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"Bontsha( the silent) was a human being, he lived unknown, in silence , and in silence he died .He passed through our world like a shadow.

 

When Bontsha was born, no one took a drink of wine, there was no sound of glasses clinking. When he was confirmed he made no speech of celebration.He existed like a grain of sand at the rim of a vast ocean, amid millions of other grain of sand exactly similar, and when the wind at last lifted him up and carried him across the other shore of the ocean, no one noticed, no one at all."

 

I.L. Peretz , ( 1852-1915 )was a Yiddish language author and playwriter)

 

This series is connected to the dance I have lately photographed

 

http://photo.net/photodb/photo?photo_id=10275910

 

And for me , human life, and life as a dance ideas on stage, are many times referring to the same resources of creation.

 

Thanks for viewing

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This series of photos ( to be continued) is street/ documentary.

Please read preface. Thanks

I like that one - they somehow seam to be connected, but they aren't. Congratulations!

Pnina, this image offers a slice of life, everyone busy in their own way,in the real drama of life. Very good composition with nice colours. I like the introduction, which you have mentioned in your earlier image.

!!!!

Pnina;

 

 

I like the composition here, the strong lines, the verticals in particular, both connect and divide the signs of life presented in this scene. I like the way in which the hard light in the foreground throws sharp-lined shadows across the women and the wall.

 

 

From the first moment I opened this page I envisioned this photo in B&W. You have such a wide range of tones here with solid blacks and bright paper whites on either end. I think this is a case where colour detracts from the image by pulling the eye towards the large blocks of colour and tending to reduce the tendency for the eye to wonder and explore all the richness and intricacy which you have captured. In colour the women on the phone and the advertisement on the wall take too much of my attention and some of the more poignant elements such as the 'danger' drawings suspended form the tape or the beautiful cacophony of electric cords hanging in the door-frame do not achieve their full potential. I see this as an image where a B&W rendition with some selective processing could be made to be spectacular.

wonderful image must say, though the frame is really busy, the lively colors of the middle part of the image immediately attract my attention to the woman talking on the phone and the model in the ad behind her who, eavesdropping on the call, seems to be pretty amused with what she hears. The noise of this scene nicely contrasts with the silence of the right part where a man doing his humble job becomes barely noticeable. The composition looks like an original idea, the vertical and horizontal lines dominates the geometry and keeps all the elements together. As Gordon suggests this photo could also be appealing in b&w and lack of color would indeed better expose all the details but for me the color plays its role here as its intensity clearly divides the frame into three parts which, imho, helps the viewer's eyes to organize the journey across the image. The viewer is as if invited to concentrate on the parts of the image and how they relate to each other rather than on the details, whose quite a large number might cause some confusion while looking at b&w. Best regards.

Axel, thanks for your stopping by and writing your point of view, really appreciate it.

 

 

Amal, this is a part of drama in the real "stage" of life.The citation is a part of it, in a literary way. Thanks for your feedback in all of them

 

Drew, it is always a pleasure to see you here and know that you like it. Thanks so much.

 

Gord and wieslaw

 

Thanks both of you for your wide interpretations,they were an interesting evaluations and explanation of your feelings about this one.I will answer both of you as your points of view are a bit different and also adjacent , in your expressing how we as viewers , are Interpreting a photo.

 

Gord, I like your referring to the copy of text of I.L Peretz which talks of the meaning of life even though he tells the story of one human being ( Bontsha the silent). I like your evaluation of the photo's details. I try converting many of my photos to B/W ,and I worked on this one as well.,not only because B/W some time are better for a photo's message, when colors are stripped away, but I see it as an exercise in conversion that is not always easy and I still practice.. Sometimes I see the benefit of B/W right away, and sometimes I have my doubts. In this one I preferred the colored one ,as the vertical colored lines ( Green on the R( framing the working man as wieslaw saw it), blue/orange on the middle and more quiet on the L. It is "explaining" better for me the busy surrounding .

 

So Wieslaw, thanks for your way of interpreting the scene and your explanation of how you see the difference in color and B/W. I liked as well the sense of humor you saw in both women, the real vs.the print....;-))

 

For the sake of discussion and learning about B/W.vs color, I will upload my B/W conversion and please come again and let me know what you think.

 

I will very much appreciate it, It will be an educational experience as well.

