Twisted

Marc, for the longest I was trying to figure out if I were looking at one model or two. I could make the case for both interpretations but now I don't have to try. You seem to have gotten "lucky" on the composition and lighting, but here is a classic example of the saying, "The more I practice, the luckier I get." (Mmm, uh, how many shots did you have to take to get this one? Well, it is hard work, but someone has to do it.) Although the composition is indeed striking, it is the lighting that speaks to me on this one. I am glad that you have "enlightened" us as to your setup. The choice of patterns in the hose was perfect as well. I see no weaknesses in this photo, and it's good to see you hitting the boards with a recognized "winner" again.

In one of the earlier postings, someone mentioned that you shot with the 14n. I used to shoot with and love that camera--with good light. Low light could be nightmarish. Cedar trees and pine trees could be nightmarish even in the best light, with the noise reduction giving a water-colored effect. Here I see no trace of those kinds of problems--either of noise or noise reduction. Did you perchance have to shoot it brighter and then reduce the levels, or is this close to what you got out of the camera?

I can't praise this photo too much. Legs qua serpentine forms were never conceived or executed so beautifully. Imagine letting that python get ahold of one. . . . This is beautifully, tastefully erotic in the fullest and best artistic sense. I would hang this on my wall and show it to my mother. . . although I might keep my final thoughts to myself.

--Lannie

I think its striking and it is really orginal, it takes a longer look to workout exactly what it is and then how the pair of legs are laying. the light the stocking the whole scene is for me a pleasure to look. If I saw this in a gallery and had a place to hang it I would be wanting to buy it. I think the series must go on and then be displayed.

I love this. Technically fine, and unlike some other commenters I find it artistically and aesthetically well made. The disconcerting pose - completely natural in a normal setting as you say, but seemingly contorted and painful in isolation - and the effort I need to make to unravel the image is part of the enjoyment to me. I also enjoy the idea (intentional or not?) of a picture hiding its subject in plain sight as it were; most people find legs and other body parts to be very emotional on an instinctive level but here they're abstracted away and hidden from our instincts. We know what we're looking at but our low-level emotions don't, and I suspect that this conflict is part of why some people find it vaguely distasteful or uncomfortable.

The one thing I perhaps do not like are the tights the model is wearing. They are a bit too patterned for this, I think, and give the shapes structure that they don't really need.

I think the angle of attack that was used to capture the model is just perfect. It maximizes the use of lighting and shadow and focuses on the shapes and pattern. Who was it that photographed a green pepper with similar results?

I find the image strange and disconcerting. And I suppose that is a good thing. It elicits emotions, much like pop and modern art do. It is not my comfort zone, but I am glad you are able to see and portray the unique. It's what makes art, art.

Thanks for all the comments. Just a couple of replies about some of the questions raised so far…

Michael Seewald: Your comment about Esher hits the nail right on the head... Esher was clearly a strong inspiration for this series - especially this picture. And the other inspiration was Hans bellmer's series about stockings. Here's just an example I have managed to find on th web just now:

http://search3.famsf.org:8080/view.shtml?keywords=bellmer%20hans&artist=&country=&period=&sort=&start=1&position=4&record=53129

Starvy, James : You might be right about the light. I'm satisfied with what I got here - mostly wanted a real 3-D feel -, but there are probably ways to improve it...

Eddy and Lannie : What you both wrote about the 14N is quite true. There have been some major improvements since the Kodak 14N first appeared on the market, and fortunately I’m working with the latest version, but nevertheless, it remains mostly a studio camera and can’t really be used above 80 in terms of ASA setting, unless you like heavy noise… At an iso rating of 80, noise is ok, but you still have to do a lot more color & contrast adjustments than with most of the latest Nikon and Canon cameras. The only really good point about the kodak remains its sharpness.

Ken, Jim, Michael, Carl, Lannie, Margaret, thanks for the kind words.

Mac Moss and Janne : I couldn’t agree more with what you both wrote about the “non-sexual” nature of such abstractions.

