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A very impressive portfolio. You cover almost every genre with the same quality eye. And a nice use of the x-pan!

my honest first thoughts about this shot:

 

Michael Keaton at a roller rink where they are doing a photo shoot.

 

The acordian player, the Michael Keaton double, is soooo intent, but I'm not sure he's intent about his music or about the woman he's focused on.

 

The movement, (maybe it's been done digitally?) is curious, but makes them look like they're all on skates. They are definitly all moving, or meant to be, except the musician.

 

So, why are they moving? What's going on? Lots of questions. the silver box on the right edge looks like a studio lighting device.

 

OK, so the sense I get, no matter where they are, or what they're doing, is that the music man is taken up in his thing, playing music and luv'n it to the end of the world. What I can't tell is what he's got going on with the female, and what the female is doing, or what/who she's responding to. So, the picture asks a lot of questions, and it asks them very well. It's very well done, I think.

Hey! He does look like Michael Keaton!

 

My first impression was that the woman was singing, with Michael accompanying her. Her expression is also quite intense, passionate even. With what looks like a curb in the background, I thought this might be a street festival with these two performing for the passing crowd. But now I like Doug's skating idea. Now I can see her zooming by on skates, caught in an instant.

 

Whatever the circumstances there is a wonderful energy to this image. Whether these people are connected as performers, or simply passed close by for a instant, they've become partners in the success of this image.

 

The silver box on the right is odd. It looks like it's floating.

I'm with Doug's ice rink theory here and reached that view independenlty when I looked at your X-Pan uploads, what, about 6 weeks ago (honest). Couple of reasons mainly [1] the motion blur in the accordionists right arm compared to the significant blur of the other folks in the picture suggests those others must be proceeding at speeds beyond a walking pace and [2] the woman's black top has something of the leotard about it. There's a second explanation I thought of that suggests those people at the back are on one of those moving pavements you see in airports. But I think that the less likely.

 

Owing to the juxtaposition of accordionist and leotarded lady there is an inevitable message that the lady's motion is directed by the music of the accordionist. That she is dancing to his music. And with that one detects a facial expression in both which resonates with music. I think the relationship between these two main characters might have been the more profound had the accordionist's gaze been to the back of the woman's head. Indicating perhaps that he had the power, through his music, to control the flight of the woman. Whereas here his gaze seems to fall short of the mark and instead interested in something out of the frame. I think that the small boy would have appeared more kindly had he not worn a white shirt that day. The square silver box to the right is intriguing. I pass on what it might be.

 

Another great picture. Like your football net shot too.

I took this photo along "Paris-Plage" by the Seine River. The Paris government set up an artificial "beach" along the Seine River right in downtown for those who could not leave for holiday. The two street artists were performing under a bridge----Pont Neuf.

 

Before I played with Xpan, I usually shoot panoramic photos by sinar zoom back, this time, I rented an Xpan to try "free composition". It was very crowded because that was the second day after the openning of "Paris-Plage". People on the background were walking on foot while the two artists were moving a bit slower too. Everybody under the bridge were in the shadow, I had to close the aperture down to 8 because of the lack of center gray filter, the shuter speed was about 1/15s ( I rated tri-x at 200, the camera body was Xpan first version, I could not know exactly the shuter speed.).

 

Before I took this photo, I passed by several times thinking about how to separate the two main subjects from noisy background ( I had to close down aperture.). I shot three. People seemed not to be interested in their music, when I was framing, I want to catch the moment the two artists losing themselves in their music although people did not care of it, they were isolated.

 

Because of the compressing of uploaded image, "Michael Keaton" looked like a little out-of-focus on the lady, but he did look at her, I moved my eye right and left through viewfinder and caught the moment Michael was focus on the lady.

 

The white T-shirt boy was disturbing, sorry for that, I did have such a strange idea hoping some black people were passing by behind them, the God does not give me gifts each time. Well, the square box was a lighting box with a blue gel filter on it, such light-boxes were placed under each bridge of "Paris-Plage".

 

Please allow me thank you again for the comments.

This week's theme is Human Interaction (preferrably candid/street/journalism style). As always, selecting a Photograph of the Week is not about findingthe best possible picture (we know nobody would ever agree on thatchoice anyway), but about finding a picture that is worth a week-long discussion.

