washed out because that's what the light was doing.

Second, I like the image. I like the three very different people, seated relatively closely together, each in his or her own little world.

Dogdots · December 14, 2009

Wow...I got it all wrong

I saw the three people in the front...lady in the wheel chair, girl behind and the guy reading the book. I noticed that the girl and the guy had earbuds in. Oblivious to anything around them, but the lady in the wheelchair was the one who still was in contact with the world around her as she is the only one not absorbed in something else. As for the paintings -- I didn't even notice them.

And the foot on the wheelchair -- I didn't think the evil thoughts

Richard · December 15, 2009

Dogdots wrote:

Wow...I got it all wrong

I saw the three people in the front...lady in the wheel chair, girl behind and the guy reading the book. I noticed that the girl and the guy had earbuds in. Oblivious to anything around them, but the lady in the wheelchair was the one who still was in contact with the world around her as she is the only one not absorbed in something else. As for the paintings -- I didn't even notice them.

And the foot on the wheelchair -- I didn't think the evil thoughts

Nothing wrong with your take on it, Mary. It's all there in the image.

Thanks for commenting.

Resting

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