The best soccer player for all the times

A good portrait. I especially like the different colors and tones. Even the bit of green near the top. Nice folder too.

Paulo, parabéns por colocar dois brasileiros na photo of the week! Suas fotos são excelentes! Coisa não tão fácil de achar por aqui...

Abraços

For someone who earns £14 million a year, Pelé is remarkably down to earth. I met him at Guarulhos International Airport in São Paulo a couple of years ago. He was on his own, wearing a big coat and low hat and, amazingly, nobody recognised him. I should have left him alone, I guess, but I couldn't resist. Very pleasant guy to chat with, and not at all stuck up. He even laughed heartily when I suggested George Best would have run rings around him (of course I don't believe that, even though I'm from Northern Ireland myself). I hadn't got a camera on me at the time, but I'm sure he would have let me snap a pic.

 

The photograph itself though... there is undeniably something good about it. It does indeed elevate Pelé above the rest, the mundane. I'm quite happy with the colours, but I do feel it would have benefited from greater depth of field. If you blow this up any larger at all the soft nose would become a real distraction. And I think this would have worked great at a large size.

 

Your portfolio is incredibly encompassing, within its borders. Obviously you live the life of a true photographer. It forms a very solid base. However, isn't this the Brazil that everyone already knows, more or less? If I were to present Brazil to an international viewership, I would photograph, yes the homeless and the MST, yes the fervour and life of its people, yes the cattle ranches, yes the city architecture. But I would also try to capture the 2:1 ratio of people to vehicles in São Paulo. The wealthy people with half a dozen servants bringing them cups of water at their command. The emerging middle class which is steadily becoming the driving force in Brazilian culture and politics. The vida boa of sun, beach football, pretty girls and no work. The sadness of the whole Americanisation of the business world. The way the politicians screw the people (your Is this home? picture is a good start, but it needs an explanation, and more than a translation of the text, to make any sense to non-Brazilians).

 

But your portfolio is nevertheless an inspiration for any photographer, regardless of their personal area of work. Dedication and true passion shine through. There is so much that people just won't understand though, without understanding more of the country. I think the portfolio could be so much stronger if you found a way to convey that real information... But I sure wouldn't know how to.

 

How I love that country... Já estou morrendo de saudades!

Congratulations on a different aspect of an international Icon.Parabens Paulo. Acho que voçe captou um momento de uma forma memoravél. Creio que este photo é muito forte, a unica problema é que parece que comunica um certo sensação de que Pele aqui é brabo e/ou rabugento. Talvez este ultimo observação seja na realidade um complimento pois retrata um outro lado de um icon Brasileiro e internacional. Alex de Foz do Iguaçu.

É muito bom saber que o trabalho que você faz com tanto empenho e dedicação está sendo reconhecido. Eu que acompanho tudo desde o início, sei o quanto isso é importante para você. Você é muito especial e merece tudo o que há de melhor!!! Parabéns e Muito Sucesso!!! Beijos... Roberta

That about says it all for me!

(edited)As for the shot...I think it's a very strong image, and really shows the character of the man. The supposed lack of depth-of-field isn't distracting at all to me. Some folks have mentioned the green cast at the top...that's the only drawback I can see. Otherwise, I think it's a striking shot.

I like this shot, but certainly don't think it's the best shot available, not even the best of the folder. Subjectivity is part of any art...it's just a shame that people with different points of view have to always butt heads out here.

I think there are lots of better photos on Paulo's portfolio. Yes, Pele's expression is strong, although he is a lovely person. If you know him you will look at this expression as the expression of a winner, not of anger. Yes that's a positive side of the photo, but still not a POW in my opinion.

In perusing the recent POW list from weeks past, I have seen far more striking portraits than this one. This picture has harsh lighting, bad DOF and poor composition. It has captured no expression, no character, no feeling and it tells no story.

 

It is disappointing that whereas Pele the man stands out in a crowd, this photo of him does not stand out as a powerful photo. If it was chosen for POW only because of the celebrity status of the greatest soccer player in the world, it was a mistake. This photograph is unremarkable, and would be effective for a mug shot or a yearbook photo only.

 

But at least it wasn't photoshopped.

