lisbon 2000 by george Untitled

George!

Chus told me to check out this portfolio. I love the photo's, love this one (the mosaic floor) the best.

You're going to LOVE your Leica! ;o)

Eugene M.

Beautifully composed (the pattern on the street merges well with the parallax of the lane receding into the distance and the figure completes the right hand side of the image), fine tones of grey. Nice stopping of a motion that makes it look special. The rain completes a really charming photograph.

This is a gorgeous photo. Very easy on the eyes with a classic composition and great tones.

Nothing constructive to add, just praise.

 

This is what photography is all about, I think...

Maybe a little bit to much of the mosaic ground?

I like this photo a lot. I took note of the space at the bottom comment. I agree though, that it adds to the photo. Use your hand to block out the space at the bottom. I didn't like it as much with the space blocked out.

the tones are lovely. the whole conceit of the photo is handsome-- the tiles, the rain or snow, the figure crossing the space, the lane in the distance. I feel that cropping on the left would add to the motion of the figure. I believe the highlight of the lane should be just right of center-- this will add tension, and the cowled figure will become more important. The static figures would become less important-- they would be more static, thus emphasizing the motion of the other. space to the left of the static figures creates a space for our eyes to wander-- thus creating motion which distracts us from cowled figure's motion. I'd crop right behind the far left guy, or there abouts.

Overall, this is a very classy image. The one imperfection that keeps it from greatness is the unfortunately precise line up of the garment hem and the near border of the pavement feature. It's very distracting, at least to me, but probably couldn't have been avoided.

Everyone's mind works differently, and maybe no one other than myself would have ever noticed this. It looks like someone in a hooded garment walking on the other side of a sunken reflecting pool, with a pair of legs cut and pasted onto the image. The thin white line (bare leg?) between hem and legs (boottops?) only worsens the effect. It's a very fine photograph, and I only mentioned it for the benefit of anyone studying these POW's for their own self-improvement. In a street shot such a coincidence is forgiveable; in a more carefully composed shot, such a thing should be watched for and avoided. That's all.

A wonderful photograph. A picture full of questions. It leaves the answers to us. This is what photography does at its best it asks questions and demands answers of viewers. As for the garment hem issue, I found it to be a wonderful coincidence rather than a distraction. The upper half of the body is arrested by the merger with the pavement behind, while the legs float free across the tile below it. This accident enhances the tension in the picture. Thank you for sharing it with us. It is worth coming back to look at again and again.

 

 

A fascinating setting, made incongruous by the abstraction of the figures and the tension of the arrested motion. A beautiful concept, quite ambiguous in nature, carefully executed in terms of composition and exposure a moment exquisitely frozen in time and space.

The central highlight (of sky and its reflection on the wet ground) draws my eye too strongly; I find that it takes deliberate effort to look away, especially when I'm trying to study the hooded figure to the right.

I think it works beautifully as an artful "slice of life" that captures the unexpected, both in terms of subject and composition. As with my favorite candid urban shots, it imparts an unmistakable "you are there" feeling. And as for the broad sweep of mosaic-covered street/sidewalk that makes up the foreground, I think that it in particular makes this picture special: I love the way the right-angled square tiles echo the grid of the city, the chock-a-block vertical stacking of the buildings, and the squeezed-together feel of a lot of people populating a limited space...while the large swoopy arcs across the top of the tiles vividly mirror the banners that span the street behind.

 

A great pic that doesn't stop at looking pretty, but engages the thoughtful viewer in an imaginative dialogue. Bravo!

This is an interesting mixture of architectural, candid-people, and fine art photographs. I applaud anyone who can do all effectively in one picture like this one. I love how all the elements balance together. I can't seem to find the coldness of the photograph the elves are talking about though. Wet, yes, but cold? Everytime I imagine how cold it would feel ... the warm tone and sunlight throws me off.

I agree with the elves on the "cold" comment.

When I first saw it I thought it was snowing...

then I saw it was Lisbon. What a great city -

one of my favorites. This is a fun picture of the

kind I would hope to make in the future.

Photonetters All!

 

Don't get too anal about this pic. One of the nice things about it is that its appeal is almost purely pictorial. Try writing a description of this scene! You'll either fall flat on your word-processor or wax so lyrical that the simplicity of the image is lost.

