Eugene...

bravo Denis!

beatiful shot, wonderful compotition and well done

This is a beautiful composition and needless to say that it overides small weaknesses the picture may have otherwise. I agree the trail in left top

corner (and a small protusion over his right shoulder) are distracting. Somehow the other i could not interpret if he is or not involved in an activity.

Strangly i felt that the man was superimposd.

 

Denis's work for junior students like me is a whole lot of education and i hope i can achieve that stage some day. Compliments.

Somehow, the math is wrong for me. I see this as a totally mathmatical image. A diagonal from corner to corner shows that the exact top of the hat is exactly the mid point in the picture and that is strange. One would expect to see a composition that flows into the picture and this does not -- unless it does it from the bottom upward to that mid point.

 

I had thought upon first looking at it that it was made in a square format camera, but it is not square at all. Yet dividing the image in half side to side and top to bottom (just as does corner to corner both ways) leads one to the exact top of the hat. What's so interesting about that hat? Nothing in my view.

 

Had I taken this photograph, for the sake of composition, I would place the figure of the man considerably higher in the photograph. I think too much has been cropped from the bottom. My other suggestion would be to crop one third of the photograph away from the top, but that doesn't really work as well as I would like either. At any rate, that sky doesn't help to tell me a story.

 

Technically, the picture is good, but not too interesting -- at least to me. Sorry.

 

Willie the Cropper

Hi Denis, BW certainly sets the mood for this pic. Perhaps a few tones darker may have added something more in MHO.

What I take from this photo and what I like most is that through your choice of subject (Eugene, the photographer with the hat), you allow us (the viewers) to take a glimpse of a artist at work, and in turn a glimpse into his inner self. Like an outsider, watching and waiting for the click of his camera to take that perfect shot, I don't find the sky, the water or the jetty distracting, but simply part of his surroundings. It's your subject that is captivating. The remorse, solitude and sadness (described by Jessica A), the music (described by Bill S), the meditation and tranquility (described by Hekate H) may be sensations and concepts of your subject's surroundings which he is attempting to projecting through his lens as, often, we only see what the artist wants us to see.You, on the other hand, are also documenting that moment in time when an artist expresses something beyond his/her surroundings, something such as their inner self. Something that cannot be seen through his lens but certainly through yours. It may be the same thing we all feel whenever we choose to capture a moment in time.

Well done (6/7)

Well, okay, Marc. You might be right about the vapor trail, but it will always look like smoke coming out of his hat to me.

 

The good thing about this selection, apart from the virtues of the immediate image, is that it draws a lot of people to look at a truly inspiring portfolio. Your entire corpus of work is wonderful, Denis. Congratulations.

 

--Lannie

Beautiful picture Denis !!!

Regards

Antoine Soubigou

I am fascinated by the information that can be derived from a photo from even a small detail. I suggest that the picture was taken near an air force base. The contrails are similar to those you see when a fighter jet takes off or when a missile is launched. The trails are dispersed - the jets took off sometime before the photo was snapped. The location could perhaps be narrowed down by the type of boat, the shape of the ragged coast, or whatever the object is out at the end of the breakwater.

 

This is another apsect of what is a fascinating juxtapostion of elements. The small boat hung by sticks - an ancient mode of transport cared for in a way used for milennia, juxtaposed with the contrails of the modern jet. You could go through layers of meaning with the photograph. Those elements that make one uncomfortable, such as the hat being exactly on the diagonal, are important in that they provoke you as any work of art should.

 

Colleen

 

MODERATOR NOTE: Signature links are not allowed in forum posts and this one, along with the last name as signature has been deleted. Notices about this policy have been posted from time to time and some contributors are not aware of this. Colleen - people can click on your name and there they can find your website and email and your first and last name appears as a link when you post - Thanks.

I really think that (expletive deleted) was cool. My favorite thing about photography is improvising. Great angles, good structure, and I really respect the fact of thinking on your toes. I am a beginner but I also know that anything can be turned into art. I want to show people that the ugliest things can be beautiful. And seeing your work makes encouraged me to write you and hopefully you can give me some tips on how I can start my photography career.

 

Gigi

I'm dying to see his face.........

The contrast in it is very beautiful, as well as all the little details in the background, but all in all I'd say I'm much more impressed by

photos of wild animals and that than I am with old men on beaches or whatever this is. This doesn't impress me too much, I prefer macros

or artistic child portraits, but I can't say it's a bad pic, it's sharp and I really like the duotone colors!