"This is just one image from an eclectic portfolio depicting everyday life in Brazil." Yeah right. Where is the everyday life in this photo? It was chosen as POW only because it is Pele´s portrait, and World Cup is so near. I do not like this photo. Chin is too much in the shadow, nose and eyes area are too bright, skin is greasy, background is a black void, reminds me of Benetton photos. Bad choice for POW. There should be many better soccer photos around.

I'm sorry, I think this shot falls short of the POW's perhaps over-proud claim of "a fine example of a good composition, and of course, why photography was invented in the first place."

 

Even if the subject's a famous athlete, and the photographer has much better work at hand, this isn't it. Let me tread carefully through some of the issues:

 

The pose is unrevealing. If I hadn't been told this was a significant person, he could have been Barney Phlebeetz from Gary, IN, for all this reveals.

 

Technical errors - lost shadow detail cries out to be filled in - it doesn't make the picture look "arty", merely underexposed.

 

No portrait photographer I know would let so much skin sheen out of the studio. Nor would I expect the plane of focus to be the right cheek rather than the right eye.

 

The splotch of green coloring doesn't help me. Is he at a rock concert? Why then so much fill flash? I'd fix with masking and color balance sliders in PS.

 

I'll stop there - wouldn't want to run afoul of the strictures about repeating what others have said, nor comment on the multiple, redundant statements of fulsome praise.

 

Paulo, some of your portfolio, such as photo_id=577058, and photo_id=577059, are really fine, and I'm glad to have the opportunity to enjoy them.

Please follow the posting guidelines. Postings should relate to the photograph, the more specific the better. Comments in the vein of "Congratulations", "Excellent", "This stinks", or "Why was this selected?" don't move the discussion forward.

I don't see how this picture got to be photo of the week. I have seen (and, actually, met and did a commercial with Pele for Bancomer and MasterCard in 1996) tons of much better pictures of Pele.

This photo doesn't bring any insight into the person. Pele is not only the best player ever, he is a very intelligent and shrewd businessman, a committed teacher and a warm human being (ask all the kitchen staff at the Nikko in Mexico, where he took an extra five minutes to say hi to them, leaving a bunch of bankers waiting).

Marcelo,

By giving this photo a 1-1 you are saying that there is no photo in the world worse that this? I have seen some photos that were far less pleasing to the eye and many that were much less original. But I guess you have not and this is as bad as it gets. Everyone is entitled to their opinion.

I assume the lighting was intended to mimic the patina found on a bronze scultpure -- I'll give the photographer credit for an interesting idea -- but other than that, I find very little of merit here. Original, perhaps, but definitely not to my taste...

Well I don't want to be as quick to judge as some others.

The idea here is fine, a strong profile of an athelete can often present strength and an abstact perspective in which to consider the subject. Remember Ali's fist on the cover of the Sunday Times?

 

Now, for starters, I think the aperture selected is too wide, wide apertures work well from the front, but once you decide on a profile then, I believe, you need a crisp outline around the edge of the face, after all if your approach is dramatic, then why go soft in the execution?

 

We don't know the circumstance of this picture.

Sure if you're shooting an ad with a team of people and time alloted to make the picture happen, then you shoot Pele in many different ways, both hard and soft, wide and close up, clothed and naked...etc.

 

But if this was a press conference or a media opportunity, then you have to shuffle with the rest of the pack, either follow their lead or get there first and set the pace.

In these circumstances then I think the picture works fine, though the face should be sharper for my liking.

 

This shot wouldn't look out of place in Newsweek or Time, I've certainly seen worse there.

 

And the lighting sort of reflects the colours of the Brazilian flag, doesn't it?

Maybe the colours should have been more obvious, but of course it's easy to sit back and keep wishing.

 

'Battey has the Ball...it looks like

Photo.net have the advantage.

Oh no! There seems to be some confusion...the Photo.net team are all arguing, oh Red card, and another...four Red Cards, quite extrordinary.

Brazil takes the initiative.

I don't believe it, the Photo.net Goalie is setting up a Tripod. He's photographing Daisies on the pitch!

Nice pic though 10/10!!!'

