The saxophonist

A bit of street photography. Horace Greeley Square, New York City, May, 2020. Rolleiflex 3.5E, Kodak Portra 400

 

Good street shot. Could be a little brighter maybe. Seems to have a slight blue cast but that could just be my screen.

Good street shot. Could be a little brighter maybe. Seems to have a slight blue cast but that could just be my screen.

Affirm on the blue cast. Not sure what that was, maybe the film? Thanks

I love the pose and the setting. His skin tone looks nice, so the blue tells me he's in open shade, with a somewhat overcast sky, not that different from what my eye expects to see. I wouldn't show much of the building behind him, cutting off close to above the black band.

I'm a tenor sax player just like the guy in the photo, so maybe I'm biased:).

 

My main feedback is that the sax player - as the main subject - could figure a lot larger in the frame in relation to the background. It depends how important the background is to you. I find the amount of background -especially the colored flowers - detract from the sax player so he looks a bit "lost" in the photo

 

Another observation is that some sax players (and musicians generally) at times play expressively, which shows up in their body language and facial expressions. I don't see any of that in this photo. The cold (since he has gloves on) may well have been a factor. His posture is 'passive' - leaning back against the pot with both legs stuck out in front to brace himself. But this is how it was and the photo shows this well.

 

It's an 'unobtrusive' photo in that the sax player is shown in profile and does not seem aware that he's being photographed. That's fine, but you might have got a bit more 'response' from him in the photo if you had more visual interaction with him if you had photographed him from the front.

 

So it depends on how you want to portray the sax player: as a musician (independently from whatever's in the background) or somewhat 'lost' in this photo in a large empty space with no public. Both portrayals are equally valid!

 

If you choose to portray 'the musician', a much tighter crop around his top half would help. You don't even need to show the whole sax. Just the neck and where his hands are.

 

Thanks for sharing the photo!

 

Mike

If this were my image, it would have been converted to b & w.

I'm a tenor sax player just like the guy in the photo, so maybe I'm biased:).

 

My main feedback is that the sax player - as the main subject - could figure a lot larger in the frame in relation to the background. It depends how important the background is to you. I find the amount of background -especially the colored flowers - detract from the sax player so he looks a bit "lost" in the photo

 

Another observation is that some sax players (and musicians generally) at times play expressively, which shows up in their body language and facial expressions. I don't see any of that in this photo. The cold (since he has gloves on) may well have been a factor. His posture is 'passive' - leaning back against the pot with both legs stuck out in front to brace himself. But this is how it was and the photo shows this well.

 

It's an 'unobtrusive' photo in that the sax player is shown in profile and does not seem aware that he's being photographed. That's fine, but you might have got a bit more 'response' from him in the photo if you had more visual interaction with him if you had photographed him from the front.

 

So it depends on how you want to portray the sax player: as a musician (independently from whatever's in the background) or somewhat 'lost' in this photo in a large empty space with no public. Both portrayals are equally valid!

 

If you choose to portray 'the musician', a much tighter crop around his top half would help. You don't even need to show the whole sax. Just the neck and where his hands are.

 

Thanks for sharing the photo!

 

Mike

Thank you all for the feedback!