saudade

[inoneeye]

[samstevens]

Longing or melancholy ... a word derived from 'solitude'.

This captures that feeling nicely. It seems personal. The relationship of the vines to the bare treetops is harmonious yet also disruptive, possibly leading to a surreal feeling but, for me, not - instead just a sense of broken continuity. Personal because the soft sky and hazy sun provide an instinctual counterpoint to the grounded, walled, prickly-textured darkness.

[inoneeye]

Thanks Sam. Yes deeply personal and from the gut….  In that context I am curious why you say instinctual counterpoint ? 

right side left side…. Perhaps ironically your comment Sam feeds my intellectual and pragmatic need for looking behind the curtain when I say from the gut. I think sometimes seeded in a critique are words and ideas that get buried in my subconscious. This helps me focus, finesse my instincts/gut when using a visual language. 

[samstevens]

23 minutes ago, inoneeye said:

In that context I am curious why you say instinctual counterpoint ?

Because I think a lot of your work has counterpoints, which don't necessarily feel obvious or determined. There is often a push-pull aspect to your work, whether individual photos, diptychs, or series, where there is an enticement and a repulsion. The repulsion is not so much negative in tone, but can seem like the opposition of two poles of a magnet ... tension, pushing away, struggle. The barrenness of the tree tops in the same sky as the warm, hazy fullness of the sun. The softness of that sky against the thorniness of what's below. The counterpoint doesn't feel mannered or overt. It kind of pulses through the work in an energizing way, even when a photo is speaking in more subdued tones like this one. Repulsion might create distance, but when presented along with what is often an inviting offset, it actually sets up a kind of intimacy, which often has both lighter and more somber qualities wrapped up in each other.

[inoneeye]

When I request a critique it is usually that I am interested in a kitchen table style discussion. Thanks Sam you do have an enviable way with written words. 
Sam your comments often contain seeds that I appreciate. Counterpoint, somber, tension and intimacy are very interesting seed words. It does help me to hear the words others use to discuss my work. I often come up dry mouthed when trying to discuss my work. Even more so then when I discuss someone else’s photos. I rarely discuss my images in the real world but when I do it is a short discussion that is driven by my asking questions of the viewer.  
  The answers given by viewers often lead me to remembering something you introduced in the past here on a PN critique…. very many years ago you suggested the push-pull aspect to my work. That was a lightbulb moment for me. I had in fact been pursuing that opposition of forces but I had never said it aloud or in my head til you pointed it out. It did not change my work at all but It did add nicely to the discussions I had going forward with others. 

Edited May 6, 2023 by inoneeye

[marc_rochkind]

In a way, I suppose this image works -- along the lines suggested by the previous posters. But, for me, the potentially interesting wall with vines is so dark and so lacking in contrast that I can't really appreciate it. Also, I think there might be more going on in the sky that I can see with this processing.

I'm not suggesting an extreme change -- the moodiness still should be there. And I can't say for sure that another way of processing the image would lead to good results. One could tell only by actually doing it.

[inoneeye]

5 hours ago, marc_rochkind said:

In a way, I suppose this image works--

But, for me, the potentially interesting wall with vines is so dark and so lacking in contrast that I can't really appreciate it.

I also noticed that if I were photographing the wall there would be a ways to make it more interesting. 

[samstevens]

44 minutes ago, inoneeye said:

if I were photographing the wall

I appreciate the way you put that. I've often felt, with certain photographers (you being one of them), that I'm not looking at photos of things or subjects. So I think it's pretty significant that you weren't photographing the wall per se. This is where the metaphorical side of photography shines.

[Ricochetrider]

Hmmm for whatever reason, I cannot access this image, Josh. Its the same blank on my ohone and desktop? Clicking on it doesn't help; I get the blank in large scale!  

[inoneeye]

1 hour ago, Ricochetrider said:

Hmmm for whatever reason, I cannot access this image, Josh. Its the same blank on my ohone and desktop? Clicking on it doesn't help; I get the blank in large scale!  

Hi Tom, norman has a blank screenshot of the original image that links to a large blank - by any chance is that the same you are getting? If so I don’t know why.

in any case… view on dark background.

Edited May 7, 2023 by inoneeye

[Ricochetrider]

Hi Josh

sorry for taking so long to answer but yes that’s what I’m getting. 

[Ricochetrider]

This photo, in my perspective, has feelings of growth & movement. The tree on the other side of the wall seems to indicate there’s something beyond, something more. The sun nicely counterbalances the shadowy tones of the wall, and the angle of the shot really instills a strong dynamic vibe. Overall, there’s a nice visual balance to it. I like this photo a lot.
 

Edited May 9, 2023 by Ricochetrider

[inoneeye]

Thanks Marc and Ricochet for leaving comments. 

I thought I had thanked you before Marc but i see now that I did not... sorry but it was appreciated. In fact I thought there might be more responses with feelings similar to what you expressed.
Sam's insights surprised me even though it probably shouldn't have... given how well he knows me and my work. But I thought maybe this one would catch him leaning away bit more. 

 

[Robin Smith]

I can see what you are driving at, I think. It is melancholy because it is dark, rather than because the subject is, but if that and loneliness is the feeling it produces in you then that's great, others may share that view, but not me as it happens and I am a subject to melancholia. I think it is a little dull. 

[inoneeye]

On 6/1/2023 at 2:01 PM, Robin Smith said:

 

I can see what you are driving at, I think. It is melancholy because it is dark, rather than because the subject is,

 

Thanks Robin, I agree, and that was the intent. The subject was chosen as an obscured metaphor for the reason for the melancholy and nostalgic, longing feeling I was experiencing. It was dominating my documentation, represent-ion of my state of mind. When I was pp I lost that feeling if I processed for higher values or more contrast and details. I tried alternatives because intellectually going dark seemed too obvious but I landed with the version that had the feeling I was after.
yet… I think this like many will be revisited someday.

Edited June 3, 2023 by inoneeye