We hope you enjoy our selection for this week and we look forwardto reading your comments addressing the photograph -- its merits and its shortcomings. Feel free to point the members to other works (fitting the theme of Human Interaction) and explain why you think that other work is worth mentioning.

For more information on Photograph of the Week and our policy regardingcomments, please read our guidelines

It is a rare ocassion that makes me leave a comment on a POW.I have not taken the opportunity to inspect this particular image by Lei before, but I think that it is a great selection by the PN Elves (for a week-long discussion). My initial reaction is that the accordion player is superimposed in this image, but closer inspection quickly removes that thought. I'll go away and think about the other Elf questions for a bit longer...

The last time that I had any sort of exchange with Lei was on a POW thread in January this year. I have come to appreciate the professional quality of Lei's work since then, so I say congratulations to him for being in the limelight for a week and hope to see a lively discussion of this image.

This really does nothing for me. The quality is good, but the 2 subjects, I feel, are fighting each other. What's that square off to the right?

There is a nice movement in this image, but I find the extreme-panorama cropping robs us of too much of the setting, not to mention the lower halves of the two main protagonists.

 

No problem with the blur, or the mysterious little square shape alluded to above, I think they really add something to it.

 

The sepia toning seems gratuitous.

This picture tells a story. The story is this. The guy(hmm) is playing an accordian. The accordian is one of the devil's own creations, one of those few things God let him/her/it do before he/her/it cast him/her/it (pc is a pain) into the firey exile of hell. So this accordian player is, like all accordian players, one of the devils minions. Just look at the fierceness of his(?) expression. With glaring demonic glee, he(or..) is squeezing out pure distilled anguish. This strikes the poor woman(...) in the back like a death ray. She(etc) can't escape. Her, , blood curdling cry sends the people(are they..really?) in the background fleeing. The square on the right is 2 dimensional restraint device, the same kind used to contain the criminals (also Satan's minions) in the first Superman movie with Christopher Reeve. I surmize the accordian operator has escaped somehow. You'll also notice that the demon has sucked all the color out of the surroundings, which is one of the devasting uses of the bellows. I think the guts it took to get this shot with all this going on is amazing. Visually, the main subject seems to be the tormentor on the accordian, as he/she/it is in focus and everything else is not. If the victim weren't shown however, I don't believe we would have the sense of devistation depicted here. The blur is not from motion. It's frightening. Well done.

I think the picture is 'basically' very good, that is, its elements are very good - the look on the musician's face, the singer's passion and blurred movement. Yet, to me, the two seem disconnected, despite the musician's looking so intently at the singer. They're too far apart (visually), which conveys a sense of them being isolated from each other. The separation is reinforced by the panoramic format and their bodies being cut off in the middle. The only connection between the two is the musician's look, and it has to bridge too big a distance to be an effective 'link'.

I think this picture would be better if the photographer had taken 2 or 3 steps to the right before shooting, bringing his subjects closer together.

Looks great! Both halves for themselves but of course the whole picture too. I find it very interesting that the accordeon player is sharp while the rest of the picture, including the second main subject, is blurred, all in a different way and direction. The choice for b/w material is great. Don't know what else to say. I will have to study the picture a bit more ...

Works for me.

Unlike philipp, the physical separation of the subjects is integral to the success, IMO, creating (along with the clarity of him juxtaposed with the blur of her), the tension between their different worlds: her abandonment TO the music and his intensity of creation and execution OF it.

At the same time, the intensity of his stare visually creates the real world musical connection between them.

The high contrast light and dark shapes of the background provide a kalaidascope-like scenario in which the viewer can roam and fantasize.

Well done.

I'm not entirely sure what to think about this photo. My first thought was the woman was very distressed. Almost like the musician is trying to lure her or something. The picture poses a lot of questions, which is what I like. It's quite unique and I like the panaromic format. I don't mind too much that the bodies are cropped, nor the background. Really the only negative thing for me was the box on the right, which was a little distracting. Great photo.

The accordionist is frozen while the background moves. I would conclude this is a posed shot and not a natural one. As a natural one--a slice of life of two street singers--it does convey an emotional component. However, if posed, my sense is that it artifically conveys something not really all that interesting to start. The exposure is more than competent; it is the subject that I find rather vapid.

 

Color could have been used to good affect here instead of grey scale.

This photo captures two different worlds and juxtaposes them. I do not think there is necessarily a link between the accordian man and the blurred woman.