Just to be fair to the model, who has « lend » her legs for this picture - and who had to be quite patient on her little table ! :-) -, I need to mention her name: Marine Vicendone, from Paris. Here’s her website – on which you’ll see a couple of other pictures I took of her during the same session : http://www.malia2.book.fr/
And finally, here’s a link to an article on lighting where I explained how another picture from the same series – and a couple of other pictures too – were created, using the same beauty dish in a few different ways, combined with different lights : http://www.lencarta.com/2009021759/marc-gouguenheim-on-lighting/index.php

Marc, I share Margaret's feeling that the image feels strange and disconcerting, but not in a bad way. This might be because one expects legs to show feminine curves rather than oddly pretzeled straight(ish) lines in a (mostly) square package.

On a more personal note, congratulations on this 2nd POW and many thanks for your engaging critiques, insights and shared experiences over the years. Pnet would not be the same without your participation.

I'd say this is photography in verse, but still very much photography.

If you squint your eyes, and look at it as a piece of geometry or structure it has a nice balanced feel. The contours could be that of a sinuous tree or even a boa constrictor.

When one looks closer and longer, and one is compelled to do so, we see it is a pair of high style hosiery/tights encasing a nice set of limbs, in a position we could only wonder at without the diagram. But who cares, it shows a nice piece of imaginative thinking and execution of an idea... And that I can admire and enjoy. Good offering, Marc. Compliments to you- und die elvenwerks... gs

When reviewing any photo it's a big bonus if one is able to see other works from the same photographer as well because it can provide context on a aesthetical as much as on a technical level. Here we have that advantage. In this instance I see a photo that posesses a lot of qualities to be admired but to be fair it will certainly not appeal to everyone so contrary to Mac I can understand why it doesn't find appreciation with everybody. For me it holds appeal on both levels although I think that as an abstraction it would probably work better in b&w altough that may be a personal bias.
Knowing by now your inspiration for this photo I sooner would have thought of Jean-Loup Sieff myself btw.

and before I forget, congratulations

Marc I feel it is always hard to critique your work. Your pictures tend to be done with miticulas detail when it come to light, pose and concept. This one is of no exception. If I were to change anything it would be the crop, seems a little crowded. Either way I like it very much.

Marc, I like every aspect of this photo. Color, lighting, absract qualities, texture...just a very interesting photo and it grabbed my attention from the thumbnail. Congratulations on POW, again!

Ah voilà une bas-bleu qui n'en est certainement pas une mais, vu la couleur des collants, je ne peux éviter cette petite plaisanterie. Que tu me pardonneras, comme entrée en matière.
Je suis ravie pour toi de te voir en POW et je commence par t'en féliciter. Tout ton travail le mérite amplement.
Maintenant la photo elle-même, j'aime particulièrement la douceur de la lumière du studio qui crée des lignes harmonieuses, sans ombres brutales.
La jambe gauche est tout-à-fait gracieuse et fine, malgré le motif du collant qui, photo-"graphiquement" est intéressant mais qui, à porter, n'affine pas la jambe. Et cela se confirme sur le jambe droite , surtout ce qu'on voit de la cuisse, sous la cuisse gauche, qui paraît plutôt un peu.... comment dire... replet.
Je ne suis pas certaine du choix carré car il tasse ces deux jambes croisées comme deux serpents enfermés dans une boîte trop petite. Un format paysage aurait donné de la longueur à ces jambes qui, je suis certaine sont longues et fines.
Cependant, l'ensemble est agréable à regarder grâce à un point essentiel : la pose en pointe du pied du modèle, à la danseuse. Et pour moi cela fait tout dans cette photo.
And now I try a translation :
Ha this is a bluestocking who certainly is not, but the tights color can't prevent me about making this so so joking, sure you will forgive me.
I'm very pleased and congratulate you to see you as a POW . Your whole work completely deserves it.
And now the picture itself. I especially like the studio soft light which creates delicate lines, without strong shadows.
The left leg is perfectly lovely, neat and fine despite of the tights drawings which is good for a graphical construction but not really to make an elegant pair of legs.
I'm not sure about the square format which "compresses" these crossed two legs as could be two snakes in a too small box. A landscape format would have made these pair of legs appearing thin and longer, imho.
However, the whole photo is pleasant to look at due to an essential point : the left foot pose as a dancer one. For me this make all for this photo.
Keep up the good work, Mark, hasta la vista !

