Factory-girl

I'm just smiling, what a charming, strong, brutal, lovely image..! Viva Flandre, viva Walonie, even at the end: gij krijgt ons nie. Meesterlijk Marc, die tail had niet eens gehoeven. Ga maar lekker zo door kerel. Congrats!

I like this one.

It's great.

Strong composition.

It's different.

Yes I like the wider version and the fold of the arm. Beautiful!

Very nice!

I expected something completely different reading the title.  But I was surprised in a very positive way.

The tones and composition (rule of thirds) are very strong.

Ben

no.. end in itself and unnatural.

BB

bel progetto,bella storia,complimenti !

saluti paul

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There's a lot to like about this photograph. The composition, lighting, and choice of B&W are all well done, but I find the image boring. It doesn't convey any message or beauty to me. Not that I don't like the picture, but it almost looks like it could be in a textbook on photography rather than on the wall of a museum, which perhaps isn't a bad thing.

At first glance this shot very much reminded me of some photos in Lewis Hine's "Girls in Factory" series. However, when I looked closer I found that this shot is in fact quite the opposite. It seems to portray a youthful innocence in spite of the surroundings. The factories seem to stand in stark contrast to the girl, rather than being a part of her environment.

In Hine's work, the girls were a part of the factory, a cog in the machine. Here, the girl is a rebel in a way. She is the antithesis to the bland industrial landscape behind her.

I am captivated by the powerful lighting, expression, pose and mood that this photo sets.

Congratulations to Marc on an incredible POW.

All the best,
Stan.

Very beautiful. especially third base and lighting. But the skin of her right hand is not natural. And the white of the eye also is not normal.
the Plexus superb.
Congrats!! Amazing work
karam

I think the pose of the girl and the location are great, I would like to know why the author Toned the image, I am not sure that the warmth of the tone adds value or detracts from it, Personally i think this image would be better suited to a traditional B&W tone, perhaps a bit more drama by printing some areas down a tad as well. Overall great composition and setting, pose on girls face is spot on for this image.

I agree that the composition this is strong, and that the models facial expression suits the scene. I also agree that the whites of the girl's eyes look unnatural, and when I viewed the large version it almost looks like she has face paint on, and lipstick. Having said this, I still like the image overall.

I too find the whites of the girl's eyes a bit unnatural almost disturbing. Perhaps this is intentional? The girl's face tending toward posterization to my eye, and the eyes exagerated, but differently than in anime? I'd like to know more of the photographer's intent here. It's certainly provoking my thoughts! Maybe I think too much?
Her somewhat starkly rendered face contrasts with a smoother tonal range in the rest of the image. Overall a nice composition with much interesting detail.

The over whitening of the sclera is very distracting to me.
I think it looks cleaner in black and white, compared to sepia toned.

Nice pose. Looking back with her eyes to one side is effective and engaging. The row of houses is a very strong element, attracting quite a bit of attention, no matter how much her face is brought out. She begins to look almost as if pasted onto the scene, though I know she wasn't. That strong graphic element of the row of houses is also eye level, competing with her eyes. To me, the post processing has gone awry. Her skin looks odd and like charcoal in spots and the eyes seem caricatured. The ground looks like some sort of texturing effect has been applied, which may have been accomplished by a lot of burning or a levels change. It's all a bit strong.

The repeating architecture in the factory would make a great capture in itself. The girl adds so much in her form and expression.
Regards, John

I like the photograph for its excellent d.o.f. and tonality. I also like the composition as a whole and the clarity/crispness in the detail.

That said, the photograph doesn't really say "Factory Girl" to me. Matter of fact, I'm having a problem deciding exactly what, if anything, it does say to me.

I like it for the technical aspects. It's in line with the photographer's other b&w work, some of which I like a lot. Other than that, it's just a photograph of a young girl posing in front of a factory. It's very well done, but I just can't see any context or statement to it. It has no meaning for me.

