St. John's Bar

Plaka - Taverna

Carmel, California - Highlands Inn Bar

I'm not quite sure what the purpose of this this thread is. People seem to piling in in with their own photos., But I'll respond anway.

 

@pat_parson; I like the expression of the barmaid. But I found little synergy (composition) between the people in the photo. They seem separate in terms of physical distance and relationship to each other. In terms of composition, I like your 2nd photo more. The two girls form a 'group' sharing something together. I also like the triangular shape of the 'group'. Pity the right girl's face is obscured.

@JDMvW: This photo is a bit vague (a snapshot) but it does capture the mood well.

@samstevens: I love this! It has great composition, movement, interaction and depth. The B/W contrasts are excellent. Congrats!

I'm not quite sure what the purpose of this this thread is. People seem to piling in in with their own photos.,

 

Whenever there is a post in a forum that is not asking for a critique of that photo, and the title violates the "too specific" for anyone else likely to have it (e.g., "my friend joe's backyard dog house"), I always assume that the only way we can go on is to generalize the topic -- as here "A Bar"

@samstevens: I love this! It has great composition, movement, interaction and depth. The B/W contrasts are excellent. Congrats!

Thanks, Mike, for looking and for your response and comments. Always good to hear your thoughts and get a candid reaction.

...............

 

My first instinct when seeing this thread was to run around San Francisco looking for a St. John's Bar to photograph, but then I read JDM's mind and proceeded accordingly. :)

But I found little synergy (composition) between the people in the photo.

As to the OP's first photo, I very much like the couple over on the right. There's a noir-ish or at least cinematic quality to them and they relate to each other beautifully as well relating well to the PATIO sign, the two lights and the black background. While bars can have individuals that don't relate to each other and that may be spread apart, and a photo might well capture that sense of disconnection, I would feel more involved if there were some overarching sense of gestalt. That's likely the synergy you're talking about, which doesn't have to be proximity as much as some visual or thematic connection that suggests cohesiveness.

Leica C

I'm not quite sure what the purpose of this this thread is. People seem to piling in in with their own photos., But I'll respond anway.

 

@pat_parson; I like the expression of the barmaid.

 

She was a customer. The bartender is the neckbeard on the other side of the bar.

 

But I found little synergy (composition) between the people in the photo.

 

Yes. I was struck by the isolation of the woman at the bar, and by her enigmatic expression.

Finn McCoul's - Santa Monica

 

Untitled by Barry Fisher

Plough and Stars - Clemente St. - San Francisco

 

Jack Guilder by Barry Fisher

[ATTACH=full]1331467[/ATTACH]

 

why not crop down, dodge and burn to draw attention to face ?

What strikes me, as a past bar enthusiast (now only occasional visitor) is a certain grimness in a lot of these shots. The mood in the bars and pubs I frequented was different back in the day - they were fun. To an extent, the few I occasionally patronize still are. Wyatt Earp purportedly said something to effect that he liked Saloons because they were "filled with possibilities" maybe that is no longer the case - or maybe it is just the Street & Documentary style.

What strikes me, as a past bar enthusiast (now only occasional visitor) is a certain grimness in a lot of these shots. The mood in the bars and pubs I frequented was different back in the day - they were fun. To an extent, the few I occasionally patronize still are. Wyatt Earp purportedly said something to effect that he liked Saloons because they were "filled with possibilities" maybe that is no longer the case - or maybe it is just the Street & Documentary style.

False news Sandy; the grimness is, IMO, a artifice resulting from photographers trying to boost their egos by focus on negativity. It's not new, tragedy is always a headline, even in the best of times. In real life people still laugh, meet, greet, and socialize in bars. I speak as a 'regular' (weekly) at a local pub near me.

Tragedy is cathartic, often the purpose of art. Tragedy is no more false than is the entire imaginative world of fiction. Of course a lot of ‘art’ is ‘artifice’. That’s why the words share a root.

 

Why did Shakespeare explore the darker side of love? “Ego” would be a pretty incomplete answer.

 

There can be as much or as little ego and as much or as little truth in a pleasant sunset as in a grim bar scene. Tragedy or the grimness to be found in a bar can be but isn’t necessarily a direct representation of what IS but rather a tool of expression. In fact, the child of alcoholics might well use the bar as a more direct representation of something grim and if you stop by some bars just before closing, they can be rather depressing places. At happy hour, likely less so. But a bar can also be used more symbolically.

 

Why is there an entire genre of film noir that often uses drink, bars, and the flashing neon signs and rain-soaked streets that accompany them to convey fear, danger, paranoia, and even sexuality. I mean, after all, rain also causes plants to grow. Why not show that? Because they’re used symbolically and atmospherically. Humphrey Bogart knew you could have fun in a bar just as I’m sure most directors he worked with did. But the fun Bogart and his directors were having when making the films showing the darker and seedier side of bars was in creating their own worlds and inviting audiences in rather than simply living in the reality given them. Projecting grimness can simultaneously serve as an escape from it.

 

In any case, I don’t find this collection as grim as all that. I also see music, movement, conversation, pensiveness, some happiness, etc. As well as questioning why these photos were made one could question how they’re being seen. And all valid questions, btw.

 

Sandy raised a thoughtful question. Mine is just one attempt at an answer.

Edited March 5, 2020 by samstevens

Hudson Bar & Books - New York — Prague — Warsaw Cozy cigar bar w/stogies wines & spirits in a dimly lit clubby space filled with books and this beauty!!! Edited March 20, 2020 by mpressionz

Is that really the strap Canon is supplying with the new Canon R?

why not crop down, dodge and burn to draw attention to face ?

I coulda done that, but I didn’t. Her face drew my eye exactly as it is - a beautiful, elegantly simple element in an otherwise complex textural jumble. I was also struck by the depth & intensity of her gaze, which seems to me to suggest true interest in whatever serious thought she’s processing or discussing. Others who’ve seen it have thought she was looking at her companion, but that’s not what I saw.

 

Thanks for taking the time to look and to comment!

I've never seen a bar I would call "tragic" and don't understand how that made its way into this thread. I've seen "dive bars" and bars I'd describe as maybe "desperate" but tragic? Don't find this to be grim at all. What is grim is that all the bars in my area are closed down. The pubs are where we play tunes and it is tragic that musicians can't get together and play out right now. Everyone is sort of self-isolating. People live streamed St. Patrick's Day concerts and that's how people were hearing the music. Sorry, I'm talking about Irish music.

........ Sorry, I'm talking about Irish music.

Once can be forgiven, but don't push it.....

Signs of progress, building that was ones Catholic school for girls, became bar and finally got converted at strip club:)

Is that really the strap Canon is supplying with the new Canon R?

Ha ha ha... no sir. that’s the cardholder strap that held my registration badge for the PhotoPlus Conference at the Javits center in 2018. The beauty was supplied by the bar along with a flight of bourbon and excellent conversation.