The Lady Takes a Sailor

This is a great setup and execution. And its fun to look at. The whole series is fabulous.

Nice shot -- well thought through and original...

Dmitry! Excellent work!

This image has been selected for discussion. It is not necessarily the "best" picture the Elves have seen this week, nor is it a contest. It is simply an image that the Elves found interesting and worthy of discussion. Discussion of photo.net policy, including the choice of Photograph of the Week should not take place here, but in the Site Feedback forum.

Before writing a contribution to this thread, please consider our reason for having this forum. We have this forum because future visitors might be interested in learning more about the pictures. They browsed the gallery, found a few striking images and want to know things like why is it a good picture, why does it work? Or, indeed, why doesn't it work, or how could it be improved?

So, when contributing to this thread, please keep the above in mind. Address the strengths, the shortcomings of the image. It's not good enough to like it, you should spend some time trying to put into words why that is the case. Equally so if you don't like it, or if you can't quite make up your mind.

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Thank you and enjoy!

I love the tones and tonality, the juxtaposition of vintage and not-so vintage. A more subtle edge burn would make this image even more appealing.

Very good exposure,composition, & tone. Reminds me of good old days,and the tone suits admirably with the bygone days. This image was shot in the noon,not a very good time time to shoot. But the end result is very good. Dimitry has imagination and made full use of it. But I could not appreciate the vignetting.

I like the styling of the photo. It's a nice setup. The problem is with the photo itself. There is

no interaction between the sailor and the woman, which makes the photo look staged. This

lack of interaction makes everything in the photo look like props. The car has no driver and

looks to obviously "parked" in the shot. The lady is looking towards the camera instead of

directing her attention to the sailor. And the sailor isn't looking at anything. And what's he

carrying? So, the clothes, car setting etc., are all fine. But the shot doesn't work because it

doesn't tie all these elements together.

The photo looks staged and unrealistic, someones fantasy...the hairstyle of the woman fits the 90's not the 40's. The photo has nice tones but the nostalgic idea is flawed as is the composition. If the wind was blowing that hard to lift up her skirt then it should affect on his uniform also.

Uhm...Am I the only one who does not get why this photo is so well loved? This photo does not stand alone. It is not visually impactive and it leaves me full of questions. What is going on, was this staged, what do any of these people have to do with each other, what the hell is the woman doing and why, why is there a woody there, and what does it have to do with anything, what does the title/caption have to do with anything? Why is it interesting to so many people?

I concured with what Keith has said. I don't quite get it either, it must be me.

The other thing is, I am a tad disturb by the shadow cast on the sailor's shoulder. It appears to me as though his shoulder was kinda "cropped" off.

I am also not too sure of darkening the borders either.....

- steve

The uplifted skirt is like the old classical Marilyn Monroe shot.

I like all the retro photos in the portfolio. All technically superb and astutely put together. However, as other's have mentioned, the static symmetry and over-separation of the three subjects make this one about my least favorite of all the otherwise well-composed images. Is the sailor's apparent hand gesture intentional? It adds a subtle twist to the 'story' of the photo.

Nice. Certainly do NOT agree with complaints/critiques of the "staginess" of the scene. The fantasy aspect (as mentioned by Michael) is intrinsic to the appeal of the photo, and should be embraced, not rejected.

At first, this reminded me of Hugh Syme's concept for the cover of the Canadian rock trio's album, "Permanent Waves". It's got that similar '40s feel to it. Of course, the subject is quite different (that photo, the woman is walking toward you as hurricane and waves crash on beach and lift her skirt). But the woman has that same "I'm beauitful and oblivious" look to her. And that's my main problem with this photo... she doesn't look seductive, she looks more pretty and oblivious.

 

Keep in mind that when people really get picky (like I am) in their critiques, it's usually because the photo really is better than most. We just tend to feel we have to pick it apart more, as a result. ;)

 

To continue, the sailor actually DOES appear to be looking at the woman, if you zoom into the larger image you will see this is true. It's just hard to tell in the smaller version...

 

 

The quality of the photo is excellent, and perhaps this is what kind of makes me not like the technical implementation even though it's superb by modern day standards. It looks digital... it looks too perfect. It should look like film if it's going to be a nostalgic (spellig?) photo, in my humble opinion.

 

Aesthetics: 6 (because of technical), Originality: 10, Technical: 9

the photographer has a number of photographs in his portfolio much more interesting, believable, and to my mind better story-telling images. This one is not one of the believable ones. It didn't happen, couldn't have happened and looks unbelievable.

 

I don't believe the image fits together well -- The subject is spread across the too wide of a range to feel comfortably as all one subject. The more I look at it the less severe that problem becomes, but initially it looked like a jumble of images rather than one single thought. Compositionally, if one or more of the two people were to be placed partially infront of the vehicle it would tie them into the story better and improve the scene.

 

Again, as with last weeks image, I can see no way of improving the picture by cropping, so I should probably just leave it alone. I guess instead of cropping, I would like to pull the parts together more.

 

Willie the Cropper

To me, this one has all the elements to be a great shot, but it is so self conscious in it's

execution. There is nothing about it that does not scream "set up". Even in commercial

work we strive to make things look real. In fact, looking through the group of "vintage"

work, I am jealous of the settings and the wardrobe etc, but it is too bad it was wasted by

being underperformed and under directed. The photos just don't make any connections

within themselves. It is a fine line, but these are all on the wrong side.

