old musicien

A comment on Bruce's comments above: You say that the off-center subject (or better put, the less than perfect composition) gives it a "spontaneous, candid (nonprocessed) feel." But can't we make that same excuse about any image not properly framed? Does this forgive Aunt Helen's snapshots at the family gathering with half of Grandpa's head cut off? It's spontaneous and nonprocessed all right, but what is it that separates the serious photographer from someone who haphazardly trips the shutter without any consideration for framing in ways that add versus detract from an image? Again, I like the basic content, but this is an image that can be improved without a whole lot of effort.

I always enjoy looking at a great compostion and that is what really makes a picture work, in this case, it is a nice compostion, development with the bright light and emply surrounding made the capture a bit more difficult but with and AE lock can be managed. I am not drawn to any particular aspect of this image, not the compostion, not the lighting not the contrast, only the high light on the bass case. It lacks so many aspects for me to find this intereting.. I do like the use of thirds in the faming of the shot, and the ability to maintain the womans white hair against a negative back drop. The amount of negative space the lack of detail really leaves this image lacking for me... this is not to discredit the photographer's work and the capture, it is a matter of taste... For me it pales to some of the images I have seen on PN. Thanks MJ

It seems to me that Bruce Werner is the only person here who respects the subject...

He sees her as a successful person. Everybody else seems to be milking the image for pathos. Pathos is a very cheap emotion.

I think the photographer felt more comfortable with wide-angle perspective and light than with the woman in the middle of the image, who got dismissed with the title "old." I heard Andres Segovia when he was 80. "Old" didn't occur to me.

"Technique is not drudgery, at least to me. It is magnificent. " I think you and I are in a minority in this regard.

"... photo being about the woman and her instrument -- a relationship made strong by their close proximity to each other and stronger by the seeming vastness of the surroundings " Here you express well my feelings about the image. I cannot agree with those who want more details and less space. I love the details such as they are... The spindly flowers hung inside and outside the windows, the unfinished planking of the floor. The age and style of the restaurant (striped canvas roof and awnings) I imagine a sea air. All this, and her clothes makes me think Eastern Seaboard USA, but it is the coast off Tuscany where the temperature is probably similar... some day I simply must go.

I also think that some people who have posted here haven't read the discussion carefully and think that you mean the photographer has communicated with us (the "viewer") in some ethereal way through this photograph and not as he has... in the actual discussion. His command of this language exceeds some of the native tongue contributors.

And Andrea I want to thank you very much for the effort to write in English. I have friends in Italy who I have never met, so I know the Google translator does not work very well. I'm afraid they think I'm just stupid. Thanks for posting this image that you do not like.... t

(p.s. Andrea, I used your phrase "walk through the menus" just yesterday, to great effect. Thanks.)

 

Andrea...All I can say is the scene grabs me...perhaps you used a specific technique or not...it dosn't matter...the end result is a memorable image...

Hola

 

The picture is truly dramatic, a very nice shot. I though about the comment if the picture should be cropped to the right (in fact I played a lot with gimp) and my final conclusion is this big white area is needed for balance. If the right window is cropped perhaps the main subject is very focused in the middle of the scene. The white area is needed to see the musician as in a glance.

 

Congratulations for your awards

Drama and loneliness is present here in the equal quantity as one can meet in a railwaystation lobby. Music with such instrument is not exercised in loneliness. It is a passion which old people need to avoid drama. I think that the origin of technical problems here is the low level of camera above the floor (it was probably 1m).

Scene with a lot of potential, not fully used by the photographer.
I like the overall mood in this image. The composition - in the big lines - it is good, the diagonal line makes the image active, adding a touch of drama. The choice of B&W is excellent. Still, I think the composition could be more careful in the details. e.g. the instrument is touching the flower pot, the man's head is again not clear, there is a lot of clutter in the detail. That all is puzzling and leading the attention from the subject matter. As fas as the exposure, I do not mind the hight contrast, as this enhances the mood.

In my eyes this photograph doesn't seem so dramatic, but calming.

It is incredibly composed and well balanced, with the lines of the wooden wall on the right leading to the musician. The tones are extreme, maybe too much contrast. The light coming from the windows is too strong, burnt the frames, but I don't find it that important.

Overall I loved it. congrats

Caro Andrea, intervengo solo ora, dopo che, giustamente, la massa si e' scatenata letteralmente sulla tua bella immagine! Non ti rispondo in Inglese, perche' il senso delle parole, in una lingua che non e' la nostra, si perde. Vedi perche', al di la' dei "bianchi sparati", non faccio mai interventi o critiche sui lati tecnici?...semplicemente perche', ai fini di un impatto emotivo delle immagini, servono a poco. Tecnicamente, di appunti da farci, ce ne sarebbero, ma...chissenefrega! Questa immagine e' un tuo "autoritratto", di quelli potenti, che liberano la vera tua immagine che, al di la' di tutte le "menate" che ognuno di noi spara intorno a se' stesso come fumogeni, parla, racconta di te, ma, nel contempo, e' anche un archetipo di uomo della nostra eta'. E' l'immagine di un essere umano che, nella solitudine, ha riposto il suo "strumento" e si confronta con se stesso, con i propri vissuti, con un futuro di...ipotesi, circondato da "finestre aperte su tutto e su niente", come in un "presente" immobile, aperto verso spazi e tempi non conclusi, ma che ci fanno sentire, in un certo senso, fuori dalla lotta caotica dei nostri tempi, lotta spesso vana, sensa senso che, tuttavia sembra dare un senso alla vita. Fammi sapere cosa ne pensi di questo mio "pensiero" o se,..."so tutte cazzate"! Il tuo amico, Maurizio.