 

It's a good example of a picture being worth a thousand words, even if those words consist of cropping suggestions, arguments about the hemline, controversies concerning the temperature &etc. &etc. All beside the point...

 

I think the Photo.net Pirhanas sometimes forget that our chosen method of expression is photographic. If we wanted to be writers we'd all change our names to "Hemingway" so we could wank on about "hemlines".

 

The good thing about this pic is that it makes us smile, yet we know not why...

 

The funny thing about this photograph is that it captures Lisbon inhabitants in a situation they are hardly prepared to deal with - the pouring rain. Although it often rains in the Winter, people from Lisbon never seem to dress or prepare for the cold or the rain. They always act as if the sun was going to appear in the skies the next minute (well, it usually does), looking surprised and annoyed by the inconvenience of bad weather. They are not an umbrella people, so plastic bags and covers do the trick when it rains.

This photograph was taken in Lisbon downtown, the "baixa", an area that was completely rebuilt after the great earthquake of 1755 by the plans of the marquis of Pombal, a controversial ruler. It has a very geometrical arrangement, with large roads (for 18th century standards) to accomodate for the increasing traffic, delimiting large square blocks of buildings, mostly devoted to commerce and services these days. Its geometrical arrangement is well documented in the photograph by the square angles of the two streets converging. Unlike most of the older city that survived the earthquake (Lisbon is known as the city of the seven hills), this is a relatively flat, sea-level part of the town.

I do understand the urge the author felt to include so much of the mosaic pattern in the photograph. In the rain, most of the otherwise covered floor (by the presence of people, esplanades, etc.) is shown and it does impose itself on the eye. This is a typical Lisbon sidewalk, and is not at all unusual in most of the city, even in recent areas. You can even see an example of this portuguese "calçada" at the Copacabana Avenue, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. The skilled workers that build it are increasingly rare. The patterns usually relate to the sea or the skies and reflect the maritime tradition of the city and its people.

As a final comment: this photograph awakes in me, a Lisbon-born, that melancholic feeling we portuguese call "saudade".

Congratulations for a great photograph!

 

Excellent photograph. It has both aesthetic balance and meaning.

To me this is extremely uninteresting. There is only the walking person with natural gestures is catching my attention. Overall the picture looks ordinary.

It looks to me like the photograph was taken from under an awning or something like that... it's the only way I can explain the extremely large "rain drops," all in the same plane, that appear at the top of the photograph. I found this somewhat disturbing the first time I saw the picture, as it certainly doesn't look natural.

 

Other than that, I like the picture a lot. I think cropping the left would make it too symetrical, giving the impression that the photographer wanted the stripe of light exactly in the middle, but didn't quite get the composition he wanted. I think it might be distracting to just see the tip of the diamond in the mosaic, too.

If so many people praise the photo, it must be special. What frustrates me is, I can never tell. I wouldn't look at this photo twice if I saw it in a magazine. (No offence). It's obviously my untrained eye, but I like when you have strong colours and contrast. Maybe I'm just part of the whole youth-instant-gratification-thing. And if it doesn't catch my eye right away, I dismiss it.

I'm drawn to the far end of the lane. Wonderful depth, tone and composition. Great shot!

A very nice looking photo. Great perspective, and i love the effect that streak of light gives running down the middle. Good job.

I'm not sure who the 'some people' who would "quibble with the empty space at the bottom". The so called 'empty space' is not so - it is an important part of the composition, giving the viewer a position, a view point, with the mosaic adding depth perception at great esthetic value.

Well done!

 

-Hillel Hammer

I was lucky enough to spend one week in Lisbon 1999. I can tell that this picture has certain feeling, the same feeling that I could feel in Lisbon. It's great photo itself but this feeling makes me love it! Thanks, obligado!

As a street photo its pretty good. The 'manhole'panels in the mosaic could be copped out. This would still leave the walking figure with lots of room to maintain the dream like quality that the picture certainly has.

 

Make your browser window wide but thinner and you can do the crop for yourself.

 

Agree about the big rain drops probably from under a canopy. A wise move with anything but a Nikonos, even the FM2 might have leaked.

 

Nice picture and good to have seen it in order to take in the first place.