shadow caller

thankz for viewing...

Remonds me of Martin Parr with the tones of Stephen Shore!

And still Donna Pallotta!

Very cool image Donna. Great locale and setting.

Holger

When Fingers took a break you signaled with your glass to indicate you were buying her one.

I agree with Holger about the setting. I'll also add that I think the tones are a good match for this. This photo reminds me of faded polaroids from the 70's. Nice one!

Amy

Hi Donna,

This is very appealing in many ways. Yes, the ambience and toning work perfectly and even the layering plays into that with the vintage bicycle. Shadows are great as is the framing overall. Very nice!

Tim

Hot day at the beach, facing the sun. Good thing for them sunglasses. She seems to have just noticed something, she perked up, eyes looking straight ahead, away from her smart phone. Or maybe she is just thinking of what to say next in her text.

A well captured scene Donna.

A very vintage image, with the exception of the phone that is.  She must be searching the web to see what the menu item "etouffee" is ;-).  Good shot... Mike

Sorry I don't see anything here but an  amateurish snap shot.

Aren't they all snapshots? and what is wrong with being an amateur? Elliott Erwitt says "do it for fun".

i wish i didn't have to reply to you this way, Harry, but every picture in your portfolio is a static shot of a building or object or posed people. your pictures are flat and lack energy, like formula postcards, and are very boring to look at. They lack a human element or story or drama, and your buildings and objects provide us with nothing special to appreciate about the shot. they don't move us or provide interest.

I admit that i sacrifice my technicals for the sake of grabbing real movement in real time... the essence of amateur are your flat, static snapshots that lack meaning nor provoke thought.

an artist is someone who creatively makes the ordinary strange so that viewers see something in a provocative way.

Here is a Tommy Mostrup image of a building. it tells a story about the building; it's not simply a snapshot of a structure. it's a building that tells stories to our imaginations.

Donna-I wouldn't be concerned about Harry's negative comment; look up his comments on yesterday's images and you'll see a very negative pattern.  cb

i uber appreciate your interest and fairness, Charles.... if i have anything worth saying about Harry's other comments, i will do so.... my skin isn't the hardest in the world, so your kindness to me was enjoyed. i don't think i was so much personally upset about his comment on my picture; but i felt responsible to say something that will make him think more than he does about work that is not like his own. i hope he thinks about my comment to him. Thank you for your support. your work is clever and wonderful, and i say this because i'm glad now that i've discovered it. sincerely, donna

also... Luca, you know my faithfulness to your work, Luca. knowing your work, i understand why you defended this piece. and i was very interested in "man-dog-tree," as soon as i first saw it a few days ago, but didn't have time to comment. it's so very much in that naturalism of yours that i luv. i'll tell you my comment about it as soon as i have a chance.  Thank you, friend...

donna

Well-said, Donna. I love that definition. I think it's going to inspire me to finally make that photography quotes file!

Amy

Way to Bust Some Balls Donna!!!!! We do what we do, we put it out there and f em if they don't appreciate it. I for one quite like your work I do. There is a little feature that took a long time for p nut to finally install. That wee word with great power after a commentators name... 'block' If you keep getting the same crap from the same person over and over and over again, Just Click It! to paraphrase Nike. Some here seem to think that critique means slam. Seem to think that a lot of verbage makes them seem intelligent when it actually shows the opposite. One of the hardest things I do as a teacher is to critique someone else's art and to, damn, grade it. I like to hit on a few positive things before I touch on the things that could be improved. I certainly wish everyone did the same. We all of course want people to 'like' our work but I, and I suspect many,  shoot and edit for myself and am my own worst critic. I would keep doing what I do if I got all negative feedback or even no feedback at all. I do it for myself and cannot not do it. I could go on but you get the point. We are not our images, they are an extension of our minds. Further... I love You Donna Pollotta, just as you are and I love your sense of humor too!

Big smile, you guys!

Luca, thanks for turning me onto Parr and Shore... so much humor and energy;

Holger! It is actually one of my favorite locales for a cocktail, lol, plus the sun;

Thanks Tim.. i was lucky for that bike to give it depth;

Thanks Amy.. i tried to make a polaroid with my NIkon in a picture called "Summer"; but i'm very happy to discover how much can be done with the iPhone. And when I wrote that spontaneous comment about artists, it sounds like i was specifically talking about your work!

