boring landscapes and stuff... Indian lady shouting at riotcop, Davos

I've read most of the comments here, and I'm a _very_ learning photographer, and if I'd taken a picture like this at my level, even accidentally, I'd have thought I was god. I think that means it's a fundamentally moving image and that I also have more learning to do. At any rate, it's my wallpaper this week. I haven't seen anything like it.

 

 

Perhaps I am being misunderstood by some people. I am not knocking the quality of this picture. I am simply stating that it is wrong to say that it is a striking image of an indian lady shouting at a cop. She isn't! She is shouting, but I don't know at whom. Yes the cop is looking on but not in a very menacing riot cop kinda way. The photographic quality of this picture is second to none, the capturing of the snow and the dark contrasting nature of the image. A good photojournalistic image which depicts two peolpe interacting angrily, it is not!

As I look at this image again, I know more about why I was drawn to it at first glance. To me, the fact that there isn't any direct confrontation between the riot cop and the protester is more emotional than if they were 'face to face'. To me it captures the tension of the self-imposed restraint of the policeman and, opposed to that, the vehemence and perhaps, futility of the protester. It's a strangely emotional and symbolic picture because of that -- in the context in which it was taken. Remove the context and different impressions emerge.

 

Hello everybody, I just came back an hour ago from 9 days of taking pictures in sunny Sicily in Italy. I only slept three hours, so I'm gonna make it short for now. Later more. I'm very honoured that this photo was chosen POW. Thanks Elves (Who are they?). I just quickly read through all the controversy. Some short comments.

This lady was actuelly shouting at this particular cop at this very moment. He just acted like he didn't have anything to do with it. I couldn't have taken the shot anyway else than I did. I only had a second, I didn't think much about framing, just took the pic. I'm a fan of whole negative printing and composing, allthough I make exceptions as you can see in my portfolio. I didn't think of cropping this one, but thanks for trying. I'n in no way offended when somebody tries to crop my pictures. Peace and love to y'all! Thanks also for the information about who this lady is. I knew she was at the alternative Forum during the World Economic Forum week in Davos. Thanks everybody else for their critics, good and bad, I appreciate it. To be honest, I also prefer the close up pic of the cop alone in my portfolio to this one, but I still like it as it is. And: The weather was so bad and it was snowing so hard, it wasn't easy to make pictures at all. All pro press people who were there complained all the time. I kinda liked it. One second after I took this one the cop on the left pushed me away quite harsh. I'm not a professional photographer, so I don't have a press card. Thank God! Havin' to work in this kinda weather...Bye y'all, maybe more later this week. I have to sleep. Rienk Jiskoot.

I got the feeling that those who liked this shot either had political bias (you perhaps support the lady or her cause) or you thought that just because it's hard to take it must get positive 'press'.

 

This picture is to me quite messy. There isn't much tension it it and I can't believe that even those who liked it think it has any significant amount of tension.

 

Of Eve Arnold calibre this ain't.

I'm coming in very late on this one because I am far from home and just found an Internet connection. Perhaps because of my current location (Equatorial Guinea) I rather like the snow (!) in the scene but the layout of the components leaves a lot to be desired, IMHO. Too much space in the middle that does very little, in fact it actually prevents the "in your face" confrontation that may have been the purpose of the shot. Partly because of this space (and the white blob is the most distracting area) I don't see the engagement that others do. As to the political nature of this shot, should it matter who she is? But as a piece of photojournalism, the photo is certainly acceptable.

OK, the picture has photographic flaws and I think people more capable of pointing those out than I have done so, and in the process taught me quite a bit -- thanks to everyone -- but hey, what's wrong with having an emotional response to a picture, even if it is because of your political views? If not, what the heck does 'aesthetics' mean? And so what if those views are 'LIBERAL'?

 

It's kinda freaky to me that anyone here would even begin an argument that photographs aren't judged on something other than their technical merits, and then go further and call someone else's impressions on that basis less than genuine. It's an impression. It's what _I_ saw in the picture. Some people see it differently than me and so...fine!

 

You really can't help it. Maybe this isn't the right forum to discuss it - I've learned a lot about the photographic elements from the criticism of the picture as "light captured on film with a camera by a photographer" and "people as photojournalistic subjects" here, and those will be very useful to me.

 

But hey, I'm not gonna not say that I had a feeling about this particular image because I have a lot of respect for anyone who has the guts to yell in the general direction of someone holding a loaded gun, regardless of how disciplined and well-trained the other person may be, and that the context of the picture adds meaning to it because of that -- I'm sure some on the 'other side' of the political spectrum would concur, even if for different reasons.

 

If you've ever confronted someone holding a loaded gun, you must know that it's not exactly like quarreling with your spouse over the morning coffee. This was a gutsy person and a gutsy shot, even if it isn't perfect from the point of view of photography or journalism. So there it is - my invalid opinion.

 

Wow, this picture's worth it just for the controversy!

 

Though it is clear what the photographer intended to capture in this photo, I think it most definitely falls short. I agree with those above who said that the snow is distracting, the scene is not tense enough, and the lady does not appear to be shouting. If she were looking directly at him with some definite emotion on her face and he were looking back with a calm expression and we didn't have the snow in the way, then we'd have something...

i think the lady just wanted to show her new tongue piercing. With a sharp intake of breath he thought " I hope it`s still snowing on christmas eve" Or was it just plain old radio active fallout. Strong pic.....Coke.

this is great! best regards Stefan

A shot full of tension and life....