We will always have Paris...

Hi JS, congrats on your first POW! A recognition that is long overdue, but never too late. This photo is a good example of your excellent portrait works which are uniquely graceful and narrative -- there always seems to be a story behind your image. I'm guessing this sepia version is also your favorite in this series, just not sure if it's your personal favorite work so far though. It looks like a scene from a movie (like many of your other works). Great tones, mood and atmosphere. She seems to have cried although we can't see the tears. No, the birds don't distract me. Not only do they add to the atmosphere, they also help with the composition. My eyes are first drawn to her sad eyes, which lead me to the birds, then my mind is all in Paris ...

Interesting composition, great pose, love the tone.

I like it a lot. But the tones seem off.

 

She's noticing the birds are flying away (consider the title).

 

But the tones make this threatening, which is a mistake: She's relieved that her Summer boyfriend has finally gone home, has told him "we had a good time, and now it's (whew) over"...she should be in pastels, pink cheeked in Winter. The recently former boyfriend is the one who might want the heavy tones :-)

Congrats on the POW to a great photographer. I've admired your portfolio for a long time (what a diverse collection of styles) and this is long overdue.

 

This is a great photo. First, my compliments on a great model, who is styled well and lit well. I think that the look of the model (whether done by you or her) is an often neglected part of photography. Her clothes really suit the mood here. You also caught a great expression. It seems that everybody is so focused on the birds that they are ignoring what a great job you did with the basic photograph.

 

As far as the birds ... love 'em. Just the right amount and detail. It would have been easy to overdo.

 

I guess my only real gripe is the out of focus background wall. It seems like the wall is in focus up to the model and out of focus immediately after her. It's too abrupt a transition. It might have worked for me if it had ben gradual, but that would have left part of the model out of focus.

 

As a final note, I normally hate titles that tell me what to think; I prefer to interpet a photo on my own. However, there is so much depth here and this such a personal work, the title also seems to work.

 

Great job.

What I like about this photo is how well it is put together (not speaking digitally here).

First, the choice of tone. Like a deeply selenium toned B/W print that just adds so much

depth to the image. Everything leads the eye to the young lady. the wall from the right

corner and the birds even point to her. The dark left side allows her to emerge the

unchallenged subject of the photo.

 

For me, I see no conflict in the basic depth of field of the image. Seems to be appropriate

for a wide open shot and I wouldn't expect the background(stone wall and structure) to be

in focus

on such a shot. In fact, the out of focus wall in the foreground (which works well in tone

and focus) really tells the model's precarious placement in the focal plane. It was

the birds in the photo that really made this photo for me. They are just such a nice touch

and seem to elevate this photo beyond just another portrait. They aren't "focussed" right

for the depth of field of the image, however, I have a feeling that only photographers

would notice--maybe they just flew into focus?!?

 

In viewing the presenter's portfolio, of the people photos, this one just stands out for me.

This just seems so unselfconscious compared to many and has the feeling of being a real

moment, not a pose or a set up. Much less predictable as to overall feel and expression in

the model.

Funny how many uf us dissect the picture with technical ooze and forget that a picture just works or not. This one do. It is a fact that PS treatment is a must for 99% of the works that get published (pics that are done to sell)... if the industry went in that direction we have the choice to adapt. We have the choice to go back too daguerrotypes ...

Whatever...

Great job, Monzani.

Even if there are less details in the background I think that is a fantastic picture with a great expression and a very good tone.

Wonderfully atmospheric photograph, very enigmatic. La fille, elle semble vraiment Parisienne.

Jean Sebastien Monzani, or "Jean-Se" has always produced a very interesting work. His photographic world is walk around the border between reality and imagination. This is always a pure moment of poetry. And Jean-Se seems to be, in my point of view, one of the best photographer of the old continent...Regards

A very beautiful shot, very well composed, with a great atmosphere. Lovely tones

Great tones and expression ... but what makes the shot, IMO, is a sort of symbolic representation of the unconscious of the model ... her body is there, but her mind and her thoughts go from the closed space (left) to the open spaces (right), where she can fly with the birds, escaping from reality. This feeling is enforced by the position of the model, in the middle between the two half of the frame, the eyes, turned to the right, and the birds line, following, or preceding, her look to the right.

