single photos The mistress

I cannot add to Luca's comment and other positive ones except to say that the title seems to be subjective and that by me is inappropriate. I conjured up different story until your title spoiled it.

There is a lot to think about here.  Several objects in the photo do not depict desparation - the suitcase and her shoes are new, her stockings are perfect and her dress is in fashion.  Yet, the woman and the scene convey something entirely different - there is a vibrant sense of desparation in this photo.  She appears to be just barely hanging on.  The vertical compression lends mightely to the image and in my view is also what sets it apart.  Great stuff.

Beautiful picture. Not to sound nitpicky, but does it hurt to take the time to fill in the details of how this photograph was taken. Camera used? Film? ASA? Shutter speed? Location? C'mon guys. I see so many really great photos on here and no info sort of makes me lose interest and so I move on.

It wants to be a square... t

as soon as i saw the thumbnail in POW with Christines's name above it i was delightfully shocked and muttered out loud "well, it's about time!." ...Christine's photos are surreal, satirical, theatrical par excellence, and her imagination and HUMOR never dissapoints. ... so i opened the thumbnail and my immediate flash reaction (like .10 of a second) was that okay the basic technical elements are fairly flawless, as usual; then, the big reaction, i was immediately drawn to that ludicrous expression on the woman's face, and to that rather sexy shaped leather chair so incongruous in that dilapedated space with its chipped and cracked dumpiness (oh yea she's been "dumped") and the useless old farm wheel. then i read the title and me thinks: haha for sure, like in an old movie, the kept woman, nicely kept, in her sexy dress and shoes, lovely stockings, jewelry, hairdo and leather chair is waiting to be transported with suitcase from nice "things" to nice "place" someehere... but like a scene from Samuel Beckett, Waiting for Godot comes to mind, that priceless facial expression of anxiety, frustration, and yearning uncertainty, and the hand almost trying to hide it, is a pure Diepenbroek satire... a little more tame and subtle then Christine's usual, because the horror and the pathos aren't as strikingly humorous here, but it's all there... an unnatural scene, imaginatively wrought (oh that creative mind! lol) of the Mistress, finally antcipating being swept away instead of nicely kept in the squalor of being tied and used... yes, the subject is tight and centered, but that's why i was immediately drawn to her faceial expression and clothing which so quickly reflected the title. the tilt towards the light is nice, because that's where the Mistress is tilted in her mind, towards the light, and away from a sparingly but effectively staged squalor. the tones are stark, the tight crop is tense, suiting the squalor and her shabby chic outfit... she's anxious, she's waiting with her utility styled suitcase next to a farm cart wheel... yea, she's been dumped, poor soul. nice job, Christine; you're just as effective with a little subtle as your are with screaming the joke of life. fabulous, regardless of the nit picking in the discussion... brava! take a bow! ;-} dp

I like it. The lighting and positioning are such that the viewers eye is drawn naturally from top left to lower right, with the suitcase being the terminal object. The lighting creates a bit of drama, the wardrobe is muted and fits the overall image well. Plenty of texture and tone. Where I feel it could be improved upon:

The right side negative space is too large, it creates a visual void which attempts to draw the viewers eye away from it's natural path. I would crop the right edge slightly, leaving the post and a touch of wall to the right of the post.

As others have noted, it's cropped a wee bit to tight top and bottom, if this were matted and framed it would feel tighter than it is. Just a little more space, not a lot.

I'm at odds with the size of the shadow on the lower left. It feels too large and strong, perhaps just a little dodging to soften and blend the upper shadow into the lower, creating flow with the rest of the lighting.

An otherwise well executed presentation.

The suitcase and the wheel juxtaposition, added to the way the woman is seated , and her gaze, looks like she is waiting to some sort of transportation". The light is nice, I think as well that a squre would have been better ,also the title is a bit bizarre and imo has no real connection to the subject.Christine has works that are really interesting and is a skilled photographer with good imagination This work has not the " punch "for me as some other works have. ".

