poor imitations of cartier-bresson ANZAC March, 2000

The whole ANZAC march thing I find very moving and not because of the militaristic aspect but rather the personal. These guys really did go to war. Some time in the past. The pretence of hero only serves to hide the truth that they are just ordinary people with lives that would have been far different if it had not been for some accident that involved them and allowed them to survive.

This picture is superb. I should have been proud to capture the complexity of ANZAC Day with such an image.

 

Well done and I think B&W concentrates the mind in a way that colour never can.

This is one of the most powerful photos that I've seen in a very long time. Even though I'm not familiar with the ANZAC March, your picture still sent shivers up my spine and brought tears to my eyes. Masterful!!!

Beautiful photo. It reminds me of my days in the Navel Reserve Cadets in Melbourne, standing guard while the real diggers marched.

 

Regards

 

Wayne

 

 

Why did you crop his head?

Basic Answer: I didn't crop his head. I cropped THEIR heads.

 

1st Alternative answer: the hands were more important than the haircut.

 

2nd Alternative answer: the image is full frame. I was making the best of my position.

 

3rd Alternative Answer: I dunno. I like cropped heads. If you have a tight shot forced on you, you may as well crop the head than leave a tiny airgap above it, which will then excite the question, "Why didn't you leave a bigger gap?", to which the answer is, "Then I would have REALLY lost his hands and the other marchers wouldn't have been so anonymous".

 

But seriously, I don't know why. I just let the camera do the seeing (sounds pretentious, eh?). I think it works. If you don't think it works for you, then that's a fine position too.

 

 

Tony.

 

I'm with Andrea on this one. It's almost a wonderful photo, but the execution is terribly off and the picture belongs in a shoebox, not on public display--there is no excuse for it and you, of all people, should know better. I'm simply not buying the post-capture rationalisations dude ;-)

 

What you needed to do is adopt Maurice's camera-as-revolver approach and hold the thing above your head pointing down at the subject, thereby excluding the unnwanted heads behind him.

Ho ho master Vuk,

 

'belongs in a shoe box, not on public display', that's pretty strong.

 

I agree, that I'd like to see the man's head in full, but I also like the anonymizing effect of the headless crowd. Maybe your suggestion shooting down from overhead would have worked better,

but hey, it's still a pretty good picture.

 

What I really don't like is the idea of removing pictures from one's p.net portfolio (or suggesting to do so) because it's not perfect (=could have been done better). This applies to probably 99% of all photos here. I like photo.net because there are not only elitist galleries with a handfull of fine art master prints, but also less refined portfolios with room for artistic and/or technical improvement.

 

Take for example Jo Voets portfolio. There are many shots that are not technically perfect, but that's (for me) part of his style and wouldn't want him to delete a single shot from his portfolio.

 

Think of it this way: If only perfect pictures would be on display here, where would the womderful POW discussions go?

The miss here is yours Vuk! This is the singulary most powerful photo in this portfolio of great images. You have totally missed the concept of the composition. Showing the heads would change this from a strong symbolic image, one showing the poignancy of an eldery war vetean, be-medaled, with compatriots, yet alone in a crowd, to just a mundane snapshot. It is a brilliant photograph just as it is.

Thanks Ian for your generous comment. Coming from you, it's a compliment indeed. That your own work is not appreciated to the unlimited extent that it deserves totally baffles me. I hope it doesn't embarass you for me to say this, but I believe you are one of the true "Masters of Light" on photo.net, and one of the best I have seen anywhere, anytime.

 

And Bernhard, your own comment is as erudite and intelligent as I have come to expect from you. Your membership is an asset to this site.

 

Vuk, thanks for the challenge. As always, you make a passionate Devil's Advocate. You bristle with the thrill of battle and prick holes in puffed-up balloons of egotism as and whenever necessary.

 

What I was trying to say to Andrea was that, firstly, I found myself in a crowd situation and had no practical way of moving back or forward to get a better shot. However, in this case my physical position was moot. I actually like the shot for its tight in-camera cropping. On the few occasions when I have held the camera above my head, "heads" is all I've succeeded in capturing. And you tend to lose control of the shot when you do that. In any case, I was not there "on assignment". I didn't have to come back with a picture "or else". So, holding the camera above my head was neither necessary nor desired by me. It was either a voluntary decision, or just didn't occur to me at all.

