Close Encounter of the Third Kind.

"The fact that this photo has inspired so many to comment, is evidence of the power Mr Saad Salem's photo has on people."

No, it's not. It's evidence that it's put up on a site of tens of thousands of people as the one photo in a week to be critiqued with a little more seriousness than is usually done on regular critique pages. It's getting so many comments because there are many things to comment about. Some of those things are interesting, some quite dull, some powerful, some weak, some serious, some silly. The amount of comments has ABSOLUTELY NOTHING to do with how interesting or powerful a picture is.

If it were any other picture it would get just as much attention. If it were so profound it would have had a lengthy conversation about it well before it made POW.

No David, it is silly to think that they are aware of each other without any evidence. If you live in any kind of urban environment you will meet several hundred people a day and they will barely register beyond the need not to collide with them. There is a vast body of evidence that we are essentially blind to strangers and to detail (Google "change blindness" or "failure to detect changes to people during a real-world interaction" for starters).

The second part of your comment is more accurate. People are erecting an entirely false narrative around this photograph that is probably driven by the dominant media theme of cultural clash. The photo is a cliche that connects directly to that theme and that was why I said it is manipulative. In fact the subversive reading of it is to realise there is no evidence to support any of the statements people made about feeling superior, feeling jealous, feelings of self-worth and so forth. In terms of interactions between strangers the photo shows three people walking up hill who are passing another person going down and that is all. Everything else is based on prejudice and says more about the viewer than it does about the photograph.

The point has been made earlier by Jeff Bedow for starters and its significance was discounted by Fred, but I think the image is a particularly revealing example of Tableau Rasa because it invites us to judge women of various ages and dress and there seems to be a class of bloke who just can't help themselves when given an opportunity to do that.

The photograph has content but it's lacking alot.
The message is almost too obvious and there is really nothing else keeping the photo together. Take out either the muslim women or the woman in the bikini and there is nothing more to say about the photo. The people are totally disengaged and uninterested in each other there is no interaction happening. It almost looks like a candid paparazzi shot of a celebrity.

There's something there but doesn't cut it as a decisive moment.

Richard, reread your first paragraph and then go back and reread mine. You contradicted yourself and reaffirmed my comment about

acknowledging the others' existence to navigate. That, as well, is not an urban environment, and since there aren't hundreds of people

right there, I'm sure they realize the other exists. They are merely feet apart. Look at where the bikinied girl's shadow is falling. Do you

see what I see?

Pamukkale sanırım :) yorum yok...

David, since you pitched your question directly at me I guess I should reply. I'm happy to leave our exchange about what it means to be "aware" of somebody as it stands since it is pretty obvious what we are each saying. According to www.pamukkale.org the place sees over 1,400,000 visitors a year, which sounds pretty urban to me but I have never been there so I am glad to hear that it is still possible to have a wilderness experience there. All I can really tell about the bikinied woman's shadow is that it appears to be falling into a slight depression - various people have mentioned it but to me it seems like just another one of those weird nit-picky things people obsess over in this forum.

I'm not sure, Fred. I seldom comment on POWs because it's very time consuming. I prefer to read and, if necessary, re-read every critique or comment before offering my own, so it takes up a lot of time to commit to following up on comments in POW discussions.

In my case, I'd already seen and critiqued this photo about a week before it was selected for the POW forensics. I tend to critique only photos that really impress me in some way, even if unfavorably. And I don't often follow up. So, while my participation here isn't statistically significant, in this case my three or four comments are related as much to the photo itself as to the micro-zeitgeist of the POW thread. In general, tho', the POW discussions seem to attract a flurry of participation based primarily on the other comments and debates rather than on the photos themselves.

I'll admit to being bemused by the reactions to this photo - which itself impresses me on a fairly surface level as being the sort of wonderful candid slice of life that I'd be pleased to have in my own portfolio - but I suppose the debates are part of what makes the POW process so vital.

Come to think of it now, you're probably correct. Apart from the POW process, I probably would have commented on this photo only once. Now I'm on my fourth (?) excessively wordy reply. Yup... you were correct in the first place. I should just delete my reply, but where's the irony in that?

My apologies Richard. I had a response for you to but that one was for

Patrick. I got distracted halfway through.

Thank you for your reply. For the shadow, it is almost perpindicular to the first older woman. My observation was that at

some point the young woman would have been nearly in front of the group. I'm sure someone adjusted their path to avoid

the other so someone is aware of the other. This is probably a pointless point to discuss though.

The photographer says they laughed at the bikinied woman. Whether he is correct or not is irrelevent because I choose to

believe they did. This is a trveler's shot and carries some leeway, not an editorial shot by Robert Capa. We get to make

the story.