Yep Syd... curious heavy dark sunglasses on such a petite young woman. I like the story you found;

Yes, etouffee Mike! she looks like a Margarita gal..

Aw Ray! make me blush... and you're so right... we do it because we can't not do it... luv you too! you're a bold one!

 

a snapshot can be a beautiful thing. snapshots dont give us much detail or insight usually. this  is a slice of life.. a warm summer scene that we can look at in the middle of winter and wish we were there. its overblown  much like a bright summer day. the colour is a  bit off much like an old polaroid from circa 70s. its got soul and flaws and it seems human and real. beats photoshop if you ask me?

Hmmm. A harsh comment by Harry answered by, IMO, an unfortunate response by Donna.

 

I have a favorable view of the photo and that's what I came here to address, but I generally love reading through others' comments in order to learn and engage in dialogue.

 

Sure, an artist is creative, blah, blah, blah, but an artist ought to learn how to deal with criticism. I think Luca had a reasonable response to Harry. But, Donna, to answer a critique by denigrating the work of the critic is just plain bad form, IMO. Respond to the critique or ignore it but needing to take it out on the work of the critic shows as much lack of respect and good graces as whatever offense was felt by the original comment.

 

To address Luca's comment in more depth, no, I don't think "they're all snapshots." There are many photos I would never liken to snapshots, even though I appreciate many photos that emulate shapshots. "Snapshot" can be a criticism or a compliment. I would have said Donna's photo had a kind of snapshot feel to it and I would have meant it as a compliment, much as Stephanie describes it, though I'd be surprised if there weren't some color and/or toning work done in Photoshop or a similar program. Clearly, Harry did not. Though I like this photo, it's not hard for me to imagine that a whole lot of people would not like it. I feel the same way about my own photos. Much of our work is an acquired taste and I think these sort of street snaps will not appeal to everyone and everyone ought to be entitled to express that. Some will be more blunt than others. 

 

I look at this way. Many of our photos are outspoken and sort of blunt. This very photo has a kind of bluntness about it, something I appreciate. But why get so upset when others' comments are just as blunt? If the artist expresses herself through the photo, the critic expresses himself with words. In this case, Harry's words show a strong reaction. Not too shabby for a photo to elicit a strong reaction. And even then, not every strong reaction is desirable. Sometimes a strong negative reaction ought to give us pause. And why not? We're here to learn and here to learn from our peers. There's no rule that says it all has to be pretty and that each of our photos has to be universally liked or appreciated or understood.

 

I will say this. Whenever I have a personally strong negative reaction to someone's critique, I think hard about whether the critique is getting to me in some way and telling me something important. More often than not it is. Sometimes, I determine it's the viewer's problem solely. But sometimes it forces me to confront something in my own work that's causing such a strong personal reaction on my part.

 

By the way, another element I think works really well here is the way the shadow of the girl on the wall and the shadow cast by another onto the girl herself relate. It's an important connection and I find it helps give the photo some soul.

f                 u   r blocked ;-}

This is a wonderful image! Great idea and perfectly composed.

wow, Gunnar! Grazie! If you, a master of aesthetic, approve of the aesthetic i chose, i know i've done something very nice... the iphone is interesting and you encourage me to explore the possibilities ;-} dp

Hi Donna, i would wish I didnt need to tell you this, "You can never tell a blind a blues",,,,,,,,, this is good corse it is a good shot,,.DOT // You can only C the flower,,,you can never explain it ,,,to anyone,,,,but yourself.. Best Niels, more stuff most welcome

your philosophy on art.. and life... is always most welcome, Niels. i'm glad you enjoy the picture! ;-} dp

This photo really caught my attention when scrolling through the iPhone galleries.  For me,  I believe that there is a lot to like with the interplay of the light and shadow and the overall vintage or Polaroid feel to the image. It is hard to explain,  but I really love the look of the shot and it brings back warm memories of years gone by. Best wishes.