Belgian Kids in Kensington Gardens (these kids weren't posing, so much as poseur-ing. I took several images, but they weren't aware of my presence...(too taken up with themselves, I think).

I'm not surprised that over 27,000 people have looked at this photo. It's street photography at its best. I've been doing some myself recently, and know how difficult it is to get images as good as this one.

Well I'll certainly take your word that they were not posed

although that was my initial impression. I think it certainly caught a DEFINING MOMENT and is quite interesting.

Teenagers are nothing BUT POSEURS and can not be anything else by definition.

The trick is making it LOOK like it was posed, John. It wasn't posed at all, but I needed patience to get the correct shot. I have several images of this group of kids (all grown men and women by now, of course) in this setting - some closer, some further away . If you like, I'll scan them and send them to you, or, alternatively, post them here. Your call.

 

I've never looked at them as prints. It might be enlightening for both of us!

 

 

Here's the two other pictures taken immediately before the one that's been posted. It's the first time I've seen them and I'm glad to say I wasn't mistaken in picking the one I did. The titles speak for themselves (no manipulation at all has been done to these pix - please forgive the spots, scratches and blotches - twenty-six years is a long time after all).

Actually this is good therapy: it reminds me of how I used to work my way into a picture. A tentative side-shot, then in too close and some of the eyes are half-closed, head chopped off and then, after a bit of thought - move back about a metre, tilt the camera up a bit and get the right framing. Notice the guy in the background has walked about ten metres in the time it took to take these three pictures.

Added January 17, 2002: I found some others of this group. You can see them here.

Three shots with a 50mm? They HAD to have known you were there. Nice shot, however.

It's called "making yourself invisible". Merge with the crowd, find some people so self-absorbed that they more "see right through you" than "see you" and snap away. Do they LOOK like they knew I was there (see attachment to my previous pic)? It doesn't always work out this way unfortunately, I'll tell you THAT for free.

 

I remember there being other people around with cameras at the time (we were near the duck pond and people were snapping away), so maybe I just melted into the background (couldn't do it now: I'm too fat).

I love it! Makes me think of my good old days in the '60's. The picture really makes a statement!

This is my favourite of your Cartier-Bresson folder. A very instructive lesson on 'how to be invisible', though I don't even imagine I will achieve anything as remotely candid as this.

Good art, I love the kid on the right really pissed off look. Nice of you to show the out takes, takes a little luck and some patience, well done.

Going through your whole folder, one after another, these photos are just brilliant.

Were they innately Flemmy? Was it "Belgian Tuesday"? Or did you talk to them?

I love this photo for how it makes me feel. I would have been 10 then, but I remember it vividly when I look at this photograph!

They were too cool to be British and not cool enough to be French, too fair skinned to be Italian and too dark to be Scandanavian. Their language was softer than German, yet more comprehensible than Dutch. They looked like they came from just "in-between" somewhere. So I picked Belgian, but no, I never asked them.

Added January 17, 2002: When cleaning out my garage prior to moving house I found another 2 shots of these kids and rescued them from the garbage bin. I realise now I must have been following them around for a while. You can see the whole process of capturing the final image here.

this is so well done, i would be green with envy, if it weren't such an unbecoming colour on me. i would swear this was staged, if you hadn't said it wasn't, (and I do trust your integrity). What a very fine shot, a look into teen land, capturing the jaded, world weary, self absorbed coolness that only teens can muster

Gwen,

No it's not staged. There's a discussion on this shot in another of my "technical" folders. You'll find it here.

When you promenade in Kensington Gardens there is almost what you could call a "set-piece" walk. We all did it (severally, not jointly) and I just snapped away as we all walked The Walk.

This is really Great..

 

Sweet, intense, and documenting a day, a moment, an age and one period of the decades passed.

 

Really a masteroiece, really, I like it so much!

This image has been selected for discussion. It is not necessarily the "best" picture the Elves have seen this week, nor is it a contest. It is simply an image that the Elves found interesting and worthy of discussion. Discussion of photo.net policy, including the choice of Photograph of the Week should not take place here, but in the Site Feedback forum.

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Very nice picture. Bravo to the elves for breaking the mold on this one. The last several week's all how the same feel. This is a completly diffrent work. Gives new inspiration. Tony I did not see this in your portfolio which folder is it in i would like to see the Technical details if you remember any of them.

The photo is black and white and RED. You can see that if you load it in Photoshop and use the eyedropper tool.

Otherwise the photo is perfect; I wish only, it would have been taken with a bigger format camera.

Very good ! I like it a lot. Not so different from the kids we can see nowdays.

Thanks elves. Quite a surprise. There's a sampling of other frames I shot of these kids, and some technical discussion here in my informal technical portfolio.

Good to see a street shot chosen as POW. Many times they're overlooked. It's very retro & natural. A very good street scene

Tony - congratulations! Wonderful to see a black and white shot, with people! make POW. I have teenagers myself, so I have to laugh at the "poseur-ing remark! Hoping to see more pics, and read more of your wonderful stories soon. Regards - Lee

I noticed this photograph a long time ago, it is now being used for my English students to tell from the photo. Superb work. Thanks for sharing.

(I hope the English students are telling something about the photo)

This is an excellent street photograph; my first impression was that it was posed, for there are certain things about the body language that don't make sense, but if it's true that this is unposed, this is was a priceless opportunity well executed.