Actually, that reply was for you Richard. For some reason, on the iPhone, a bunch of the posts are missing and some of the names for each post are shifted up or down. Hmmm, scrolling up, I just noticed about 20 or so comments were deleted. Being on my desktop now I'm assuming I'm seeing this correctly.

Fantastic image. The meeting of two different culture. Very  impressive exemple of street photography.

Congratulations

Excellent and very original street capture, dear Saad...the mood reflects different culture and different attitude towards life...you composed the image very brilliantly, juxtaposing bikini clad lady with the fully covered ladies with their bashful expression...lovely colors and exposure...SUPERB title to match the mood and your wit...my best to you always...

A difficult shot to capture... Saad was in the right place at the right time for this and no doubt it speaks to the direction that multi-cultural places are heading. I consider it an "I could not've imaged getting a shot like that shot" and so my cudos to Saad for its uniqueness and you have to give him points for timing/patience on the composition of it. Even the background is reasonable for the subjects in the frame but the expressions of the native women are the highlight of this photo. Obviously there are other chances to get similar photos because they are going and coming from a local pool/lake based on the wetness of the native womens clothing and the swimwear of the western cultured woman but their expressions/look aways are of the "priceless" genre.

The woman on the far right is hanging her head at an awkward angle to hide from the camera.  Crop her out, and you might a picture. 

Excellent image! Great timing and really says something about the different cultures.  You have to wonder what are these ladies thinking as they shield their eyes??

But overall a great capture

Una foto que plasma perfectamente la diferencia de culturas.

Enhorabuena

Pamukkale/Denizli-TURKIYE..Iki ayri kultur.Her iki kulturun icinde yasadigim icin aradaki fark beni gercekten guldurdu.Zamanlama harika.

Very good shot and title ! Congratulations !

Best regards, Mircea

The women on the right actually aren't women, they are MEN. It's a stage frame, that's why they are laughing. Also look at their feet, arms and chest! It's not a woman's kind of body. Sorry, but this photo is just a joke. IMHO. 

Hi Saad;

This specific photo of yours have also been discussed on wowturkey.com (a photo and discussion website related to Turkey) thoroughly. A member named Sadik Kokoz has uploaded the photo as if it was taken by him. And it was discussed on a thread regarding the subject of the image.

And today it was discussed again, this time for potential copying of someone else's photo and posting it on wowturkey.com which is against the forum policy. So we have discussed it and tried to establish the truth, but Sadik Kokoz the member who uploaded the photo did not actually give any straight answer.

The photo that was uploaded is here;

http://wowturkey.com/t.php?p=/tr420/SADIK_KOKOZ_Pamukkale_fhdr.jpg

in this folder;
http://wowturkey.com/forum/viewtopic.php?p=1924286#1924286
by this member
http://wowturkey.com/forum/profile.php?mode=viewprofile&u=115167

And the discussion of whether it is originally taken by Sadik or not is going on here;
http://wowturkey.com/forum/viewtopic.php?p=1934969#1934969

So we would like your help on having the truth come out and said to the masses who believe Sadik Kokoz is the person who took this photo and nobody else. :)

osman yavuz ,

Is also seen elsewhere

Thank you for telling me.

this is a 100% image of mine,you could simply compare the dates of publishing to know the truth,he or she must have published it after me,this is one.

Plus the same image have been published at 1x.com under my family name too earlier than its published here.

http://1x.com/photos/member/35918/35920/

my full name is Saad Salem AlSheihk Mageed.

and this image is a crop from a larger composition,ask that image thief for the original,and I post here part of the original work fully untouched and not processed.

this imposter have not only stolen the image ,but have ruined it by his editing.

please do confront him or her with those facts,and ask him for the original image .

BTW,I have an other image of those three Turkish ladies from an other perspective,though they are far away from the camera.

Thank you for the information Saad.

I had absolutely no doubts that the photo is yours originally.

On wowturkey.com we have discussed this issue, and the site administrators have concluded that this is your photo, and a stolen copy was uploaded to the website by the user named "sadik kokoz".

I sincerely apologize on behalf of wowturkey.com that such an issue did come to the surface. In no ways I have doubted your photo and that you are the original one who took it you are the artist. Your photos show an amazing attention to detail, and excellent focus, with amazing view of the environment you are taking the photos of.

The member on wowturkey.com on the other hand lacked all the skills that you possess. As I can imagine, he will be punished by the site administrators, and your photo will be credited to you only and nobody else.

Once again, thank you for this excellent composition and excellent work. You have a gift, and I thank you for being part of Turkey by visiting our country and providing images of our people to the rest of the world.

With my humble sincerity once again thank you!

Salamun Aleykum

Osman.

Fantastic shot Saad..! Do especially love the leaning posture of the woman on the right. It's one of my twelve favorites now. :)

apage satanas !!!

super picture ! congrat ...

Wojtek