If the photographer had taken the time to create the perfect composition and compensated exposure, the moment would have been lost. It tells a story, and that is all that is necessary.

"It tells a story, and that is all that is necessary."

This is a photograph, not a novel. Photography is a visual medium. True, it is a good story. Also true, how the "story" looks is crucial.

The story unfolds to me as... At a time in her life when "going into the light" is the next natural step. She sits with no regard to it's overwhelming illumination all around her - almost consuming her as she sits there. It seems to me, she is still too busy with living to take time to be called into the light. There is still music that must be made so she has no time to travel into the light.
I really enjoy this image and it's story as it unfolded within my mind...
deb

my first thought looking at this image was "oh my, this is going to get nailed for the blown out highlights". to me though, they work here as part of the story. of course the story i see is the story that i relate to. i see the musician choosing a solitary corner where she can be alone with her beloved instrument. she has her back to the restaurant, and her instrument is not only her companion, but also her shield. maybe she is meditating before her performance, or possibly bathed in the creative energy just released from the performance. i see the light as creative energy. on occasion i have found that spot where nothing else is solid, nothing else matters, and i become one with my art. that is the sense i get from this.

I like this image very much. Powerful composition, interesting subject, very nice. I guess I understand on some level the concern others have about the exposure but honestly the contrast of blown highlights and strong black shadow areas add to the overall drama of the photograph. It’s ok to break the rules when it strengthens the feeling the image conveys. Nice work.

Moderator note: - Just a caution - this is not a forum for having a debate, the likes we see on the CC forum. It is a critique forum. Though a little off topic discussion is ok - please let's not turn this into an argument about who is right and who is wrong. No critiques of the critiques or the critics please. Please read the link in the intro about the special rules for this particular forum.

I don't mind the blown out windows at all in this picture. My only complaint was with the subject itself - the musician is partially hidden by the large instrument and is thus vague. I found myself squinting, trying to figure out what was going on. It didn't seem all that interesting.

Very strong contrast.I don't mind that the windows are overexposed, i like it as it is.Unless you use extra light source, it's the only way to obtain great details on the main theme that is the musician and the cello case.Regards

Felicidades Andrea, por el reconocimiento que te mereces. La composición es "marca de la casa" con los "blancos" y los "negros" en todo su esplendor. Los tonos y las lineas acentúan un tema entrañable, muy expresivo y bien compuesto. Abrazo.

It is delightful to read all the wonderful critics posted. The image feels more like been repeatedly xeroxed. I don't like that feeling at all. The original quality might be different.
The musician did not feel about her surrounding at all. And the surrounding is simple too, nothing fancy. She is completely and simply focus on something of her own small world. It prompts me to feel and wonder about the life experience she has gone through...
I feel the photographer had had this type of image in mind before he saw this actual scene. Once in the scene, he created the image with vast space on the right, left musician at left corner, which enhanced the solitude mood and feeling. It is probably not possible to compose the image this way without using wide angle lens. But I feel the feeling and emotion will be stronger if keep the same composition, but use a little longer focal length.

Complimenti Andrea, la foto della settimana non e' poco, soprattutto in questo forum che mi sembra molto "anglosassone".Ho provato a leggere i commenti, in alcuni mi sembra trasparire poco "rispetto" per l'autore. Se il titolo che hai scelto è "old musician" un motivo l'avrai avuto. Tutto sommato dietro l'obiettivo c'eri tu.Per capire questa foto devo pensarla "fuori" da uno schermo di computer. Magari stampata grande, su uno sfondo bianco.Sicuramente racconta una storia, ma ogni foto ci racconta la storia che immaginiamo. Mi prenderò del tempo per immaginare la mia.Saluti,

Luca

PS non ho piu' trovato la foto non elaborata di piazza Esedra. L'hai sostituita?

I like this photo for the composition and for the sense of tranquillity that gives to the observer. I wonder if it would give the same impression with the "correct" expossure....no, I do not think so, I like it the way it is.
Complimenti Andrea! Mi fa piacere vedere la tua foto scelta per la foto della settimana.
ciao

 

first of all congrats Andrea.

Well, a lot has been said and suggested about this photo. I agree on the value of the content but taking up on your own description of PPM with which I in general agree for me that needs to be topped off with another P, namely the P of postprocessing and there it's indeed seriously flawed (if not with the exposure to begin with). So much so in fact that it becomes severely distracting, for me at least.

"Street photographie is done with what the moment offers. No “actors”, no artificial lights, no repeat…. So, the way to judge have to be different from the way to judge others categories."

That's what you stated earlier Andrea and I couldn't disagree more because it implies that the circumstances form a reasonable excuse for poor techniqique. They don't. Good photography needs to be judged with the same set of criteria. Yes, street is difficult and not only because of the dynamics involved but poor technique can't be excused, not in photography as a whole and not in street photography. No need to make allowances or even excuses for street shooters. That's why there are so many misses in producing a great street photo.
In that sense I would have to say that what you show us here is a potentially good photo but you didn't pull it of, simple as that.

Andrea, it is not a lost photo, although I believe you saw it better than it came out, it's still a great shot!
Yes, and thanks for your definition of what is street photo, I agree with you 100%!

The strong light of the windows burns away all else, what is left, presumably, is the musician and the music. So what is captured is the solitude and discipline of the music.