past favorites (color) Mirror Image

I think it is great, and I am a fan of Excel spreadsheets! this reminds me of an Excel formatted page. Nice.

This is great in it`s functional simpilicity! An ordinary subject turned into mathematical photograph. I like this one a lot.

Jack, congratulations on the POW selection; well deserved, I might add. I love the symmetry of this composition; and while it comes across as minimalistic, there's lots to see here. This fits very well with your body of work posted here on PN. Nicely seen, captured, and processed, Jack. Cheers! Chris

Hola Jack-san. I like this shot although I am agreed it is not one of your best, it has a great elegant zen touch with its symmetrical cleanness, that garden lamp in the central point and that green foundations makes a notable shot. As usual you have a brave eye to discover beauty around us. This shot is a very good example for POW because it is not at all obvious. Abrazos.

Gotcha.The grid on the right window is not quite visible.Asymmetry.But that's exactly what happens in nature and in human constructions right ?But the photo is in perfectly balance talking with photographic terms, which is the issue here, accurately exposed and also a very good pattern to check barrel distortion of the lens.And the final result is really challenging.Best regards

Congratulations, Jack. Wonderful study of line, symmetry and texture.

 

Best regards.

I suppose it's just a matter of individual taste, but I can't imagine taking more than the few seconds that I have already spent looking at this weeks photo.

Well, if nothing else this photo has created some discussion that on itself would be worth a POW. But in fact I agree with a lot of the critique on this particular photo. I don't find the critique harsh, merely realistic. Some time ago I did call your approach conceptual which I think it is and you have photo's in your portfolio that are way better than this one which in my opinion at best can be called a technical exercise.

Jack-

 

I pulled up the PN home page today and this immediately caught my eye. I love stuff like this. I see scenes like this from more of an artist's viewpoint than a photographer's viewpoint. I am drawn to the texture and pattern in this scene. It invites the mind to create something else. I personally think that the whole building looks like an animated creature in some anime. It appears to be sort of winking because the left window (eye) is open while the right is closed. This is a great photo, well exposed. the only thing that bothers me about it is that the building isn't perfectly level. It seems to be slightly lower on the left.

 

Great Job! Thanks for sharing it with us.

 

Katherine

This guy is my hero.

While I am in agreement that this is far from Jack's best work, one must note that the product here is not the result of any mirror-image trick with Photoshop. The shot as captured was essentially what we are looking at. That hardly converts it into a great work of art, but it does tell us why Jack took it in the first place. Jack saw the symmetry, shot it, and preserved it with his crop, thereby emulating an artificially constructed mirror image with a photo of an actual building that was built symmetrically, at least in this small section that we can see. That hardly lifts the shot into the realm of greatness (although there are some great shots in Jack's portfolio), but I personally think that it makes it a bit more worthy of some consideration for what it is. While I am not a great fan of symmetrical shots in general, this one is not bad in its simultaneous simplicity and complexity.

 

I like Jack's philosophy of taking pictures: one takes what one likes because one likes it, and one shares it with others, who are free to affirm it or reject it. I know that many photos taken with that kind of philosophy are going to be of much more value to the photographer than to the general viewing public, but they are what they are, and sometimes they are very, very good. Jack is a photographer's photographer. Anyone who shoots seriously will appreciate what he has tried to do throughout his portfolio.

 

--Lannie

Given the available tools in modern photography, it would not come as a surprise if this picture was the result

of an obligatory perspective correction. It would be sad, in a way, if this was perspective corrected even if it

almost needs to be in order to manufacture the perfect symmetry we've come to expect from this type of photo.

An amazing image that would be just nothing without the lamp, I think. The first thing that came to mind was the "eye" that poked up out of the trash in the first "Star Wars" movie. I don't know if Mr. McRitchie had whimsy on his mind when he produced this image but it's there for me.

From my perspective, Lannie's post nails it. Jack is a photographer's photographer.

 

The profundity of this shot? Not much but it does make me smile. Joe's note about the whimsey is dead-on. Exploring Jack's portfolio is

like watching "Being John Malkovich" (but a lot more fun) because Jack shows us what he sees through a pair of gifted eyes and a

generous heart.

 

Congrats, Jack!

Great miroring effect and patterns. Nice work.