Love the shot and for some reason it reminds me of this guy

 

http://photo.net/photodb/photo?photo_id=7036636

 

must be the hat.

Lee

This picture does not draw me into the scene. There is no focus and too much junk in the photo..I think the man

is dead and adds nothing as it is.. Not my idea of good photographic artistry.

Thank you very much for comments and Elves to choose one of my pictures ...

this is taken 2006 and probably today if i work on this picture it will look different...the man with hat is a

friend who is photographing during my shot and there is one another but very similar shot of him

here:http://photo.net/photodb/photo?photo_id=7592145 but this one is taken in Louvre 2008 in April...

The first one is taken in Croatia near the area where i live (just 30 km southern of Trieste)...place name is

Basania and this poles are typical for norther part of Istria (the biggest peninsula of Adriatic) because there

is a strong cold wind blowing (Bura) that comes from Alps... sea is not very deep so they hang their boats on

poles visible here:http://photo.net/photodb/photo?photo_id=4914989...they do that because boats will probably

crash on shore or on each other ...the speed of this wind is very high (sometime 130-150 km/h) and because of

that Adriatic is dangerous sea ...these days they replace these poles with metal ones because they are made of

wood but new ones doesn't look so good (Imho)...:http://photo.net/photodb/photo?photo_id=3832912

on the end thank you again for all the comments and critiques...i appreciate them very much ...and sorry for my

bad English...

It's kind of surrealistic to me. Rene Magritte? Maybe. I like Istria a lot. I took many photos there.

rather difficult to come after so many others.

Great classical photo, and as everybody told in a different way ...

A picture with soo many details opening the gate to interpretation and imagination.

great conversion to BW.

perhaps for most people it would create just a litle more tence if the man had been placed just a little bit out of center ... a technique you

use frequently when I look in your extraordinary worthfull portfolio.

thanbks for sharing.

Piet

Respectfully, I disagree with the elves. I don't think it's all that interesting, and in some ways it is awkward. For instance, the man's hat appears to be smoldering from the bigger contrail. A slight crop or clone operation would get rid of the second contrail, and yet it's still there to distract us. The photo is about a man taking a photograph, and yet we see no camera or any other clue as to what he is doing. It would be much more intereting if the man were standing/kneeling beside his tripod, looking out across the water, with a cable release in his hand. I'm sorry, but I just don't get it -- no comment on the photographer, but only on the particular photograph that so inspired the elves.

Man's thoughts create so much energy.And these thoughts evaporate even if you wear a hat.If any photo includes a story this is mine and i suppose many will share it.Technically it's excellent, fine contrast, great DOF, the choice of angle and the exposure.The set as a whole is brilliant.Drags the eyes and keeps them on it to be observed.Best regards

Congrats, Denis. It's a new way in Your photography, I like it.

Greetings form Poland

Darek

It´s a great work.

Denis what a great shot!.I would PS the vapour trails out and burn in the in the highlights below the left ear.Great work!.

I like the sky. The man is almost a disruptive influence in this setting. I don't get a sense of connection to

the sea or the boat on its stilts with this figure with the downrimmed straw tourist hat. I am missing something

perhaps. Well, on second thought, jet contrails are disruptive to ny sky...static position of human may contrast

with that

disruption causing a tension after all. But it is elusive for me.

I love this photograph! Having read about half the comments about it, I prefer, Denis, YOUR very simple and

sufficient title: Eugene. A

simple title, a name, lets us, spectators, imagine whatever our minds want... as I can verify in the comments. To

me, this is another great quality. This picture can be ''owned'' by anybody watching it. It lets us day-dream

and wander as long as we want to give it time. It might even ...''steal'' time from us, fascinating and mysterious

as it is. A great work! A full book, a full movie in ONE picture! This is a true mark of EXCELLENCE ! ! !

 

Bruno ( : o )

I'll jot my instant reactions before reading anyone else's...

I like the depth created by the foreground subject, including the light movement around the person such that is it more than a silhouette. So often landscapes present 'flatly' for lack of foreground.

However there is a disturbing bifocation of the image with the centrallity of the foreground figure combined with the cloud pattern and the difference in subject matter either side.

I would want to crop out the vapour trail in the top left corner because I find it distracting.

I like the tonality of the image.

Thanks for the opportunity to think and discuss.

Tony

The composition remind 2 things: Hemingway and Caribbean, The Old man and the sea.

Contrast and the light sepia are nice, funny this king of smoke over the hat! Nice work!