Boy With A Bottle

A very powerful photo & a very good POW selection. It's an excellent piece of PJ work which is refreshing to see as a POW. It clearly tells a story. Congrats Ian

Tony Dummett: "A photograph from another planet ..."

 

Quite the opposite: It's photograph from THIS planet. But everything else Tony said is true, very true.

 

Photography is about showing other people what you have seen. Problem these days (partly in the past as well) is that you don't know if you can believe what you're shown.

 

What this photograph does in a most admirable way is to be authentic. We see what the photographer saw and we simply know it's true. We just know it.

 

 

Remember the film "Being John Malkovich"?

This photograph does right that, put you in the head of another person and let's you see if not experience what he or she did. In an amazingly simply and effortless looking way, where everything else disappears behind the image.

 

A photograph from this planet taken by a photographer that has a deep connection to this planet.

 

True art from one of the greatest photographers I know.

I agree completely with all the wonderful things said above. I'd like to point out some of the details that I think contribute to such an immediate impact.

 

1. The strong diagonal in the background.

 

2. The angle down. We are properly looking at a vulnerable child.

 

3. The 105 nikkor lens. Close enough to intrude on the child's private universe without disturbing his concentration.

 

4. A subliminal pattern in the pavement above the lad's head and just to the right: a pair of malevolent eyes.

 

I know Ian is probably saying, "Enough already, it was a grab shot!" But we all know that so much more goes into a grab shot when it works than simply luck.

 

You put your life arc into it.

This is one of my favorite photos of all time. I remember seeing it and the rest of Ian's amazing work when I first got interested in photography. As another poster alluded to, seeing Ian's work shows you the truly human side of photography and inspires you by allowing you to see what can happen when a great person becomes a true craftsman.

Stunning in the truest sense. Technically flawless and emotionally ravaging. The same holds true for the vast majority of Ian's work.

This photo is a photo of a strong subject. Subject of discussion, thinking and admiring. This happens with well known photographs of famous photographers. Happens also here and now. Tri-x grains make the aesthetic upgrade of an original classic compared to a digital camera. The print could be better as the lines spoil the final result but the b&w tones are excellent for the specific kind of portrait. The photographer was able to capture only what was essential. And silence here is golden.

There is very little one can add to this discussion as it has all been said and explained in earlier posts by Ian.

 

Saddness is the emotion that surfaces when I see this image having 4 kids of my own. It is tragic that one so young needs to survive in that manner.

That been said my curiosity is asking what has happened to our subject, much like the Afgan girl with those eyes, it would make a great doco.

Before anything else, let me just say, that all I have is an OPINION, whether expressed on this page or any other page on this site.

 

Now... I agree wholeheartedly with what Tony Dummett and B. Mayr wrote here regarding the beauty of true (real life) photography. I love Tony's work, and I love Ian's work as well, for these exact reasons expressed here so well by Tony Dummett.

 

That said, what about THIS photo...? I think it's a very good photo. Great authenticity, of course, and great position of this arm holding this bottle, which expresses at the same time 1) that the bottle's heavy, 2) that he's probably scared to drop it and break it, 3) that he's bored to go where he went (or to go back where he's going). Add the info about he's social condition of course, and that's the content as I perceive it. I'd be interested to read it if anyone sees another content here, by the way.

 

Shot from the hip in a rush, Ian explained: yes, and we feel this very urgency in the picture itself. It has indeed the value of "the instant captured on film". But now, if we look at the actual content of this photo, and if we compare it with other masterpieces by the very same Ian MacEachern, what's in this picture, that would make it as special as or more special than "Sharing" or "Minor's children" for example - just taking here 2 other kids photos from the same folder ? In my opinion, Minor's children for example is much stronger. And I wish Ian could post here again this picture of a kid who just wet his pants. THAT ONE was, in my view, a true masterpiece. This POW is a very good shot, that I'd be glad to have taken, but there are other shots by Ian that strike me as much great than "very good". And I'd conclude with this: my personal opinion is that Ian MacEachern is the name of a FANTASTIC photographer OF HUMAN INTERACTIONS. Meaning: that I feel the general strength of Ian's portfolio comes most of the time from the way he looks at SEVERAL people together as they interract with each other or with their surroundings.

 

Anyway, kudos to Ian for all the great work shown here for years, and I hope this post of mine wil get an answer or two to restart the discussion and better identify the true magic of this POW with regards to content.

Marc,

 

> And I wish Ian could post here again this picture of a kid who just wet his pants."

 

I think is what you're looking for: http://photo.net/photodb/photo?photo_id=862824

When I was a child my father drank a lot. But if recycle 5 bottles it was enough many to get a ticket and watch a cinema film - to be far from reality... Absolutely sure the boy smells the alcohol and may be will lick a bit... he tries to hide the bottle... It can be money for him...

The picture is talking to me

Yes, Bernhard, thanks. That's the one. I looked in the wrong folder. Not as strong in terms of composition as this POW, and it certainly doesn't have the same "instant grab" from the hip flavor to it, but the face really has it.

Well.....where to start....I guess first is thanks to the "Elves" for picking this as POW. I just found out about it a couple of days ago as I have been away since the 1st of January... we left London, ON in a snowstorm to drive to Tampa, Florida, and then went on to New Orleans for a couple of days.....(and there is a lot more to do in New Orleans than checking email)....got back late Friday night, so now I have some time to reply.

 

And then thanks to all of you for the very kind and positive comments about this photo, and my work in general. Regarding Billy Syk's comment about the quality of the print (scan) and the lines, they were caused by an inexpensive scanner, and not really noticeable on my monitor of the time. There is only one print and no negative from which to make a new print. I have to get this print and a couple of others back from a Toronto gallery to get good scans done so I can get high quality inkjet prints made.

 

Again thanks for the comments and interest.

 

Great angle and I love the way that he's holding the bottle as though his life depended on it. Great image.

 

Anthony Benjamin

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

http://www.benjaminphotography.co.uk/

Excellent classic black and white photography !! - Regards M.G.HIONOS

He's holding the child his mother once held.

Come away, O human child!

-To the waters and the wild

-With a faery, hand in hand,

-For the world's more full of weeping than you can understand.

The Stolen Child, W.B. Yeats

 

Your portfolio is a hidden treasure.

THIS IS A GREAT IMAGE

It has all been said but what the hell, I will throw in one more Bravo. Well done lad, well done.

 

-Owen

Even though the scan is a poor one by today's standards (this is a 6-year-old post - a lot has changed since then), it's still good enough to convey to me how absolutely wonderful the original print must be to see in person.

 

This photo reminds me of the sheer joy of realizing how much can be read from so little when we look carefully at one another - a curl in the pinkie finger, a slight furrow in the brow. This little fellow is a novel in human form - so expressive in his posture and expression.

 

This is a marvelous moment of seeing.

... on the bottle, as if it makes it somehow more secure and more possessed by the boy. The utter seriousness of it all, when does that feeling enter a child?

My God.. this photo has truly captured me, I can't look away. An utter masterpiece. I can't help but wonder what became of your unwitting subject?

Even after all this time, this image remains remarkably haunting to me. I can't help but wonder what happened to the boy. What a remarkably powerful image.

simple, pure, draws emotion out of the viewer no matter where they have come from, no matter what was in their mind, this photo transports one

 

if only every photo did that

Unforgettable!

Ian, the truth is only one : you have the intuition and feeling, to capture something so special and incredible . congrat. NF