Photo of the Week - #30 - 4/11/22

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Due to timezones, I usually see the POTW earlier than most members. So I've learned to wait for other contributions before chiming in. But no one has so far, so I'm kicking off the thread. There's a lot I like about this photo! Especially the tree branches framing the scene and the active posture - suggesting pace - of the subject. I also really like the subtle grey tones of the background.

 

But when all's said and done, it appears to me (for better or worse) as an 'observed scene' from a distance. In other words, I don't really feel much empathy or engagement with the subject.

 

In terms of composition and timing, I would have probably taken exactly the same or a similar shot. In retrospect, a shot that didn't align the subject with the tree in the background might have been a more interesting composition. But I completely understand that in 'street photography' you usually don't have time for an 'ideal composition or timing'.

I might suggest cropping a bit from the right edge. The two existing tree trunks do little to enhance the story.

I might suggest cropping a bit from the right edge.

I was going to suggest cropping from the left edge. The entire tree.

Edited April 12, 2022 by Sanford

I find this cinematic. Movement is suggested in the gait of the man and supported by the rhythm of the fence. In a movie, the camera would be panning along the fence. The gray tones in the background almost feel like they create an operatic scrim leading to a backdrop. The alignment of man and tree is pointed and I like it. I've recently watched a lot of Italian Neo-realist films and they do that kind of stuff all the time. Poor Fellini and Rossellini. They were never told the rules of balanced composition, lol. Instead, this composition emphasizes the wistful feel of the man in the park, inducing a distinct relationship between the man and his surroundings, which seem to me both to recede and intrude in an interesting dynamic. The two main trees and the lamppost provide a diagonal offset to the horizontal of the path and movement of the man. I find it an atmospheric shot, photographed in a way 99/100 other photographers might not. Good for you ...

I like the bowler-type hat. My eyes keep going there. His raincoat also makes him look like a statue for some reason. Maybe the reflections on it. Interesting take. I like it.

I feel like I am seeing a mime in motion frozen in time.

This photo is attractive and still I need to feel it properly.

The format is peculiar, it has an analogue look. The figure with the bowler hat and the umbrella has some kind of Dickensian feel to it. At times I feel as if the figure is frozen, like these bronze statues installed on benches in cities.

Once more, I've found it valuable to view a PotW for a 2nd (or 3rd, ...) time after giving my 1st impressions, None of the comments below detract from my 1st comments or the quality (subject, composition, grey tones, atmosphere, ...) of the photo. But the more closely I look (2nd time around) the more interesting (and intriguing) 'the subject' (and by extension, the photo) becomes!

 

To me, the photo looks like an older photo that has been scanned and digitized. Zoomed in a bit (in my browser) some 'spots' are clearly visible. The photo is relatively small (1000 px across) and zooming in further, the relatively high JPEG compression blocks obscure many of the finer details.

 

There have been a couple of comments on the 'bowler hat', the reflections on the coat, and the 'frozen' look of the subject. The 2nd time around, I wondered whether the subject might have been wearing a leather coat (reflections). I also noticed that his footwear looked pretty 'clunky' for a 'bowler-hatted city worker'. He also seems to be carrying either a shoulder bag or has a stuffed right coat pocket, neither of which is exactly typical for a bowler-hatted city worker! From images on google, bowler hats typically have a wider brim than is shown in the photo. The rims are also unlikely to be brighter than the top of the hat. So his headwear could perhaps be something other than a bowler hat. There's also a mysterious 'white triangle' between the man and what I assumed to be his umbrella.

 

Again, none of this 'forensic analysis' detracts from the photo as a whole! But the (lack of) details does make me curious as to who this man was!

 

I suspect that the relatively small photo size combined with the relatively high JPEG compression both contribute to giving the man a somewhat 'plastic' (='frozen') appearance. I would really like to view a higher resolution scan with much less JPEG compression. Would this change my overall impression of the photo? No. But IHMO details do add to 'the story' for those interested.

