Lovers in the Paris Subway

Picturing people against billboards with their larger than life messages has always been a favorite of photographers. The great photograpahers use the juxtaposition to create an indelible and sometimes ironic image, as Margaret Bourke-White did with her 1937 picture of Blacks in a breadline against a huge poster of a a happy, prosperous White family in a car, under the banner of World's Highest Standard Of Living.

 

Simply putting people in front of an advertising image is not enough; if the picture is going to have impact there must be some mental spark that results when the two realities are brought into contact. In my mind, that's what you have accomplished here, contrasting the young people on the billboard caught in the first flush of romance with the older couple on the bench, battle-scarred, perhaps, but with great character and presence and with all illusion left behind, draws a distinction between the ephemeral and that which endures.

in the Paris subway

I agree with Jack and am Jack put it into words. The young lovers and the old couple its super. I also like the blur of the passes by. Great stuff.

real great shoot.

I like it a lot........even the ladies chin angle seem to be as it would be later in life!

an excellent capture.

Great composition....very powerful message here...congrats

very well captured!

Excellent shot..... regards Hamed

I appreciate the point Jack has made and agree. But I think just the juxtaposition of the older couple backed by the younger couple in the billboard would still read as somewhat typical of this sort of genre and would not have the impact you've achieved. You've introduced movement, and therefore the energy of the scene, the passersby, the life of the surroundings. So you've told a story and you've used the medium expertly, creatively, and expressively to give this much more power and depth than what would be carried by simply a cute juxtaposition or narrative irony which, in other hands, is more often presented with less character and adeptness.

Very very well captured! Great tonal quality too. Kind Regards

not like photography with photography, but this is a very good exception!

there is a lot of semantic, both obvious and hidden.

one of The Photography, which is working both as static image and whole life-time movie of all the persons captured!

it will be on the wall of my flat in newcastle today .

BB

Originality : 7. Marianne

Brilliant image! I love how you were able to capture this old couple who look like they are well past the years and days of being enthralled with eachother like the younger couple posted above them. I love ironic images such as this; you have a great eye for this type of photography as I have seen it in many of your images...you are great at making commentaries on society. Very well done! Thank you for sharing. :)

 

P.S. I think that guy next to them on the bench looks like Prince (or the artist formerly known as Prince)!

bella storia,complimenti ! con simpatia paul

I have been through your portfolio on many occasions.  So how the f**k did I miss this?  From the classic irony and juxtaposition of the young billboard couple and the older seated couple, to the the way they are framed by the movement of the blurred passerby, this is...great.  Significant to a high degree in my book. 

Excellent! Great image indeed.