 

fred

I think there's an important point here to be made about context and about viewing much of Jack's work in the context of much of Jack's

work. I'm one who thinks his portfolio as a whole is incredibly strong, suggestive, ordinary but mature, consistent, and has developed a

voice and a point of view. I'm not sure picking one as POW or to stand out from the crowd does justice to what this photographer's work

accomplishes. As for profundity, pathos, and the like, we often see the unsuccessful and self-conscious search for that in amateur

photography (professional as well). Ahh, yes, aren't we moved by the anonymous and objectified tragic figure of the homeless woman

asleep and unengaged under her blanket. And the old, wrinkled man whose oversharpened face adorns the pages of PN ubiquitously,

emphasizing character through the push of a software button. No, Jack is not trying to be profound and that is profoundly evident and

may just be why his work reaches a lot of people. Simplicity and unaffectedness can be enlightening just as much as those great leaps

taken by others toward importance, meaning, and truth. I think there are many great photographers and artists who are not profound and

there are many whose body of work supersedes in emotional interest any one particular piece. A voice does not accrue to someone with

only one note. It is in the lyricism of the line of music, the series of tones, that the voice emerges. If there's a work of art here, it's not

necessarily on this page, but it's in Jack's portfolio, an endeavor of a man whose eyes are constantly open and who's prepared to

capture and communicate his visions with clarity, comfort, and ease.

I like this minimalistic approach. The representation of such edifice from that angle that looks so graphically in 2D is really a work of previsualization and creativity. These pieces of elements are so clear and straight, and aesthetically pleasant to the eyes, above all. So that means that ordinary things are nice and charming. For me, all forms in nature and environment are beautiful and interesting, indeed.

Are Katherine and I the only ones who see it's not level? There is talk of the "perfect symmetry" and mirror image. IMHO it is neither a mirror image nor level. With all due respect, the thing is crooked. It is an interesting photo, to be sure, but when you call something a "mirror image" the viewer expects it to be just that. With that said, I disappoint myself by letting the title interfere with my enjoyment of this terrific photo. M

Congratulations Jack for this POW.

 

Well, even if I find at least some of the photos from Jack's portfolio more interesting, this one well deserves the attention and is certainly the evidence of Jack's imagination, creativity and ability to observe.

 

The photo is a simple collection of mainly rectangles cleverly composed in a nice image. But being simple doesn't mean boring here thanks to a little lamp in the middle which is a surprising element, the more so because it also contains rectangles. This makes this photo unusual and original and even a bit humorous for me:)

 

Thank you Jack for your presence on photo.net, for sharing your unusual gallery with us and your interesting comments on forums. Best regards, -wm

Jack,

 

I would just like to offer a hearty congratulations on this selection. You are one of the many people on this site that I find interesting because of the varied subject matter and how it relates to your environment. You have a unique eye for finding interesting aspects of things that otherwise go unnoticed in everyday life like this image. I'm sunre may people pass this everyday and don't give it a second look. But you seemed to have captured it's inate beauty and put a frame on it. Your work deserves to be recognized and I'm glad I can stop by from time to time to learn more about your wonderful view of Japan.

I am glad that I continue to look at your work almost every week and I always love the way you present the simple things of your enviroment.

 

Congratulation in this "award" and I will continue steping into your world as usual.

 

Rgds

/Gustavo

First off, I can't, or shouldn't, congratulate the artist here as they say (they being the elves) right off the

bat the POW has nothing to do with being a good photo, but one basically 'worthy of discussion'. So EVERY photo

posted fits into that category, so why the congrats every single week with no other input? Those should be

deleted IMHO. With that said, many POW's are very striking images, but I have to agree with Marc on this one;

leaves me flatter than the wall itself.

 

The fact it runs 'downhill' to the left is bothersome once you study it too. I think it might work a smidgen

better as a B&W as the green does not do much for it, but it would not make it any higher rated even then I'd

imagine. It's missing something but I can put my finger on it, most likely an interesting center of interest as

the one there now is not that interesting and the placement is wrong to boot, even if it's a symmetrical 'message'.

 

And by the way, one can't say "it would have been 'better in context' with other images" as has been stated by

friends. It's posted solo and is to be viewed/critiqued/admired/dismissed solo!!! If one wants other images to

be viewed with it a diptych, triptych, etc. would be in order to start with, right?

 

I took a quick look at the portfolio, with all the prompting and usually don't, but it really needs a good

thinning out to the top 50 images and then it could/would be special!?! If a person can't figure out which ones

to keep, just look at the rating and keep the high ones, those critiquing are not so 'close' to the art as the

artist is. Besides, it's not quantity but quality that matters.

 

Again, I agree with Marc, I think this is a 'walker', a term and technique I teach my students. Means better off

to just walk and look for something a bit more interesting; light, line, form and center of interest. Hope that

helps.

I like the idea very much and I must say that I am a bit fan of it myself.

 

 

Diagonal

Wall

Goog picture. And what I like is that this picture invites me to investigate whether the symmetry is perfect, or not. It catches my attention. regards

The more I look at this shot, the more I see what it has to offer...For me, the contrasting green shrubbery and the whimsical light popping its head up in the center of the image is delightful...the symmetry is an important ingredient in the formula... It's an upbeat, happy image...Marjorie