 

PS. FWIW, one of my photographic hobbies is digitally restoring scanned images of old, damaged photos. So I often 'zoom in' to check the resolution, level of detail, and the level of JPEG compression of older photos. So my comments are not specific to this one photo!

I was going to suggest cropping from the left edge. The entire tree.

 

Sanford, to me, the tree on the left side anchors the image.

I like the photo as is. It has a sense of mystery as to the unusual clothing that he is wearing and to what he is doing, as evidenced by Robert and others speculations. If he is wearing a safety helmet, it is a vintage one, dating to the 1960's or earlier. Modern safety helmets do not have flat tops or brims. The coat looks like it could be a classic English trench coat, the resolution is not good enough to tell. The street lamp looks quite old. So, perhaps he is a British coal miner trotting off to work in the 1950's?

My first thought when seeing this photo was “timeless”… and some have echoed that sentiment. The bare branches confirm that it is winter- hence, I suppose, the garb of the human subject. This photo does portray a bit of dynamism in the movement of the person and to me, this really makes the shot.

 

I, too, wondered about the trees- especially the one on the left that seems to “frame” the shot. But the vertical lines of the trees imo provide nice counterpoint to the lines of the fences on either side of the walkway and as much as I might like to see the entire lamp post, this doesn’t kill this nice photo for me.

 

My favorite element of the whole shot is there’s just no way to know if this was shot recently or at any time in the past.

The more I study the human figure in this, the more interesting he becomes! He definitely presents an air of mystery- no wonder the shooter shot this pic of him!

I think this is a statue, entertaining piece, but not a living human.

It looks like a piece of history. For that reason given the overall tonality etc. I thought this might have been one of Ricochetrider's.

I realise @Mark Keefer has a similar feeling on the figure that I have, it being a statue and not a human being.

Overall, I don't think that suggesting different compositions makes any sense, this composition is as it is, as the photographer intended it or as it turned out in the end. The trees and anyone of the vertical objects are absolutely essential to the message of this photograph. I may have placed some of them differently, but this is not my picture.

It looks like a piece of history. For that reason given the overall tonality etc. I thought this might have been one of Ricochetrider's.

 

hi Barry,

Thanks but no, it isn’t my photo

I've read the other responses and the man wearing the bowler hat keeps making me wonder whether he's a living person or a statue. Indeed, he reminds me of a statue of Red Auerbach (a long-term coach for the Boston Celtics).

I've read the other responses and the man wearing the bowler hat keeps making me wonder whether he's a living person or a statue. Indeed, he reminds me of a statue of Red Auerbach (a long-term coach for the Boston Celtics).

I use to watch Red Auerbach play poker up in the Catskill Mountains of New York during the summers 65 years ago. It doesn't look like him. No cigar.

I do think it's a statue which to me is only important because it adds a commemorative dimension even though it doesn't have to be to have that quality. By commemorative in this photo, I mean a moment commemorating another moment which if it is a statue it is commemorating another moment???

I use to watch Red Auerbach play poker up in the Catskill Mountains of New York during the summers 65 years ago. It doesn't look like him. No cigar.

 

Alan, the Catskills also meant a lot to me. If you never saw “Old Jews Telling Jokes,” please do so.

Hmmm

Don’t think we’ve gone so long in the Photo of the Week thing without the photographer speaking up?

Looking forward to whomever’s shot this is coming in to tell us more!

OK, so it's my photo. I took it in Hyde Park in London in about 1970, using a Pentax S1a camera and TriX film. I was wandering about with a group of friends when I spotted this guy walking quite fast. I grabbed the shot and when I developed the film and printed I just thought he looked wrong! He appeared to be wearing a tin hat with a chin strap. I was taken with the different tonal greys. I scanned it on a Minolta Elite5400. I'm not an expert in scannin! Thanks for all the comments.