 

Congratulation, wonderful shot.

Alberto

Elegant, well composed, timeless. Very deserving of POW

Ah, it takes me back 50 years or more to when I left Paris. Great composition and you did an outstanding bit of work with the overcast sky. I like the birds too. The name you've given the photograph is wonderful. I'm not keen on that type of border, but it works well with this image. I sit back and look at this picture and dream of what once was.

This is a great piece of Art. I read over your Bio and am now wondering how much of this photo is original and how much is computer composed?

Perfect, as usual. I do not how you manage to "catch" outdoor light as you do! In the day or at night, it is always wonderful!

I simply can't get past the fact that it just doesn't "look" right. Perhaps, as mentioned above, it is only something noticed by photographers, but I can't get past it.

 

I want it to be more seamless, less cut-and-paste. I'm not fooled in the way I need to to be able to appreciate this.

I'd like to see a version without the birds.

 

If not because the Depth of Field is off because they don't add anything to the image or the story. Why add an element that looks wrong if it is just a background detail?

 

The rest of it is great, the rest of the Depth of Field is great. I think people may be a bit thrown off because we've gotten used to seeing images with more depth of field at short focal lengths due to using cropped cameras.

 

I like the tone as well, very nice. The frame looks to me like an old print with frayed edges.

I like pretty much everything except for the high, thick railing the girl is leaning on. It's somewhat awkward in the composition and my eye wants to see more of what's behind it. But that's what the photographer had to work with (lower or higher vantage point wouldn't have helped). So, very nice photo, but with delicate girl on the left and a heavy railing on the right. -Greg-

This definitely is a great shot, but I was wondering if this picture would have the same effect had there been a different girl, a "different beauty" or even a man.

Surely this is one of the better pictures to have graced this forum.

 

Jean-Sebastien, I think that you have captured a speical mood with a beautiful image that shows both near-perfect composition as well as great tones. I do not think that the shopped-in birds (whether in-focus or not) detract from the photo in the least.

 

Congratulations on getting this shot and on having it named as Photo of the Week.

 

--Lannie

Beautifuly romantic pic. One of the best POW ever.

The birds seem unreal (surreal), but that's it. Not another ordinary portrait. If you are looking for perfection look at the girl. Lovely model in the beutiful romantic surreal environment.

The only thing what I would like to see done better is the lower right foreground (that railing) which is quite disturbing with that white line. It's quite fighting for attention with the main subject and is also disturbing the otherwise surreal environment.

Once again very nice pic and great portfolio. Regards,

Very nicely done, a very attractive subject done in a vintage style.

 

Knowing that it is digital, there has obviously been some work done, either that or it was shot with an uncoated 1930's lens.

 

Having said that, I don't see anything (the burning-in of the edges to draw the eye to the subject) that would not also have been done with conventional darkroom printing......just don't tell me the clouds and birds were added for effect :)

I actually don't like this picture much at all. Sure it is technically very accomplished....but it says absolutely nothing about the world we live in, means absolutely nothing to me in my life. It could so easily have been produced over 50 years ago, and it takes photography back to an age I am very glad it left.

It has always struck me how some (many??) comments say so very little about the

photograph, but a whole lot about the person making the comment ("this is what I

like; this is what I don't like"). Some are critiques that stimulate thought and ideas

that may benefit the photographer and other viewers, while others are simply

personal statements.

Technically, I find this picture utterly dull...true, it may use the very latest technlogy i.e. photoshop. BUT to what end? It seems to me, to merely to copying/duplicate photographic styles over 50 years old! What's the point?