This photo is a nice contrast to last weeks portrait. Here we seem to have a bit more of an impromptu moment with a little bit of whimsy thrown in as compared to the studied and formalistic feel last week. There is also a contrast in the way this one feels open and airy and the other full of detail and a bit more closed in--I think the brightness on the girls face here makes a big difference as to what the mood may have been had it been a bit more muddied. All in all, I like the contrast between the two and although I like what Michael did with his image, I found a sense of release looking at this one by comparison--which is not a qualitative comparison but one solely of contrasting mood in the images. Having the two follow each other provides a nice comparison of how one can use light, setting and context to create different types of images.

Some of the technical issues appear to have been addressed here, like the skin and the eyes. ( I don't know if it was post processing here or not, but I have found in rare cases, with film and digital, where skin in shadow just goes wonky on me--if it could be readdressed here, I think it would make a big difference in the quality of this image). I don't mind the texture of the ground and I think that along with the serrated building tops provide a nice contrast to the softness of the young girl.

My initial thoughts when looking at the image, and another contrast with last week's POW, was that I couldn't connect the little girl with this setting--and I somehow wanted to. Later, when Stan had posted his comment, I thought he made a relevant observation. An obvious connection would certainly change the reading of this image and may broaden the image's appeal. The way this image is framed, we get more of a sense of moving through or by the site, which then becomes just a contrasting-and interesting- backdrop to this portrait.

Fred mentioned the roof line at eye level. I debated this myself as, with its serration, it looks a bit like a saw blade passing through her head. At the same time, I do think that the brightness and softness of the face and hair separates nicely and hold their own against the harsh background. I have ended up sort of liking it this way.

Overall, I think it is a nice, spontaneous portrait of a little girl. It could use a few post tweaks to fine tune it as mentioned, but it has a nice feel to it overall.

what is that in her hand? a rock? is that her connection to the factory (and in just a moment, her connection to one of it's windows) ?

The factory in the background is out of use.  The reason why i called this picture "factory girl" is because her parents used to work there and the whole family is still living on this site and so it becomes the girl's playground. Most of us are thinking in a classical way and assimilate "factory girl" with someone who's holding a tool and really working there.  She mentioned i was trying to take a picture of her but each time when i came closer she ran away.  Till a certain moment she stood still , looked me deep in the eyes and seems to tell me forget about the old days and face the new generation, i will find my way in life. For me this was the appropiate moment to take a shot of her.

Considering technical details, i admit her eyes are too bright and her skin is rather rough, but in fact she was really like that.  However, with a few adaptations i can fix that easily. You can discuss about the toning, but i find it better that way.

Thanks everybody for the kind critiques !

Is that her shirt in her hand? You seem to see the same plaid pattern as the shirt when you lighten that area a little (it's also another good tweak to the picture).

I seem to keep coming back to look at this little girl's face as something has been bothering me. First, I thought it looked powdered and the lips painted as they appear too dark to be natural--there is also a bit of a smear or miss near her septum. I then thought that maybe the face had been lightened in post, as it is so bright compared to anything else in similar light and compared to the neck--there are also a couple of odd light areas in her hair adjacent to her mouth. This might also hint at some of the issues with the shadowed arm.

Just looking now, I am wondering if she hasn't been made up with something akin to clown makeup. I am referring again to the fact that the face is so bright and unnatural, the lips being so dark and then the circular "rouge" spot on the cheek closest to us. It may just be a novice playing with Mom's powder, blush and lipstick.

I don't know that this is necessarily bad, but something kept drawing me back to look at the face. I do think because it is not overt that it makes the image more special to parents that might "get" it and maybe less so for others.

To me, the girl looks pasted into the picture because she's handled so differently and has been lightened quite a bit relative to the background, probably to bring her out from that background, which is a strong graphic backdrop against which to work. When such lightening gets taken to or past a certain point, the subject will look artificially separated from the background, rather than seeming to belong to the background. That may be an effect a photographer wants for various reasons. My take is that reactions to this will have nothing to do with whether the viewer is a parent and gets it and more to do with the viewer's own sensibility and reading of the photo, no matter the status of their paternity or maternity. The photographer may provide verbal rationale for this visual anomaly, but the harmony or discord a viewer senses from the look probably won't be much affected by whatever the reasoning is. At some point the visual will (or may) take over the literal and, despite the message, the photo and choices will either work visually or not.