Gavirate Bench fog

My first impression was rather booming. Seeing the impact of the bench I immediately understood it's being very attractive for the photographer. That bench must be the main subject. Fog and lady the beautifull cream, a kind of gift he was/had been waiting/looking for an indeed, absolutely needed. However, at the same time I felt a conflict with the balance. I would like it totally, but I couldn't. Why.. The total presentation? The white framing? Perhaps the image being cropped too tight? I knew I was looking for just marginal changes, for the know how of the artist was clear. So, finally time in reading the previous comments. Healthy? Dangerous? I do like stories, however for me the overall character of a B&W is the most important. Especially on this shot with it's bench being the monument.

 

After one night sleep. Yes, at first the portfolio. See..?! First class composer! And.. heee..: the benches!! Wow, now I felt really free in some (hard) playing. Removing the white frame did improve. However the balance.. Cropped too tight? Not on the left, even a mm crop is making lady and bench floating.. At the end it got a mm on the right and a fraction on the top. The bench got just more power and the lady got a fraction larger. Yes.. loosing room above the branch. However, my slightly being crossed left eye got satisfied.

 

The framing.. a different story, most of the times being the hardest..

 

Max, I do enjoy your shot now totally! Congrats!

 

Peanuts, this comment?! If one does like them, yes.

Sorry, did make a mistake in uploading..!

While it offers a component often presented in serious art, the presence of death, this image is straight forward and as un-confrontational as it's title, which is slightly more subjective than a GPS location. All these feelings of angst and pressure and foreboding come from within the viewer. It is not, as Marc has said, an image of death. It is a monochromatic photograph of an infirm person with a cane in a dark coat walking by a bench in the fog.

This photo is a like an emotional mirror and so would be an interesting and grounding image to live with... t

I certainly like the concept, and by that I don't mean the message, but rather the figure receding into the fog in the distance. Most of the comments, when mentioning elements of the photo, have mentioned the figure in the distance. He is the subject, I would argue. The benches provide something additional: context, texture, depth, and framing (contrast this photo with one other in Max's portfolio, in which the benches really are the subject). Some have mentioned that the crop is too tight, but I think the real issue is that the weight of the nearest concrete bench, by its size, placement and sharpness, dominates the photograph. I am wishing for a composition in which the bench is somewhat smaller, placed further down and to the right, and the figure walking separated a bit from the benches, to give him more weight. This would seem to be a minor adjustment, but I think it would make the photo feel more balanced, with more attention given to the subject, IMHO.

I agree with Tom. What one reads into this photo is what is in ones own self. For all we know the lady has just vacated the seat/bench after a pleasant morning watching the fog roll in off the moors and is now off for some tea, crumpets and warm laughter with her life long friends at a local favored cafe. Death has taken a vacation in this interpretation.

 

Technically, this photo follows many of the standard rules admirably and for me that is what helps draw my thoughts away from the easily applied interpretation of "death". By breaking the "rules" I feel there would have been more of a feeling of interruption and unbalance thereby giving rise to a more sinister interpretation. Just my thoughts.

 

Another point I'd like to make is that, by looking through the photographers portfolio one sees that this series of benches has been a point of interest for at least some time. The photographer has worked this scene to get different moods, views, levels and such. That knowledge, for me, helps take away the feeling of being force fed a specific idea. Maybe that doesn't have a bearing on this photo as a stand alone but in context of the whole group it helps me to understand this photo more.

context is everything... t

For a single image by itself (not in context), a lifetime of experiences is everything in shaping

one's emotional response (or lack thereof) to a photograph.

It is an admirable composition. Excellent technical qualities, such as positioning of the old woman in one corner, the row of benches perfectly positioned as if to appear like a row of pearl oysters ready to clamp shut on the protagonist--an elegy of sorts--the chosen plane of sharp focus, the tonal play and contrast, together make this a memorable photograph. I understand that some of the commentators have found this kind of composition a little hackneyed. But I think it is not at all easy to previsualize such a composition. Here it works. Perhaps our familiarity with such a composition gives it a pedestrian appeal; yet, on its own merit it is an admirable image.

I registered BECAUSE I want to let you know how much I appreciate your shot. It make me think to a Pink Floyd song: Time (... time has gone, the song is over thought I'd something more to say ...).

Mauro

Trying to be as objective as possible, I would say that this image is a study in contrasts. Ironic because of the predominance of the mid tones. There is the sharp, rough immediacy of the bench contrasted against the soft, off, vagueness of the recessive figure. Then there is the contrast of the bench as something to sit on and THAT bench which looks cold, damp and, well, it ain't no lazyboy.

 

Subjectively, it is amazing how much depends on such a small element as the cane. It is our cue that we are seeing an older person, and with that, the mist takes on accents of a life coming to an end and the bench takes on the significance of a life lived or a material world left behind.

