Old City, Kashgar

Enhorabuena Iker. A mi felicitación se une toda la familia, especialmente Elena.

Absolute composition! congratulation! I like the accurately deivered mysticism in the shoot! Old walls, tiny city street, a shadow behind the man, pocketed hands, the man pose, his rather keen look, no colors etc. all this bring a sense of the mystique.

I can only congratulate Iker on this wonderful picture. Everything is very well selected: the composition, the colours, the positioning. It's not a real street, but a street photo, it's not a historical shot, but referring to history, and it touches a million senses. It also tells me hundreds of stories. The overall atmosphere is emphasized by the toning (I don't know whether I would even have had the idea to do something like this!), and the slightly derelict state of the buildings is countered by the sober clothing of the portrayed man. A reference image, certainly, and a wise selection of the elves. Thank you for showing.

a very telling portrait of a man at ease in his enviroment; well, so it would seem to me

I am a fan of Iker. Its a great image. But, a curious choice for pow, when he has so many other photos superior to this one. I think I would have chosen one more representative of full body of work. Congratulations to Iker.

To me this image looks like it has been taken on set, during filming, although Iker said it is not a posed image. With the black frame it looks more coherent to me, even with the title "China." Without the title I wouldn't have known or guessed that is about China. Muted brown colors and the person carefully merged into, depicts heavy and somber atmosphere of the Old City. Maybe it is only depicted pollution above it. I am not sure, but for me it works really good. What I like the most is light balance of chiaroscuro. Brightness on the left side in the background, or back of the image that gradually goes toward dark and darken the left foreground of the image. Thus making a nice 3D effect. It is really beautiful work of art, in my opinion.

I love the tone, composition, and feel of the photograph. The variation in

stone structures is interesting as well. However the appearance of the 

character does not work for me. He seems out of place. Incongruent

with his surrounding.

I said above I didn't care that much for the POW.  Afterwords I went to his album to look at the China folder and there are so many better pictures there.  This one is similar but works better then the POW in my opinion.  You focus immediately on the cyclists and your eye stays there.  In the POW your eye bounces around all over the place especially to the left for no purpose.  The composition on this other one holds together better.  Nice album.   http://photo.net/photodb/photo?photo_id=13149732

I said above I didn't care that much for the POW. Afterwords I went to his album to look at the China folder and there are so many better pictures there. This one is similar but works better then the POW in my opinion. You focus immediately on the cyclists and your eye stays there. In the POW your eye bounces around all over the place especially to the left for no purpose. The composition on this other one holds together better. Nice album. http://photo.net/photodb/photo?photo_id=13149732

Firstly, let me say I like this image a lot. It poses a question: How important is the man to the whole image? Is it a portrait shot, or a scene including a man? The second interpretation appeals to me. I particularly like the S-shape meandering alley, and the detail in the shadows. The lighting from behind the man obscures his face, so a highlight on the nose works wonders. I experimented with looking at it as a vertical composition - take 40% off the left and 10% off the right. That makes the man a much more important element of the image. That is neither right nor wrong; it just says that you can see a scene in many different ways.
The Original POW asked 2 questions: do you like the black bars, and does it say China?
I think that this would be best seen as a print - in a black mount, that would complement the image.
Then, China? Today's impressions of China are of modern cities, high-speed trains, millions of people; so no, it actually speaks of the older Asian regions (although it was taken in China).

Even before I read Iker's explanation I saw this image as it was intended - or turned out. Somewhere in Xinjiang(?), so the man is not Han Chinese. He is not posing but obliging. There is a sense of, ' Take a photo if you like but this is not a place that you can really enter into". That is expressed in the long alley with the obscure figure at the end of it. We cannot know more than what is shown here, but for me that is the message and strength of the image.

Well chosen image Elves!!.....Just a small point as I really don't have the luxury of time to read the upper thread nor to comment on comments.

I enjoy the simplicity of the shot, quiet colors, almost singular human interaction, one way perspective to a vanishing point disappearing altogether around the corner of the buildings and a wonderful, soft available light. I also like the off center position, seeming to leave behind this man a larger past and an unknown, smaller future to his front.

Peace, bradley

Regardless of the subject matter, I generally do greatly admire a photographer who is able to consistently express a particular mood and style in his or her photography throughout a body of work. I think Iker has done that. While Iker's photographs, or this POW, may not be my proverbial "cup of tea," it's only because I may not share the photographer's vision and motivation. But that lack of commonality on those significant points should not prevent me from appreciating the work Iker has been accomplished and the goals that have been realized, even if I may not put this photograph in my "favorites" folder. Despite my interest in a different area of photography, I feel I have much more in common with Iker than may be apparent on a quick look at the surface, and I'm glad I've had the opportunity to see Iker's photography in greater detail this week through the POW selection.