Here's a second to everything that Donna has said. I think Christine nailed this one, perfectly.....

Great lighting, the tight landscape perspective does not do it justice . I would have preferred an even wider angle, taking in more of the environment or else a vertical shot maybe leaving out the wheel. A head and shoulders shot would have been nice here too. As I said already, great lighting. As I consider it, the wider angle taking in more of the scene would have been my first choice. Congrats on p.o.w.

a superb scene with wonderful symbolisim and amasing contrasts, the subject with"that ï'll look anywhere but look at you"look, the wheel sybmbolising flight of some type, the well coifured smooth as silk subject in her rough textured surroundings, a place not of her choosing maybe.
i also agree with what Donna wrote

It's about time Christine's work is highlighted. Bravo.

I want to say thank you for the very intensive discussion. It was interesting for me, to see the different kind of views of the photo-net-people.

Thanks a lot to Donna Palotta - she get the intention and the spirit of the pic in the right way - that I want to say with it.

Christine von Diepenbroek

So it is satire after all. Well, thank you, Christine, and thank you, Donna.

One thing that I wanted to add is that, amidst all of the discussion about the tight crop (and I would like to hear from Christine on that issue, that is, whether that was deliberate or not), we seem to have missed an in-depth discussion of the wonderful range of tones in this picture. They are virtually all "earth tones," and they are wonderful in their range and in their subtlety.

Again, Christine, congratulations on a work that I cannot view too long: the longer I look at that form and that expression and those wonderful shades of brown and black, the more I want to look. I think that it is in many respects a true masterpiece.

--Lannie

Brand new member here. Hi!
While I can appreciate the interpretations of symbolism in the picture I'd like to take a different (technical) perspective.
Nobody (unless I missed it) has mentioned the Golden Mean or 'Fibonacci's sequence' (also referred to, mistakenly, as Fibonacci's Ratio).
It's almost a textbook application of the sequence to develop the composition. (and Basically, Fibonacci's sequence applies a spiral which takes the eye on a 'journey' round the image. I say 'almost' because I think (and this might just be Christine's 'breaking of the rules') if the photo had been cropped at the doorpost on the right, and more 'light' given on the left - not too much; there's enough there now to give a sense of the subject looking into and past that 'space', then the spiral might have begun at the subject's head.
It's more usual I think, to begin the spiral further to one side. Imagine a grid of lines intersecting to form 9 squares. The spiral might begin at the intersection of the top right 4 squares. Centering the subject in the way Christine has done, doesn't allow the spiral to begin there. I think in this case it was necessary to 'break the rules' of composition.
For me however, in the way it appears now (i.e. without cropping) my eye begins at her left hand and the ring. It goes around her hand, then arcs out to the wheel, down around the suitcase, her shoes keep transcribing that arc at different levels, up the left side of the chair, continuing along her arm to her face.
At this point we wonder what she is thinking, or looking at. There's a story here, given the title.
That's all we need.
However, if the picture hadn't been severely cropped top and bottom, I can see the Fibonacci sequence continuing into a secondary spiral. And although we traverse part of the original arc, it can be incorporated into this second spiral.
OK, let's continue, from her head, across a faint shadow on the wall behind her, to pick up the lighter patch of plaster on the wall above the wheel. follow that patch along and down until you pick up the suitcase's shadow. Now here is where we go over old ground, using her shoes again in the arc. Then, follow the crack in the floor on the left, and up the wall - there is a faint arc in the plaster, enough to let us continue up to her face again. Another spiral that has returned us to wondering about her expression.
We can take it further. Imagine a spiral from her right elbow across her shoulders to her ring hand, to the hem of her skirt, - the slight exposure of her thigh is a new focus - to the shadow 1/3 of the way up the chair - and right back to her face again. The spiral is in fact a circle.
A truly marvelous image in my opinion. Wondering if Christine had consciously arranged the composition according to that principle.