 

As much as I can remember what I was doing on ANY shot, on this one I must have noticed the way the man's lighter clothes and facial features stood out against the darker background. Then I would have noticed the potential for a representation of "anonymity in the crowd". I recall he had been standing there for a good minute, with the march passing him by, before I exposed the frame, but with his head down. So I waited till he turned his face up and took the picture. I can't pretend that I could read his mind, but on this day of all days, it's a plausible bet he was thinking about his comrades, both fallen and still alive. His hands seemed to be in a kind of prayer-like attitude and his eyes could have been focussing on things long ago and far away. There is also the thought that he would have been a small man, surrounded by larger men and even larger events, now and then. He may have been especially fearful in the front lines because of this brute physical reality. The cropping, to me, helps to depict a sense of privacy or intimacy in the midst of turmoil, one small man in a sea of giants, hinting at events off camera that can only be guessed at, much like "war" itself, or (since I have have never been to war, and don't ever want to) what I imagine war might be like.

 

But Vuk, you ARE right... all this is post-exposure rationalisation. I made the decision to take the photograph, and compounded that decision by posting it. Next time I go to crop a head I'll hear yours (and Andrea's) voices asking me if I couldn't get a better angle on the scene. You make a good point.

 

To all the commenters who have appreciated (or not quite appreciated) this photograph: I relish the fact that you look carefully and thoughtfully at my work. To be judged by your peers on the basis of honest intent is one life's greatest pleasures. Thanks to all of you.

Does anybody know where Tony the Tiger has gone?

I found my pills, Bernhard. They were under the sofa in the living room.

Stunning Tony,

I must say I stared at this image with a tear in my eye thinking about my late Grandfather. I barely remember looking up at him as a small child seeing him with his medals and a look on his face that I had never seen before, as he was preparing for the Anzac march all those years ago. My seven year old Daughter just gave me a hug and asked me if I was ok so I had to give her a bit of a history lesson explaining why we are so lucky today because of the sacrifices made by the diggers over all of the wars from WW1 to Vietnam. (Now it looks as though we may be going through it all again because of one madman). What must have been going through the minds of the diggers yesterday 11th of 11th (rememberence day for those of you overseas) knowing what is going on. Please all, don't forget what they have done for us (that goes for all countries).

 

"Lest we Forget"

 

The photo means a lot but where is his head?

You can find it in the comments above here.

A loner. Facing forward while everyone has their back turned to him. Still, the look on his face is relaxed, content.

I must admit that many people have told me that I have the cropped head "problem", but when I frame my images thats what looks right to me. I've started leaving extra room for heads, and on the sides for 16x20 cropped enlargements when I do work for these people, but I don't like the results as much. Perhaps when I get my portfolio up in the next few months people can let me know if the heads dont work for them. But I like it.

One can't imagine what this gentleman must have been thinking!

 

What an amazingly powerful photo this is, Tony! Congratulations once again, on such a magnificent capture of the moment.

 

With the recent passing of our last ANZAC, this photo invokes more thoughts than than I can handle.

 

A moving photograph, symbolising an even more moving event.

 

Sensational.

 

 

Not so poor imitations... ;-)

Tony, your cutting is perfect. This man is alone with his memories, but these people are a part of his past. But only a part. He may be does not remember the faces of his young friends, it's just a faded memory.

Guys, you know what? Art is about symbols, just try to read them. I somehow believe that Tony knows exactly what and why he is doing.

Tony,

 

Frankly, I was so taken by the eyes of this gentleman, that it wasn't until I went through the comments that I realized I was "missing" the top of his head. In point of fact I wasn't missing it at all, because having it or not having it is not integral to the image (with all due respect to Vuk). As for the other heads, they are no more important to us than they were to the subject at this moment in time. The image requires only one face, one proudly worn set of medals, and sufficient tonal differences to set this man and his thoughts apart. These are more than enough to tell the viewer everything he or she needs to know. More correctly, they are exactly enough.

No thing is missing Perfect feeling

This is photojournalistic excellence. I wouldn't change a thing. I wish I could do this.

Tony, I saw the article and this photo in Australian Photography magazine. I loved it and the article and that is what brought me to this website. I am very much a beginner but really love the photo and the expression on the man's face.