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Photo of the Week - #2 - 9/27/21


samstevens

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  • Photo of the Week is a member-run feature.
  • The photo is randomly chosen from a pool of submitted photos.
  • It is posted anonymously. If photographers wish, they may identify themselves in a comment.
  • This is not my photo.
  • Comment on and discuss the photo or any aspect of it in whatever way you choose.
  • If you wish to submit a photo, please PM me with either an embedded photo or a link to one. Include a title if you want one to appear. It will go into the pool and eventually be posted anonymously as a Photo of the Week.

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1666306_b20445d95ed7312da752d11079c9db14.thumb.JPG.acdc52985eaca91fbff7c5e218690995.JPG

Edited by samstevens
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"You talkin' to me?"

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I'll repeat here what I wrote when I originally saw this photo in another thread ...

 

I'm intrigued by your photo, the lit doll, casting an involving shadow, all happening outside the confines of what I take to be a picture frame. Nice work with artificiality in layers.

"You talkin' to me?"

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It does nothing much for me. Part of the reason is that the shadow is too far displaced and is running off the edge of the picture, so it looks like an afterthought, which it may well have been. The weird doll is quite interesting as an artifact, but is not very interesting to me as a photograph.
Robin Smith
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I thought we already have a phot critique forum why this? Regardless, in the sprit of cooperation , I will join in, however, I would like to know the level of experience the photographer has, and what they are trying to achieve with their personal vision of photography. Obviously, this is not going happen at this time so I will go in blind.

 

The photograph works for me.

 

It captures my imagination, and asks questions . The stillness, and shadows are provoking, and a feel there's a asking a question.......Why?

Edited by Allen Herbert
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I would like to know the level of experience the photographer has, and what they are trying to achieve with their personal vision of photography.

 

I think the idea is simply to look at the photo in isolation, not to understand the life story of the photographer, nor indeed why she/he took the shot, which is just as well as we probably don't know anyway.

Robin Smith
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For me, the idea is everyone doing what they want, including asking questions of the photographer. The photographer, of course, is free to answer or decline to answer or simply not respond. Some photos might stimulate thoughts of a wider context. Some won’t. Some people will wonder and ask about wider contexts. Others won’t.

"You talkin' to me?"

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I thought we already have a photo critique forum why this?

. . . the idea is everyone doing what they want, including asking questions of the photographer.

 

For the information of Members:

 

A predicate of this Member initiated weekly conversation is to allow wide freedom and scope to respondents’ commentaries. This is why the weekly thread is begun in "Casual Photo Conversations Forum". Doing so allows the widest scope of responses and questions within the most flexible moderation guidelines.

 

Placing one's image in the "Seeking Critique Forum" invites a more focussed response. There is a Sticky at the top of "Seeking Critique Forum" explaining that forum’s purpose.

 

Similarly there is a Sticky at the top of "Casual Photo Conversations Forum" explaining that forum’s purpose, additionally there is a Sticky explaining the “Photo of the Week” thread.

 

William

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I have to agree with Robin, insofar as I think there's too much separation between the doll and shadows. Maybe just bringing the camera a little closer to the doll would've closed up the gap?

 

It also looks like the subject isn't going anywhere in a hurry and could stand a whole series of shots being taken. Trying different angles, distances and perspectives. Personally, I don't think the full potential of this subject has been achieved.

 

Not that I don't like what's there. I just think it could be tightened up and have even greater impact.

 

And many times Barnack's choice of overlong rectangle really screws up a suitable compositional decision.

Edited by rodeo_joe|1
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I find the amorphousness and discontinuity of the shadow gives my imagination room to wander and is also less immediately clarifying, therefore somewhat challenging and provoking a less defined and expected reaction. This is not a Fritz Lang, Nosferatu moment, where the monster's shadow creeps up the staircase alongside him, larger than life. There is an almost disembodied character to the shadow. I think that main relationship/non-relationship works nicely with the suggestion of the picture frame, which isn't actually framing anything per se but may be hinting at something, something I don't feel the need to specify to myself or guess at.

"You talkin' to me?"

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This is not a Fritz Lang, Nosferatu moment, where the monster's shadow creeps up the staircase alongside him, larger than life.

It isn't?

Looks totally melodramatic to me.

You can stare at a blank sheet of paper and find some meaning in it, but in the end it's just a blank sheet of paper.... or blank area of shadow.

 

For me, this picture is like looking at a dark game of tennis; with my eye darting from doll to shadow and back. Not a very contemplative experience.

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It isn't?

That’s right. It isn’t (a Lang moment, at least in the sense I was talking about). It may be melodramatic but, visually and graphically speaking, it uses a less articulated and less connected shadow effect than Lang typically uses. That different visual articulation gives me a less threatening and more strange/curious sense of melodrama or visual intrigue.

You can stare at a blank sheet of paper and find some meaning in it, but in the end it's just a blank sheet of paper.... or blank area of shadow.

Some space can feel wasted for sure. Other space functions as negative space and is anything but a waste or lacking in meaning (or purpose). As I said, I’m also influenced in how the whole thing strikes me by the picture frame and how it makes me feel about the other elements in the photo.

"You talkin' to me?"

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Interesting and informative comments on this photo that I took during the week that the precursor to this thread was posted in No Words. The light on the figure is what initially captured my attention, and the interplay of the other elements enhanced the overall feel to me. Minimal pp, including some intentional cropping, was done.

 

Look forward to following this thread as it evolves.

 

PS Nice find on the wolf's head inoneeye, I hadn't noticed it.

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Just taking the image by itself, I really find it surreal. Is the figure a friend of Chucky? Or part of a weird collection? Does it have a life? The shadow play and the lighting just add to the mystery. I have no idea what the photographer intends, but I like how evocative it is, at least to me. William I believe suggested Hitchcock, and yeah I can see that.
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I like how having the doll on one side of the image and its shadow on the other side, with featureless shadow in the middle, forces your focus to switch back and forth, thus giving the image a dynamic quality of an otherwise static scene. So, I guess that I like the photo for the same reason that Rodeo Joe would like it to be more contemplative.
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IMO this is kinda great. I like the light and I like the figure. Everything else adds up well- including the "big bad woff"-ish shadow seemingly about to eat the shadow of the figure? I like all the other elements- the lack of anything else that's really tangible is superb. The shadow play is really nice- that is to say that one bit feels good. To me, the best thing about this photo is the color of the figure and the total lack of color anywhere else. This could easily be a monochrome photograph- if not for the figure/doll. All in all, well seen- however imperfect or amorphous.

Kudos to whomever. Nice shooting.

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