Forget to upload so here it is...Thanks

Pnina;

 

I do like the image in B&W. The effect I thought would happen regarding some of the less colourful areas gaining more attention did occur. At the same time I enjoy considering and was educated by, both your reasoning and Wieslaw's and I now have a better appreciation for the colour version.

thank you for uploading the b&w, I don't think we can say that one version is definitely better than the other, I'd rather refer to our tastes here, personally I'm in two minds, I love the tonal range of b&w on the one hand, on the other I still believe the colors, especially the pop ones in the middle part, do a good job here.

I thank both of you for a very interesting fruitful discussion. It was a good lesson how personal parameters of "reading" a photo,and personal taste can influence a critique and how being open to different explained points of view can help us learn to listen to reasoned arguments. Why a given photo is touching our feelings, and accepting another point of view taking it to our attention .

 

I find it simply a wonderful result, how both of you respected each other differences( and mine) and at the same time at the end were closer in understanding and accepting that this photo( in this case, but in others as well) has merit in color and B/W.

 

 

Evaluation done in this way Imo, is the essence of PN as an educational site.

Visually, I think the photo works better in B&W, seeming more unified, pulling all those wonderfully disparate fragments of humanity together. Philosophically, I think the photo works better in color if meant to elicit thoughts consistent with the attached poem. The color version feels like trying to catch hold of something tangible and permanent in a scene of shifting sand. Objectively, of course, few of us are truly significant. Subjectively, if we are lucky and wise, we are significant to our friends and family and perhaps we can derive some sense of meaningful significance for ourselves. You, Pnina, have been significant.

Very interesting evaluation, thanks for adding your point of view

 

 

"The color version feels like trying to catch hold of something tangible and permanent in a scene of shifting sand. " beautiful .

 

 

 

 

I think that the only permanent is the transient...but the transient is our life and has many moments worth preserving, in our memories and through photography , like the scaly metaphorical colors.

 

More than that Jeff, is the significance you have talked about, which are reciprocal ! Thanks so much.

A provocative composition Pnina. To me it seems like a merging between reality and fantasy. In particular, I am taken by how the colors play such a role in "linking" these two worlds. The orange and blue tones seem to interchange between the foreground and background. The model in the background looks eager to step into our real world.

you are right. The juxtaposition of the trio in this surrounding looks like a fantasy ,that life sometimes are very capable of creating, and even though I think that the B/W has merit and maybe more unity, the colors Imo are taking it to the district of another "realm"....

 

A busy scene here, but life is that way isn't it? I like the way the color enforces the connect/disconnect that is going on here. The skin of girl in the poster matches the orange of the sweater and sides of the telephone more than the actual people in the scene. The man's skin connects him to the other figures even though he is boxed off by the door, posts and tape. I find it interesting too that I immediately interpret the girl in the poster as "not real" and the girl on the phone as "real" even though what I am looking at is an image of both.

I have enjoyed looking at all three versions images of this scene. It is interesting to compare the B&W and colour and the different feelings each version conveys. I think the B&W shows off the excellent composition. The different shapes and lines all work together beautifully. I like parallel lines in the posts crossing the lines of the steps, the metal blinds (?). The people are part of, or inside the criss crossing of geometric lines and shapes. The colour highlights the human elements, the oranges really make the people jump out of the manufactured urban jungle. A facinating project you have here. Well done.

 

Happy Hanukkah!

 

Linda

 

 

 

 

 

Thanks both of you for expressing your feelings about this photo. It is interesting points of view , you have well observed the details .

 

Usually I'm a color freak, even though I like B/W and try my best to convert some of my work to it and learn all the time how to do it right. But life are full with colors and here the connected colors of the real , print, and corner in general, the geometric lines ( Linda yes it looks like blinds corresponding to the steps), the seen and un seem ( phone lines) vs. People live and printed, were so strong that B/W was a second choice...;-)) It is a busy surrounding , but I saw also the order in its business.

 

Thanks both of you, and my best wishes for the holidays and coming new year ,to all participants.

 

 

I like the suite of 3 characters from the woman on the phone to the BW guy that seems to talk on the intermediate lady ears...and finally the worker in business as usual attitude totally indifferent...I know it's more easy to say than do but I think this image could have benefited from a closer distance, i.e. shorter focal to engage the viewer.

I think you posted this picture when I was "Jack the Silent"; it's the first time I've seen it. Lots of comment on this picture and most of what I feel has already been said. I like the concentration of color in the middle of the scene, tapering off to near monochrome at the edges. By the way, I see you have a comment from a Mr. Laurent Jaussi. Someone with a similar name used to post here on pnet. I think he emigrated to the moon some time back.

Thanks for your comment after" Jack the silent"...period..... and yes, it is the same Laurent  J . that was one of some good photographers  that has disappeared . I hope he will show up again sometime in the future...