Old Trick

Steve,

 

Great photograph. I love the symmetry as the plumb cuts the photo in half and the hands follow suit. Great colors, razor sharp. Keep it up!

This is the second PoW with a plumb bob in it, I think. Dave Nitsche had one, but in this one the weight is hanging vertically. This photo is well done, even though it is a setup, and the symmetry somehow avoids being boring.

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Clearly, the mime cannot protect itself from the mighty angry red Plumb Bob.

 

Go Plumb Bob!

Someone should superimpose an angry face on the mighty red plumb bob for those of us with no real imagination.

I have never seen a piece of art such as this. There is so much symbolism I cannot

determine exactly what it is trying to convey, and that is not a bad thing! The color red is

amazing in contrast to the off-white hands. I see an embrace, a hand "holding up"

something, the thin red-line that holds the object, symmetry is beautiful. This is an

interesting and abstract piece of work that strikes emotion, I don't know what to exactly

think of it. Good job!

This is a very naughty picture indeed. Well done.

Technically great, but it doesn't really speak to me.

Focus and exposure are great... but the overall result doesn't seem all that great.

The point of saying the photo isn't manipulated. Why is that worth noting? Is a surreal (contrived) image more impressive because it uses the physicality of a cloud backdrop and painted hands in a single shot? This is an illustration with props rather than Photoshop layers. Hands without obvious heavily-caked white paint would better maintain the surreal "suspension of belief" and that could be done better with "manipulation" (as if painting skin wasn't manipulation). I can respect the craft of the single shot setup, but not as much as I'd respect an image with more impact.

 

To me this is an image in search of a context. On its own, there's not enough visual or literary (the title) punch for the image to stand on its own. It might work as an illustration for another work, but that requires an alignment of planets nobody can predict.

 

Perhaps I'm missing something in this image, but lots of surreal images with intentionally obtuse titles are nothing more than what you see. I see a pretty shot, competently shot, with aspirations...

Congratulations on Your POW Steve.

 

To me this photo represents hours of set up to get the light perfect, Steve's sister's hands held up in just the right position and held very very still until the triangles were in the perfect proportion to be visually the most appealing. I think a bit off the top might be good to make the amount of blue comparable to the amount of white and red. As red is a dominant color I think the amount of red is what the rest of the colors should play to.

 

This kind of set up appeals to me as an unusual wall hanger for a modern decor in a home. Somehow a landscape or sunset just would not be the same with modern furniture and other wall coverings.

 

When looking at this I first thought of Faucault's pendulum in the Pantheon in Paris. pendulum

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pendulum

Hi Steve. The photo can easily manipulate to produce the same result but you choose the hard and long way. For that, I admire your passion.

Although simple, there is something about the image that provokes thought. I see many things, but at first this came to mind: The "plumb bob" and line are nearly perfect... symetrical, while the hands (much like humans in general) are imperfect, "reaching" for perfection, but not quite attaining it. The hands are very interesting... each looking different in many subtle ways, including the way the light hits them. I agree the paint could have shown less "wrinkles", but it doesn't distract too much from the overall experience. By the way, congrats on using available natural light! Next I began to see other things: the shape formed in the space between the hands and the plumb, the rigidness of the line/plumb, the resemblence of the hands to other natural things like flowers, a woman's "embrace" (how's that for dancing around the subject?), the line/plumb forming an arrow... a spear (OK, by now my mind is stuck on the sexual representations, so I'll have to take a break and look again later... no doubt seeing other things/ideas)

I like images of this sort -- they make you wonder -- now, what might that mean, what did the artist intend, what might it mean to me? And then, with the right image and concept, there's a reward -- of the beauty of the elements & the image, and the concept that it represents. Though of course it's easy to juxtapose arbitrary visually complementary or uncomplementary objects and proportions and to associate opaque ides with them, only images that have some worthwhile conceptual content work for me.

 

I can inject some meaning into this image. Steve's title and commentary on his web site provide some propellant. The rest will have to be from the viewers' minds, and if the ideas are shared by the artist, then it's pleasant communication.

 

I can't quite figure out the point of the painted hands though. What's not good enough about unpainted hands? The "lily" concept I suppose, but the price for that stronger association, I think, was too high in what it cost in distance from humanity. Not to mention the 50 bucks..

Overall I find this weeks pick interesting. But interesting like a firework that goes bang and gets ones attention but fades fast. The image did not hold my attention for long though, and as I came back to see how our peanut gallery comments were adding up, I realized it needed a dash of improving, crop wise, as most do. Congrats Steve on making people think. Crop suggestion follows. Notice how you study the image much longer, making it more successful because of it, like a firework that you think is over but then explodes lots of little ones, grabbing even more attention. Blessings, Michael Seewald

Thanks everyone for taking your time looking and commenting on little creation of mine. I feel really honor for this photo to be chosen as POW.

Like I have mentioned in my comment (goosh that was close to 2 years ago), I was at awe and inspired to see such simple and effective apparatus being devised, which lead to the creation of this image.

Michael: Technically speaking, the idea of having the red string extending from the top was that I want the viewers to travel, to move their eyes, to "force" a movement from top to the center. One of the hardest things to achieve in creating a concept like this was to hold the viewer?s interest and to keep them exploring the image, to keep them busy so to speak. By cropping the top imho, would reduce such an effect quite dramatically. I appreciate your thoughtful attempt and effort nevertheless.

