Windows of the old house

Cheers

PDE

Thanks a lot for  your attention to this shot!

It's a very unique composition - very creative. Great location and the b/w gives the final touch. congratulations for that shot - it stands out! focus

Thanks a lot for your attention to this shot!

[i realize that the following is quite probably not at all what the photographer had in mind. I'm in conversation with the picture, not the photographer.]

Julie opens this week's Photo, and immediately purses her lips in disapproval. That well-fed, insincere face! And the black and white is handled so crudely! Black and white tones should be, a la Minor White and the Brethren of Weston and Adams, handled with reverence. Black! White! Detail in the midtones! Here I'm given chalk. [and that face ... it positively smirks!] Where is the *deep* mystery, the "equivalence," the religion of black and white photography? This is hackneyed, clichéd! [sternly] I disapprove! ... and then, glancing yet again at that face ... I laugh involuntarily. She's winking at me.

At which point the "she" finally gets me to hear her. Irreverence is the point, not the failing. Her shadow of a smile is mockingly commenting on the whole b&w tradition of solemn reverence, as are the I-don't-care abuse of tones and posture, and the photograph-as-window thing.

Wry face-smack, and big, appreciative smile on my part. NOW I hear you, lady.

Monolog aside, I enjoy some of the fairly intricate details of the picture. Each glass pane can be considered as separate pictures, commenting on the other panes, and the angles and lines are treated creatively.

Julie expresses well my own first thoughts (wow, I am actually agreeing with Julie....) about the B&W rendition. In looking at the blow up of the original image in Sevetlana's portfolio, the extent of blown out highlights is even more apparent. Perhaps the author wished a very contrasty image here to reinforce the intended or happened-upon effect or feeling of the scene, but I don't think that is well achieved. Use of high contrast is often better achieved in images with lesser details, whereas this photo has a lot of detail that is not rendered very well in a tonal sense. I don't see very much connection between the girl's expression and her found environment, but Julie's observation of the more intriging nature of the individual window frames is really good, as there are some more concentrated and interesting images within the whole.

Svetlana is one of the photographers that keeps me coming to photo.net. She produces some of the most exciting, consistent and imaginative set of images here this days. Of course photo of the week seems to be all about a photo, but in this case it represents very well the universe of the photographer and also the great control she has producing the images. Keep those great images coming, Svetlana !!

I don't recognize the elf-chosen picture in much of the umbilicospective discussion above.

Understanding what an artist is trying to do is usually a good first step toward appreciation and criticism, as opposed to judging the entire world in some inner light.

JDM, you are right about understanding what the artist may be intending. What do you think that might be? How does the image affect you?

I admire her attempt at portraying something different and possibly intriguing, but as I mentioned I have trouble relating the girl to her environment. Why are her hands placed flat against the window panes? What does that express, is that maybe a reticence, hesitation, fear? Is that consistent with what we see beyond her gaze or what she sees outside? The somewhat awkward hand positions, might they also be telling us something? Are the washed out highlights of her forehead or right hand intended, possibly even symbolic or poetic, or are they just ordinary B&W rendition? My reactions to the image are mainly those of questions, as it doesn't yet provide me with enough answers. I would like to hear your reading of the image, and of course that of others, including its author, as that might help me to progress beyond the initial level of questions.

I find the photo quite striking, it needs a little dialing down of the exposure to eliminate the too hot highlights in my opinion, but otherwise I like it. This works as a portrait, but perhaps not as titled, which does tend to lead one to think it is saying something important about old windows. Would make a good album cover (when there used to be such things) or "author portrait" on the back of a book.

I don't think I can have much of an opinion about the intent of the (or any, for that matter) artist without a great deal of study of this image and other images by the same creator.

What I can do is to assume, at least for starters, that the image is as the creator intended, rather than assuming that the artist is incompetent. Then, ask what a critic can infer from its form and structure.

The image affects me in a positive way. It has a kind of high-key outer shell and a more muted interior tonal range. The reflections of the sky obscure details in an overall chiaroscuro effect that I, personally, find appealing.

I have seen many paintings of structures with ghostly figures barely visible in windows, so I am reminded of that, too :)

BTW Am I the only one who thinks the subject looks like Liv Tyler? ;)

Youth gazing beyond decay. Decadence of technique mirroring the decay of the surroundings.

The upper left window pane, hand almost white mingling with reflections almost black. Like a Matisse CUT-OUT effect in black and white. No meaning there. Instead, evocative.

Severed limb, the hand from body. A gesture. Who knows?

Playing with the reflections of glass as a visual foray, not necessarily an interpretive one. Let's see how it looks to put a hand flat on the pane while the rest of the body recedes, to have the forehead mingle with reflected clouds, to allow the tangle of wires and glass cracks, of peeling paint and rotting wood to create a web through which this woman's gaze might remain clear and determined. The artist likely says to herself, "I want to see how that feels." The artist likely does not say to herself, "What does all this mean and why do I do it this way?"

It's just a picture. Many things went into it other than what it might mean. People taking good pictures don't usually intend meanings. They are simply there in the choices and in the viewing. They are not often consciously made. Meanings emerge.

This doesn't look like it was done too consciously of meaning. It looks like it was done expressively and visually. That will often lend itself to meanings but not be dictated by or reduced to them.

That upper hand could be a shout for all I know. Svetlana, by my best guess, will be more interested in hearing what I say than in telling me what she thinks.

All of the above comments, in all likelihood, would incorporate anything I would try to add at this point. Discretion, valor, and all that . . . I'll just thank the authors of these comments and bow out.

Michael, have you ever read Jane Eyre? (Of course, Bertha Rochester would have busted the glass ... )

So long ago, Julie, that I don't remember one single, solitary thing.

"The hand may be a shout." I like that. Fred and Julie, the expressive image and the frustration of being contained I totally missed. Thanks.

Fred, I can see myself writing that, since I rarely take posed photos. I am a bit surprised to see you writing it, since you take the time to "create" rather than merely discover many of your photos. I would have thought that you would see this act of creation as being about meaning. Your own Photo of the Week was not only very good, but I always assumed that it had some special meaning for you.

Since Svetlana's photo is clearly a posed photo, I would have thought that she would most likely have had some idea of meaning behind it when she conceived of it. Perhaps she will tell us whether she did or not.

--Lannie

From reading some comments above, I guess she want to say there is no life

in an old house. Just may be.

I often wonder whether the selection of a POW is accompanied by an email note to the photographer to make him or her aware of it. The number of hits per week in most forums seems to be quite low at present and the chance of the artist seeing her work here may be quite small.

Makes me think of the song "I am an island" by Simon and Garfunkel.