Am I getting closer?

TonyCooper · December 14, 2009

Still trying to understand what the group thinks fits in "Street".

I call this one "Evil Eye", but the rather beaten-down expression takes away from the impression of evil.

bdcolen · December 14, 2009

TonyCooper wrote:

Still trying to understand what the group thinks fits in "Street".

I call this one "Evil Eye", but the rather beaten-down expression takes away from the impression of evil.

Tony - I believe the point Richard was making is that these very nice portraits lack context. Street photos usually tell stories in one way or another. They may be humorous, or serious. They tend to tell us something about a slice of our world, preferably something that we might not have thought about before. The best of them reek of ambiguity - which forces us to think long and hard about them.

Go look at the work of Gary Winnogrand, Lee Freidlander, and Helen Levitt

TonyCooper · December 14, 2009

bdcolen wrote:

Tony - I believe the point Richard was making is that these very nice portraits lack context. Street photos usually tell stories in one way or another. They may be humorous, or serious. They tend to tell us something about a slice of our world, preferably something that we might not have thought about before. The best of them reek of ambiguity - which forces us to think long and hard about them.

Go look at the work of Gary Winnogrand, Lee Freidlander, and Helen Levitt

All right. I'll move along to a different forum. I like to capture people's faces; the character and the essence of the subject. I saw this man as a alone in a crowd...part of the stream of people behind him but separate from them because they are out-of-focus. I didn't want him in an environment where he blended in or part of something else. I don't see him as blending in or part of anything. That's the sad part.

I saw my Indian (male) as someone above the crowd gazing out at what only he could see, and the woman as someone who was amused at all about her. I see the person as the story with no need for a stage set.

Thanks for the comments, though. I see now that I'm not doing photography that meets this conception of "street". I guess I'm photographing People, not street scenes.

Richard · December 15, 2009

I wouldn't worry too much about categories. This is an excellent shot.

michswiss · December 15, 2009

Tony,

I think the shot could benefit from a bump in contrast and lifting the black point. As it is, it's a little flat. I noticed that you've used a square crop. I often use the same technique to focus attention on "where the action" is in a composition. It's obvious that the subject is amongst a crowd. I'd be curious what the full frame version of the same image looks like.

rutt · December 15, 2009

Tony, don't let B.D. drive you away. There's a fine line between constructive criticism and a definition of what belongs in this forum. As much as I love him, he has crossed this line before and might not have been careful enough this time. He does have something great to teach, but it's not the only thing, and really not the only thing that makes for good "Street, Documentary, or P.J. Photography." Take it up as a challenge to shoot one that he likes and which works within the guidelines he gives you, and you will have learned something and be glad that you did.

Remember that he can be wrong, even very wrong, in his assessments. So put that aside and just try to play by his rules for a little while.

rutt · December 15, 2009

Oh, and I do like this shot quite a bit. Maybe oversharpened at least at this size. Might work especially well as part of a documentary sequence.

Am I getting closer?

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