 

Reading Dmitry's statement on his web site, I understand the cinema versus photography

angle, but these feel more like a bunch of self absorbed theatrical actors who are more

interested in their photo being made than in making a photo. Unfortunately, the

responsibility for the failure is not theirs, but the photographers.

 

I would luv that car tho!

Why is it that people on this site will continually try to find a flaw in someones work. Obviously, Demitry was trying to capture a moment in time that all of us can appreciate. Who cares if it was staged or not; a lot of photographs are stage. It should not matter when they are and when they are not. People grow up and stop raining on this mans parade. Demitry as a said earlier, congrads on a GREAT photo. The elves made the right choice for this week photo.

Troy White

This is a very interesting photo in some ways. It certainly catches the viewer's attention and makes one look closely at it. It seems out of kilter and surreal to me. The composition is rather disjointed, as if the girl is lookng over her shoulder at someone or something and the car is bearing down on her. The sailor seems detached from the scene, as if he is oblivious to both the car and the girl.

 

While the elements, car, girl and sailor are loosely tied together in the narrow sense that they are all on a pier and all in the same scene, they are not really interacting or relating to one another. This is why I say this photo has a dream like or surreal quality. The sailor is in his summer whites, the girl in her sun dress and the car (with an unseen driver) appears to be driving past the sailor and toward the girl. Hmmmm, I like the photo, but find rather too 'arty' for my taste in some ways. Still, I would be pleased if I had taken it. The title would be more apt as "The Lady ignores a Sailor," however.

I like the tones, it has that selenium look to it that I always liked. The model has nice legs too.

But the art side of it is just cheesy to me. Right up there with dogs playing poker.

I like this image!

 

This photograph draws on the strength of some notably famous images. Thoughts that this image immediately evokes are of Marilyn Monroe in "Some Like it Hot", Eisenstadt's sailor kissing the nurse in Times Square and vintage "See the USA in your Chevrolet" print ads.

 

Technically, the image is well executed. I like the vignetting effect. I would like the composition better if the girl were to the viewer's left of the car (it would give more of a thumbing-a-ride feel); still, even as presented, the composition is very strong. I, too, would have preferred to see the driver in the car.

 

I think the philosophical discussions of social propriety and racial mores of the bygone era are not really relevant to an image recently created. I choose to identify and learn from the problems of the past, then to assuage those issues by not incorporating old mistakes and predjudices into modern decisions and creative works. The past is best left there.

 

In this image, the photographer presents the gold ol' days in a light that is more inclusionary than historical fact would support. He used his artist's vision, and the creative license that comes with that, to depict a different time and place in a way that he would best like to imagine it to have been. The intent of this photo in no way seems to be an attempt to document how American society actually was in the 1940's.

 

Kudos to the photographer for seeing beyond the common vision. Sometimes, even hindsight ain't 20/20.

 

Great POW selection!

 

Michael J Hoffman

This is beautifully done, as are many in your portfolio. I particularly like the retro look and the very nice composition and clean contrasts on this one. It is a very clear-looking photo, and the whites on both subjects just set it off.

 

--Lannie

Instead of burning in the edges, dodging them out may have given a more old time 620 camera look to it. Old photos from cheaper cameras usually had a bit of flare around the edges. But, I think it does look better with the darker edges. Routinely, I would always give a bit of edge burning to a print in the darkroom, not enough to be readily apparent, just a few seconds on the outer inch or so to lock the eyes into the print.

I think this is a bit different from the usual photo of the week. It has impact because it has a story but one that is different to each viewer, much like a psychiatric Thematic Apperception test, one in which people are shown a black and white picture of people in circumstances that elicit responses having psychological overtones.

I'll join those who commented that they don't "get" this one, along with those who find it awkwardly staged. What is supposed to be happening in the photo? It's unclear where or why the lady is walking (to an empty car parked at the end of a naval pier?), what she's looking at (neither car, sailor, nor camera), and what the sailor is doing (Walking where? Carrying what? Looking at what?). I see no real unity or interaction between the elements of the picture, no coherent story. Technically, it's been shot in very harsh light, causing deep shadows on both actors' faces, and the heavy-handed vignetting pulls the eye away from the content of the picture and to the border -- just the opposite of its intended function.

 

She sure has stunning legs, though. And I think the clean, digital B&W and the toning do produce an appealing retro feel.

I like it...fun,playful and nice tones. My only wonder is this..where is the driver since the car looks as if it is moving along.

First of all, thanks moderators for their choice.

 

Nice feedback, point taken. I really enjoy reading all the comments, no exceptions.

 

Most of the time I want my darkroommanipulations to be invisible, so I have to admit that "vignette" was poorly executed here. I will definitely correct this eventually, but when did a photograph become about how you made it and not what you see?

 

And I completely disagree with this: "here is no interaction between the sailor and the woman". Well... I do not want to argue.

Actually, all of these pictures are suppose to leave some room for imagination.

 

P.S. "The Lady Takes a Sailor" is just a 50's movie title.