 

 

 

 

The folder this image comes from is among the strongest portfolios I've seen here. I'm glad I visited it! Outstanding work, and congratulations on POW, Paulo. Chalk me up as one who likes this portait, too. The shallow DOF does not bother me at all.

A classic pose, poorly executed. Would have been much better in B&W, but you can't fix the poor focus so why bother? Weak effort from an otherwise outstanding portfolio. A real pro, however, would not show this photo because of the technical faults.

The focus point and lighting make this feel to me like a picture about Pele's skin, not about Pele. It is certainly a striking capture of a strong and recognizable profile, but, marred by its soft focus and lighting drop-off, I'm afraid it doesn't add to the pantheon of Pele photo's.

 

That being said, the elves picked this as the front page representative of a portfolio, and I must say I'm impressed with the portfolio overall. It shows dedication, passion for the general subject, understanding of lighting, good timing, a range of strong compositions, and a sense of humour. It could be argued that a few of the images aren't up to the folder's standard, but I applaud the photographer for its generally high quality and interest.

 

I'm not sure who Madorna is, Carmela - perhaps you meant Maradonna? I never got to see Pele in his prime, but I know the argument continues to rage (somewhat pointlessly) over best player of all time, and Pele is certainly on the list. At any rate, he's a much better emblem of a Brazil portfolio than Maradonna would be...

 

Enjoy.

... also because Maradona is from Argentina.

 

I was able to get home and see the POW on my monitor. I agree with others about the focus, a deeper DOF would have been better. Nevertheless I think this is a minor defect (well, we should look at a large print to evaluate it). The framing, the lighting and the expression make this shot a classic "celebrative" portrait. A good photo, IMHO, I agree that much better photos are in Paulo's portfolio.

Richard, some approaches to poitraiture probably only work with celebrities. Various interpretations of this photograph have been suggested: celebrity as monument/statue; celebrity portrait as police mug-shot; celebrity head as national flag. I don't know which of these were intended by the photographer, but all of them are interesting.

 

None of them would have the same impact if the subject were not a celebrity. It is perhaps late in the week to begin a discussion about approaches to portraiture, but your comments suggest a view that it should not matter who the subject is, that it should be possible to appraise a portrait from information within the four corners of the photograph, without any independent knowledge of who the person is. That would be quite a controversial view -- do you really want to defend that position?

Brian, Richard's view is not the controversial view, rather, his view seems to be the norm, that this picture, were it not for the celebrity status of the subject, would not have been given a second glance by anyone on photo.net. Interestingly, it did not receive one single comment before it was chosen as POW. That fact alone is evidence that this photo is nothing more than an ordinary snapshot or average-looking mugshot. Richard is right if he suggests that it should not matter who the subject is. Yours, Brian, is the dissenting opinion, other than the soccer fans of Pele, and I would be curious to see how you defend the merits of this rather bland photo.

Charles, you are missing my point. I am well aware that the majority view is that this picture does not warrant selection as POW. What I think is controversial is the view that the merit of a portrait has nothing to do with the identity of the subject. That the only thing relevant about a portrait is that it depicts some generic human being, and that it doesn't really matter who. That this picture can simply be judged as "bad" because of its alleged technical faults.

 

I believe, on the contrary, that it is highly important in general who the subject of a portrait is, and in this photograph, all important. If this were a portrait of my brother-in-law, taken at a Sears portrait studio, no doubt he would be asking for his money back. However, we know that it is a photograph of Pele, and it is one that presents him in an unusual way, a way in which we are not used to seeing celebrities presented. That makes it a good picture, even a brilliant one, although as I stated earlier in the discussion it does have unnecessary technical faults.

That the only thing relevant about a portrait is that it depicts some generic human being, and that it doesn't really matter who.

 

I never said any such thing. You've sort of twisted my statement and came up with your own implication. Just because I said that this portrait, were it not Pele, would not get such attention by no means lead to me saying that a portrait should be only judged by its pure photographic technical merits. A portrait that somehow can take advantage of, and incorporates, the subject and who it is and what he/she represents, can be all that much better. And perhaps the saddest thing is that this one does none of that either. So it's in addition to my point, and can be seen as a lost opportunity.

very nice