 

Imagine the different impression a hale and hearty silhouette would produce, a jogger or a child.

"For a single image by itself (not in context), a lifetime of experiences is everything".

I completely agree. When we have only the one image to consider, our lifetime of experience is the context in which the image is viewed. Our response to it is formed primarily by our personal condition and incidentally by the artwork itself. The art serves as a catalyst for our predetermined inclinations to manifest as an "opinion" about that particular work, and so we reveal ourselves... t

Tom, I think it goes further. We can passively react with OR we can actively co-create with the artist. Sometimes it is a blend of the two, sure.

 

We don't have to respond with "predetermined inclinations" necessarily, we can also engage with the overt communication creatively.

 

For example, the easy reading is that this photo is about the arc of a life and leaving your place in it. That comes from a stereotypical response to the fog, cane, a figure listing to port and fading into the background, dreamy mid tones and any other visual "keywords" that move you that way that you see in the frame. There is nothing wrong with that take.

 

But one can invent a response or even challenge the perceived intent of the photographer with an attitude of, hmm, love the fog, the bench grit and who is that leaving? Mentor? Murderer? What just went on here? Dead body out of frame? Lover gone off? Who am I, watching this? The son? Student? Detective?

 

I guess what I'm trying to say is that although I agree with you and with Stephen that we bring a lifetime of experiences to our response, our creativity allows us to shape the nature of our engagement with art from somewhere outside of our body of experience. Creativity does not just mean to "build onto" or "reinterpret", it can also mean "bring into being from out of the blue".

 

It's a valid alternative. Art isn't inkblot therapy. At its best it is an active and ongoing dialogue.

Peter, to which I would respond that much of our creativity itself (its direction, its form, its

degree, etc.) is also based in our life experiences. Whether I allow and the degree to which

I allow my creativity to shape the nature of my engagement with art is based, in part, on

my childhood and young adult experiences. I think I'm fortunate because I know why

landscape photography (my own and that of others) is such a passion with me, and I've

articulated that on my PN bio. If I hadn't grown up in an alcoholic family, and if I hadn't

gone through five years of chemotherapy and radiation treatments, I might not give a

damn about landscape photography or even photography itself. But I did, and I do, and

it's driven by my inner creativity, values, and insights that formed during those years. As I

get to know people, I can see the same in their lives and creative endeavors.

Stephen, I agree. Please also see my comment on your wonderful portfolios.

Great work! Makes me think of my old mother when she walks in the park. Very well done, good moment to have taken the picture, when the old lady is at that distance... in the fog, walking away from the bench. Very well done!

yes, Peter makes a point I agree with: that some people can make that creative leap into many alternate interpretations... understanding and even enjoying that there may be more than one "correct" answer, and that contradictory beliefs may each be "correct". Other people, well, not so much.

One need look no further that the current political situation in American politics for an example. Some people can only accept one thing to be true and all else is either delusion, or the enemy. "We must agree that I am right, or you're wrong"... t

I admire the composition and the crisp detail in the close bench, and I love fog.

 

But the story doesn't work for me. The elderly woman walking in the fog is the story, so the detailed bench detracts and defuses the story. If there was a bit of fogginess on the near bench too, I think it would blend better and the story would be more cohesive.

It is depicting an atmospher. There is a strong contrast between the solidity of the bench and the fragility of the old woman, walking into the fog or into oblivion.The bench form reminds as well a tomb stone. As a human symbolism it is well composed, and has a message.

The composition is not simple. It drives the observer's eye to every corner, maybe trying to confuse. The soft background tree and the woman hangs into an empty space, where the tree is coming from the bench. It reminds me of a cenotaph. The huskily structure of the bench and the smooth foggy background leads to oblivion. The park is a "path" to nowhere, to a cold and devoid place. Or simply, leads to mysterious way that everyone experience at least once in a life time.

Marc G. wrote:

Well put, Marc.

 

Thank you, Max, for sharing this photo with all of us.

 

 

thanks to everybody for your comments critics and apreciate! grazie di aver concesso del tempo per condividere le vostre opinioni tutte molto interessanti e importanti per me, mi avete dato nuova forza per continuare ad affrontare le difficoltࠣhe trovo ogni giorno per continuare il mio percorso di fotografo e di uomo, che, come nella foto, non so bene dove porterࠥ se avr࠵na continuazione piuttosto che una fine imminente e brusca.

con stima, auguro felicitࠡ voi tutti.

Max

It's an excellent black&white composition.

Point of view is perfect.

Thanks for sharing.

Ottimo taglio,immagine intensa evidenziata dal bianco e nero,l'avrei intitolata "Solitudine"

 

ciao Fabrizio

one of "THE" shoots, agree with previous posters, specially with ...

Bellissima immagine! Grande il taglio con l'ombra sullo sfondo. Molto coinvolgente.