- steve -

Steve, your forcing them into your scene with so much space is a nice idea but does not quite work. I see your portfolio, and as nice as most of the images are, have quite a few 'loose' in this manner- basically '35mm rectangular locked'. I too had this, basically, 'non-cropping mode' mentality until I purchased a medium format 2 1/4 square (there are some that won't break the bank). Now I'm not locked into any one cropping 'formula'. I crop for a more successful image, and whatever has to go does and whatever the dimension ends up being is not important.

 

A person that gives too much space to an area without something to bring the eye back around (to the 'interesting area'- that of the bob and hands) is doomed to get rid of the viewer quickly instead of keep them. This is because when the eye goes to an area to view it, which it does readily when you give it so much prominence and there is nothing to see, as this image does, it gets bored and leaves. Sorry, it's something you can't stop from happening, it just does. With my cropping, you are not, as the viewer, allowed to 'escape' out the top. To check if this is not the case, count how long you look at your crop before you are 'done', then do the same with mine. You will notice if you are honest, that you will stay in longer with the tighter crop as now you are not allowed to escape out the top and are 'forced' to study the beauty in the hands a lot longer, actually seeing detail there that you did not study before. Besides, the balance is much nicer and you end up with a 'circular composition'. (Notice how if you draw a line around the main points of interest you create a circle with the top of the bob completing it. This is stronger and nice for the eye to move around and not be able to leave. The center of interest is now not locked dead center either, making it stronger still.

 

Bottom line, you want people saying of your art "You go in and you don't come out". To make great art continually is not luck- its skill from much thought and practice. Some things are subjective, but some are objective. This is one of the objective ones.

 

I hope this helps you. Blessings, Michael

CROP:

 

I love and share your passion for "working" on a photo. Although I enjoy taking many photos of nature and non-set-up events I get the most joy out of creating a scene and using photography as a medium of art and expression. Great idea, great execution, and great description of your technique.

 

As for constructive suggestions: I agree with Michael Seewald's comments about cropping. Cropping is a very effective and simple way to enhance the artistic expression of a photo. In the old days this could only be done by those with access to their own printing. Now, with digital processing, it so easy, so quick, and you can try it many ways until you get what you like. For this photo I like Michael's crop, but that's just my opinion and its your photo... again great job and keep on paying your sister.

mark

I always love this part of the discussion if you can call it that. I can see some merit in the cropped version but that does not mean it is the superior treatment or that it conveys what the photographer had in mind when creating the photograph. The black border in the cropped version was as much of a compositional element as the photograph itself. Some things are objective? Get a clue.

 

Forget the POW anyway, I want to know more about Michael and how he sells his photographs sight unseen to people to finance his world wide trips. That sounds like a great scam. Are all those quotes on your website real or do you just prefer constantly referring to yourself in the third person? I feel like posting testimonials to yourself and your workshops on photo.net is a bit of an over-sell.

 

Also in my experience, hanging your photographs for free in a cafe does not constitue a gallery show.

And yes Dennis, I have a series of my work in a very nice, large cafe in Carmel. I had my first showing (in that area) at the Josephus Daniels Photography Gallery back in 1989, (their first color show) and one recently about a year ago in a painting gallery in Carmel Valley. They took my art out after a few months as their 'regular sales' of paintings had fallen flat... she said everyone preferred the photos but did not want to pay the same amount as a painting, and then they did not want the paintings anymore! Oh well. But my collectors around that area appreciate the chance to see some new work. Thanks for visiting the site. Blessings, Michael

Well done it is, Steve. Nothing much to improve imo. And I side with the photographer to say, that the vertical movement along the string keeps the eyes traveling. It also seems, that this verticality is what this image is all about. The exact meaning of this picture is in my opinion unclear, but there is quite obviously something coming from the sky, and a receiving man trying to either capture it, or to control it. Man looking for the right balance in life maybe...? Some may even see sexual symbols in this image... Interesting, anyway... To answer the elves questions, I'd add that this kind of imagery reminds me pretty much of the photo-illustrations available in various stock catalogs. The kind of image that works well with a strong headline for an ad - although I'm perhaps left with too many question marks on my mind to imagine right now a good application for this one. Interesting but quite enigmatic to me... Some may see it as a weakness, some as a strong point...

Steve/All the others,

 

I am an amateur photographer and so my views/opinions/comments may sound a little offending, while my intentions are not really that. May be I have to be tamed to look at things, like a pro. So please do not mistake me and do forgive me, if you feel that my opinion is rude.

 

This photograph looks very simple to me. I do understand that Steve has taken lot of pains to take this picture (like painting the hands, aligned the camera's cross wires exactly vertical etc). From a Pro's view, what is so amazing about this picture? Can you list few points?

 

Regards

As a fellow amateur photographer, Rajesh Krishnamohan read my mind. I was thinking the same. I've seen this picture on the front page a few times during the last week and still can't seem to "get" it. Now I can appreciate the work that's behind the making of such an image, but as for conveying any message or meaning, it fails miserably with me. No offense to other people, their opinions and Steve Chong himself, but this is my honest feeling and I felt a need to express it. Cheers!

I must say I agree with the 2 previous comments (Rajesh and Kjartan) ... and there are many other and far more interesting pictures in the portfolio of Steve to be chosen for discussion IMHO... the background looks fake and flat, so are the hands, and the red color chosen for the pendulum, which set up just in the mid, doesnt fit much the rest of this virtual image...