new -- color & b&w 'Metro Moment'

John, you do have an interesting life.  The anecdote behind this photo is appropriately humorous in the classically grotesque sense. The motion blur suits this photo perfectly.  The intensity of the strained body positions, echoed in the couple's contortions while necking and the dog's straining to maintain balance - all remarkable.  I do wish I could see the face of the person to the right.

I'd probably have agreed to his request to share the photos immediately, but I'm not particularly proprietary about most of my candid photos taken in public (though I am about my documentary and "fine art" photos).  I usually make my candid public snaps freely available, but mostly that's because I'm too lazy to worry about copyright issues.

I'm glad you and your photos managed to endure unscatched and ungnawed.  The dog owner must be a decent fellow since he's responsible enough to muzzle his pet while in public.

I had no choice with his girl and he having spied me taking a photo and then his having come to sit next to me (and his pit bull eyeing me), so that when he asked to see 'THE PHOTO' I had taken, I felt that I had to show him 'THE PHOTO".

But I took great care NOT TO REVEAL THE EXISTENCE OF THE 36 OTHERS, THAT STARTED WHEN I GOT ON THE TRAIN 4 STOPS AWAY, AND EVEN BEFORE IT LEFT THE FORTH STATION AWAY-- THEY WERE SO ENGROSSED IN THEMSELVES AND SO UNUSUAL WAS THEIR CONDUCT, PLUS THAT DOG.

No, I had 36 other photos, and I didn't want them to feel like I'd been stalking them, even if I was totally observing them (and everyone else there too.

Most of all I didn't want to be their 'best friends' subject to them gettting a little angry or having to explain (later) which was the best photo to him and here and even maybe have a prolonged critique/education session on what makes a photo good among the 37 photos. 

I didn't want to show them how this or that photo was unworthy because of subject/motion blur, composition, or other reasons; he already wanted ONE photo sent by BLUETOOTH, which I didn't have -- literally to 'share' (appropriate) my work, and I didnt want to have him try to appropriate the rest and the solution was not to reveal their existence unless I knew more, and under the circumstance I was too boxed in to take a chance.

I could not risk being engaged in prolonged conversation with them.

An ordinary guy or couple, yes, but people do NOT do such behavior during daytime or anytime at all on the Metro, so he was a wild card, and the dog revealed an element of danger; all he had to do was unmuzzle the dog, say 'SIC, Rover', and I was toast.

It is said in  Gulf War II, Arabs were particularly afraid of dogs, well I'm not, but the Pit Bull (ostensibly a terrier) has a ferocious instinct to kill and never let go, and ranks up or beyond other breeds such as the Rottweiler, German Shepherd (when so trained to be a ferocious guard/killer dog), and the seldom heard from but mammoth and ferocious presa Canario.

Pit bulls are friendly, quiet, love to have their bellies scratched, kind with kids until they kill them, but ferociously loyal to their owners and have a hair trigger that is not revealed until they kill often times.

I had an aunt/uncle who had a real English bull dog, [Churchill kind], it was quite loyal to them, and growled appropriately when approached; that dog gave me as a youth a warning - fair enough.  I didn't go near that dog.

But a pit bull does not do that. 

One minute you're rubbing it's belly and the next minute a bitch in heat goes by, it gets an owner's signal about you, takes a sudden dislike (or gangs up with another pit bull) and voila, you're mained or even dead but only after first being terrorized.

They bite and don't let go; that's how they killed bulls for which they were trained.  Even to their death, they bite with ferocity.

Police do not pull them off; they shoot them.  Ukrainian cops would not know how to handle a put bull; they've probably not seen the carnage one can cause outside of movies.

This is the first I've seen in Ukraine; possibly the results of this guy's having watched American movies and possibly the behavior (not Ukrainian at all) is American movie inspired too, I'd think.

So, discretion, valor, and my naturally friendly street manners which delights in showing good captures had a little fight inside me there, and discretion won.

I showed him one photo (not this one but a landscape orientation showing him and the guy next to him, trying to seem distinterested, and I do mean TRYING).

He really liked that one, but it was not the best, and the pit bull did not show well, but the dog is a major part of this exposition so I am not going to show it (also it has some motion bluriness, and is not suitable for posting.)

I did not want to explain that there cross languages, just get outta the circumstance.

I usually am up to even a half hour schmooze, too on the street or Metro.

Why not this time?

The dog and the behavior - two red lights for me. The amber signal turned long time ago and I could foresee awfulness if I did not excuse myself at a 'next stop' which I did.  Those were red lights.

That being said, he was a nice, friendly guy, but even nice, friendly guys with pit bulls can have dog-like hair triggers, and if he took a dislike to so many photos or any one of them and was refused a delete (I always refuse deletion) or any part of one of them, then where was I?

Discretion/good natured sharing/valor.

Discretion won, under trying circumstance.

You very well described my circumstance, again with excellent powers of observation, Lex.

john

John (Crosley)

Those contorted/distorted facial features are due to his/her turning their heads to smooch more closely and directly as I fired at 1/5 to 1/10th of a second, and is a result of motion blur from their mutual head rotation.

There may be some artifacts from movement also of the Metro coach, but how much is anyone's guess, as the rest of this photo shows things rather clearly without much blur from motion.

My hand holding here was pretty steady; I've long been a pretty steady holder.

john

John (Crosley)