Elves !
I'm really sorry for asking things that should have not been asked
last week.
I bow my head to you !
Let's hold hands and think pure thoughts !

Now to the facts:
Ha ha ha ! Michael F, you made it !
Quote: " Golden Mean or 'Fibonacci's sequence' "
I will add the Newton binome ;)

The photo is nice.
I like the light, the model and somehow the composition.
Exposure is right.

Even the title is right: packed as the I.R.S. was close :)

Thank you !

If applying ratios, rules and geometrical proportions was sufficient to make good photos, I guess most of us would be masters of photography.

(No specific reference to this photo and it's author).

If applying ratios, rules and geometrical proportions was sufficient to make good photos, I guess most of us would be masters of photography.

Good point. I'm not suggesting that we take out our rulers and protractors to measure the scene we want to photograph. All the calculation ought to be done with the eye, while using these established means of producing pleasing compositions. Achieving that level takes practice. We can't ignore the human touch either; using our senses of humour, or irony, or satire - to make the viewer think, or feel certain emotions. Photographic skills are paramount, which goes without saying.
Many photographers do manage to combine all these skills and it shows in their photos. I do believe that those same photographers are using (even unconsciously) the principle I outlined above, as well as other compositional techniques. And that is why they are masters of their art, even to the point of being able, with confidence, to break the rules and emerge with a winning image.
So, I agree entirely with your remark.

To describe a Fibonacci Sequence in this photo as a "technical aspect" is, IMO, anything but a technical ability, but rather a highly imaginative and open way of seeing things.

True. Who used the term "technical aspect"?

The real hit would be seeing the Fibonacci sequence before taking the photo and composing accordingly.

The real hit would be seeing the Fibonacci sequence before taking the photo and composing accordingly.
Exactly! But 'seeing' that in the scene, I'd argue, takes practice and experience. It's like overlaying the spirals on to the scene.
I believe it was me (in my first few lines of my original post) who mentioned a 'technical perspective'. I guess we need to nail down a definition of 'technical' here.
At high school I studied 'technical drawing' - using a T square and compasses to draw, naturally, technical drawing. We used geometry and mathematics and an understanding of perspective to come up with such drawings.
On the other hand we are familiar with 'technical specifications' of - say, a camera or a cell phone: dimensions, weight, etc.
Perhaps that's where the confusion lies.
Therefore, given these different meanings of 'technical' I would maintain that in the way I used the term, and given that the Fibonacci sequence relies on the technique (derived from technical??) of geometry and measurement, I was not entirely wrong.
In a later post I tried to amend that perspective, because by itself, the FS won't produce a pleasing picture. Other factors, including subjective ones such as decisions to break the rules (or indeed follow the rules), even of the Fibonacci Sequence, and other such 'rules' of composition, come into play.
While we seem to be disagreeing on the meaning of the term 'technical', I believe we agree that the basic process of taking a photograph - the 'seeing' and the composition (however we come up with it) and pressing the button seems easy, but in fact is anything but a simple process - if we are caring about a decent image.

Let me also add that the act of taking a photo is a highly complex thought process. So, yes, indeed the Fibonacci Sequence IS a highly imaginative way of seeing things (forgive me if I've misquoted you here) that relies for success on its 'technical aspects' (as I understand the meaning of the word).

i also agree with Donna. It is a story-use your imagination. It's really perfectly imperfect.

the light source enhanced everything. it has provided character even on the walls

The theartricality in this image is too 'am-dram' to really take me anywhere. The props are too obviously props, the woman is too obviously acting, the whole thing is just too set up and self conciously stagey. I suppose all that can be quite intresting if the image and narrative are right ( thinking for instance of Gregory Crewdson) but here it lacks ambition and aspires more to be an episode in a soap opera than someting that actually touches me.

Perfect. Christine does it again. There is nothing about this image that I can negatively criticize. Donna, you were right on! No need to repeat those comments except to add another +1. Creativity, thy name is Christine (plus superb execution of those ideas).
Regards, John