en face

Thanks to all commentators on the previous versions of this work (Rajat Poddar, Marie H., Gunnar Vaht & Anonymous).  A special thanks to Jack McRitchie who helped me find the Easter egg!)

"en face / le pire / jusqu'à ce / qu'il fasse rire" (SB)

I can´t remember the previos version, but still like it. If we can say for one photo that is a perfect then this one is a candidate. Great work and goes to my favs.

A moving setting, Hamid.. (literally and figuratively speaking) It almost comes across like an opening scene in a  play, for some reason... & you yourself seem to be part of the audience, together with the viewer..  (I'm glad that you opted for a (fitting) monochrome version for this (saw briefly the alternate yesterday, and agree with Jack's analogy..)  I like your understated title here.

Gunnar: Thank you very much.  I am both honored and humbled by your comments.  I am very glad that you enjoyed this.

Marjolein: Thanks for your visit and comments. 

wonderfully balanced composition, Hamid; a superbly seen document of emotional body language... crop and tones truly capture the concept! ;-} dp

Hello

Well framed and good tones. For me at least seeing you reflected in the door taking the photo takes me out of the image. At first glance you see the homeless guy slumped on the bench then your eye is drawn towards the figure on the poster which seems to be reacting in sadness to the situation but as your eye passes over the door we see the reflection of the photographer. I don't know if it was intentional or an oversight. I personally feel it would be a better image without your reflection in the door. Others may disagree, just my 2 cents worth.

Regards

Greg

Hamid, I like this shot a lot. Good choice of black and white and the subject on the left fits perfectly in this frame. Well done.

Hamid, a perfect shot.... I like both: the composition and nice b&w tones... Regards, Andrzej

nice juxtaposition here. even the faux pas of the photographer in the shot works here for some reason. you always seem to find the captivating shots!

Donna, Benjamin, Andrzej, and stephanie: Happy New Year! Many warm thanks for your visit and your comments.  Greatly appreciated as ever.  Kind regards, -h.

Gregory: Thank you for your detailed commentary.  Always feel free to share your "2 cents" on any of my works as I am a great coin collector especially of the lowest denominations. :)  The self-referential reflection is indeed quite deliberate, I assure you.  I worked a great deal on this (as Jack knows all too well, I reckon! :) )  I approach my work by exploring what sits and stays with me, that is, what my instinct/intuition says and only then trying to frame my understanding (should there be any) around it, and that only for my own edification and not to justify the choice.  Our intuition is leagues ahead of our rational understanding -- the trouble is to find it!  Secondly, I have little regard for the so-called "objectivity" in photography, an absurdity especially given the digital era, wherefrom the Dickensian dictum of effacing any trace of the author, whether in novels or works of visual art needs to be revisited on that ground.  (My favorites writers/poets from Dante in the 12th c. to the likes of Kundera in 21st c. quite prominently and shamelessly insert themselves shattering the bubble of delusion and in so doing opening up a depth in our perception of reality vs fiction that is otherwise conveniently buried by playing the "game" and I am quite enamored with that approach.)  Theory aside, if indeed my drivel can be called that, as Marjolein independently observed, and as I also see it, this image is about a slice of what I call the "theatre of life".  And yes, I am a participant in that theatre and so are you, as the viewer.  All this gibberish aside, it was a gut feeling that I saw no harm in leaving me in, perhaps because the quasi-effigy sways due to the reflection on the glass, dancing in the rhythm of bodies, from she-to-me-to-he-to-the-adhesia logo ("Caring for People at Work") buttressed by the forlorn tree and the exacting geometry in the background and festooned by the pavement and the fallen leaves.  

I am glad that you stopped and that you wrote your impressions especially because it did not sit well with you.    Disagreements are interesting because they induce reflection and for that also I thank you.  Wishing you lots of great shots in 2013. Regards, -h.  

very good shot my friend, Cheers!