 

small transidealization, if you allow. thank you. great shot! best regards g.
http://img99.imageshack.us/img99/5330/8499218lgfc.th.jpg

The image is distinct, and quality is excellent. It took me a short while to figure out the pose. The two legs were packed into a square, like a symbol or a capital letter N. The stocking adds texture to the image and had very vivid details. The little flesh tone under made image look very lovely. The lighting formed beautiful tone on one upper leg (on right side of image). The 3D feeling, the rounded shape and shade are truly lovely and beautiful. The leg on the left side of image feels squizzed, not as relaxed. Both lower legs and foot don't look proportional, and are less appealing. Overall, the legs appear to me very thick, short, and muscular. The bluish coloe brings a little cold and hard feeling to the image.

maybe try to think of a deeper concept, or a concept to begin with. not much going on here but some girls legs in tights.

Very intriguing. Well done. The one thing that bothers me a little are the toes (or the apparent lack there of) on the top leg. It's probably just the tights, but to me it appears that all the toes were cut off, leaving it looking oddly distorted. I think I would like to see both feet pointed to give the legs the allure of a dancer, which type of dancer is up to the imagination. :) I think it would accommodate a more senuous and provocative feel. Either way. Well done and Congrats!!

beatiful shot, very good light and compotition, congratulations

Thanks for your comments. Adam Mills raised an interesting point in the original thread:
"maybe try to think of a deeper concept, or a concept to begin with. not much going on here but some girls legs in tights"
I was in fact hoping for some discussion about content or concept, besides the form - which has been well analyzed during this POW week. I can certainly understand, that some - and perhaps "most" - people may find the content a bit "light" here...:-) The question I'd like to raise is this one: can an unusual form, i.e. can some formal "finding" open the door to some conceptual content - or not...? I'm not sure, but that's the kind of challenge I was trying to work with, in this case... Would have been nice to read some thoughts on this difficult matter - which is not a small matter, I think, based on the number of strange and interesting forms that we find in museums nowadays, often with apparently very little content. That's perhaps typically what "abstraction" in arts is all about anyway...
Thanks again for your contributions. Best regards.

Wow! This image sure did evoke alot of interesting opinions! I wish I had so much to say but really I'm just with the guy who quoted the ZZ top song!
Simply put, this works for me Marc! Line and form texture and lite, crop, post... all good!!!
Well done!

The image would be much better if it had been taken of a girl with long slender legs instead of a woman with size 16.

...which is exactly why it works so beautifully. Its a great image, composition is just perfect as is the shadow play. Abstract doesn't have to be full of soul searching concept.

A couple of days after this POW on photo.net, somebody saw it, and here's what followed:
http://www.crimsonkaie.com/2009/04/marc-gouguenheim-nice-france.html
http://www.cameraobscura.ro , a romanian online magazine, contacted me as well after this POW & will publish a series of 10 portraits of mine in their June issue.
Thanks again to all of you for your thoughts and support. And thanks again to the Elves.
Best regards.

Marc,
This would make a good ad for Fashion mags...I have a pair of those tights and when I wear them--Look-out! I like the lighting because it gives it a quality of mystery--who's the lady? How great that she can hold the pose. Technical stuff aside,it's a good photo--putting someone who is so obviously flesh and blood in a contortionists (sic) pose and boxing her. I like it--reminds me of that S&M thing. I want to reach out and touch those legs,feel the rough texture of that second skin....like a snake shedding it's old skin,she will have to take it off some time but while it's on...the tautness is riverting...

There's a shadow on the far leg that makes it appear that there's a third leg behind it, and the far leg is anemic. It took me a while to figure out what was going on.

That's a problem.

Bill P.