 

Part of the magic of photography is that it can extract a moment in time from its surroundings and present it as something completely different. For example, photos of people laughing can, at times, look distressingly like photos of people crying. Likewise with this photo: we see a scene that is very different from what the actual, physical reality was like.

 

I do not see this photo in terms of a story; it looks more like a feeling. Its elements, the face of the man and woman, the blurring, the dark, dark sky, give it surrealistic feel. I appreciate it for that impact and do not believe it needs a narrative.

The Black and White makes this photo. It sets the mood. Color would have made a different impression due to the emotions in the image. The left to right blur also helps you track your eye between the subjects. The kid in the white shirt tends to ruin the shot though since the white is where your eye falls on when you first view the image. Try putting your finger over the kid and the image has a totally different feel. The long horiz. format helps keeps you focused on the two main subjects.

I like his expression and the fact that he is the sharpest element.

I also like the light.

 

My first reaction was that she might be a skater, but most

important, she didn't know him and seemed to be in distress

somehow caused by him. If Lei wanted to portray them as

musicians working together, then we needed to see much more

of her which would give us more visual clues - hand gestures,

space separating them from an audience, etc..

Well done to the elves for choosing to showcase the panoramic format, and well done to Lei for a great street shot.

 

Just one point though. It isn't a panoramic crop, it is a panoramic composition. When someone comments on a 5*7 or 6*9 there is no comments on an interesting "crop". This is the format. So before anyone else takes away from the photographers compositional skills by stating that they have created an interesting crop in PS, please look at the equipment used first.

While the image is certainly multi-layered, I feel it forms a wonderfully coherent

whole. In thumbnail I got the impression of an impassioned stage performance

(background indistinct), but closer inspection reveals the enchanting surprise of the

passers-by who (largely) remain inexplicably oblivious. The fact of their detachment,

emphasised by the DOF, then feeds back into the foreground action to isolate and

actually heighten the impression of the intensity of the accordion-player's

concentration on, and perhaps obsession with, the singer.

 

Altogether this image hints at a complex story. In part, but not solely due to the wide

frame, it feels to me like a frozen moment from an impressionist movie -- one that I

now desperately want to see!

 

(Oh, but hon y soit to the person who mentioned Michael Keaton! I can't get that out

of my head now. :-)

 

The lighting fixture on the right-hand edge is a distraction. It feel it could *almost*

be cropped out, but losing the negative space to the right is probably too high a

price. Perhaps a compromise of digitally lowering the glare? Certainly the angle of the

shot is perfect, and shouldn't be tampered with: moving to the right would bring the

accordionist's gaze too close in line with the camera, and lose the essential magic of

this marvellous image.

Michael,

 

You can 'crop' (frame your picture) with the camera, as well as after the fact. You're right: I did not realize this was taken with a panoramic camera, but I stand by my comment. There are other, more succesfully-framed street photos in this format on Lei's uploaded photos.

It was obvious from the beginning that it was a performance of some sort, but the people in the background made it unclear as to the setting and type of performance. I think that it is interesting that the musician is in focus, while the dancer is not. In the ideal shot, perhaps her face might have been captured in focus with her arms movings, but this is still a good shot. I enjoyed your folder.

As one who has difficulty photographing people (I am better with inanimate landscapes, etc.) I am an admirer of this photgraph as well as Lei's entire portfolio. He really has a talent for capturing the moment. Keep up the good work.

 

I have one question: "Back Shooter" wrote "The sepia toning seems gratuitous." What the heck does that mean?

Doesn't work for me.

I think the composition is too weak.

 

I don't think the background is very interesting, blurred people rarely work well, unless you're using the the blurred shapes to frame, or lead your eye to the subject. If the kids behind were sharp, then maybe the look on their face would give us a reference to how they felt about the singer and the player.

 

As the pic sits at the moment, I think compositionally it's sitting in one plain, very 2d ie left and right.

I think to successfully photograph a street scene with an xpan you need to weave form and subject across the frame, holding an interesting background to contrast or support the foreground subject.

 

It's difficult, and in my experience it's worth looking for a great background and waiting for your subject to walk into frame.

 

Congrats though, good to see that this stuff still goes on in Paris, especially since the change in privacy laws over there.

the photograph works beautifully for me. i love the blur, completely! the guy's clear face is very striking against the blurry face of the dancing woman.