Toreo de la Vincha - Casabindo Jujuy

Great POV and anticipation for action.

Great pov and toned effect.

This is really good. Hot, dusty, tense. Eyes locked.

Skipping the obvious goodness of the foreground, which I think is easy to grock, in the background, the counterpoint of the cocked horn, swooshy cloud, rising mountain, stopping light pole and then angled flag-line in the upper corner is just natural and perfect at the same time.

I love the little pocket of concentrated stillness and sharpness in the audience cupped under the bull's neck.

And, yes, I do like the tilted horizon (it's exciting/excited); and the light-pole out of his head (it anchors him); and the whatever-it-is light marking on the bull's body (it adds a little frisson of confusion, moving the bull where it otherwise might be too still).

A nutty but delicious little bit of fun is the 'fight' between the shadow forms in the lower left corner.

If I have to pick something to nit at, it would be the leg behind the toreador's legs.

Totally agree with Julie's fine analysis of this photo. A pleasure.

I also agree with Julie here. I like how the tilt and ambiguous foreground give a sense of immediacy to the scene—this is a frozen instant of drama that could never be duplicated. Another aspect I find very striking is the point of view—the photographer invites me to see what the bull sees, from slightly below the level of the bull’s eyes. In a startling way, I’m also seeing the world in the way that the bull does—cattle are red-green colorblind, which means that the colors they see most clearly are blues and yellows, and these are the colors that show up most clearly in this image.

I'm not sure I've ever seen the crowd below the bull before. Pondering what that does to me ... [are they safe? Should they be safe? Bull's are ... ? Looming power from above, from on-high ... that kind of thing ... ]

The spectators are safe as they are sitting on top of a stone wall. They could always fall off of the wall, which is what I would be hoping for if I were there.

A good image and, like everyone, I dig the perspective. Picture could look sharper, although the lack of sharpness perception could be due to the dust.

I like the cinematic viewpoint. It reminds me of the famous scene from Jurassic Park showing the leg of the dinosaur in the foreground with the scared humans curled up in the background. Despite being a static picture, there is a strong sense of impending events. The semi-sepia tonality is reminiscent of western movies of the 60s. Love the expression on the matador's face.

The documentary nature of this image is, I feel, essential to its understanding and evaluation. This is not something that could be staged in a studio environment, at least not believably. Part of the attraction is asking ourselves as viewers "how did he (the photographer) get this shot?" It is alive with believable, credible reality, and makes us, as viewers, participants in a memorable event, particularly as it is from a unique POV. This absolute reality makes various technical issues almost irrelevant, since seeing and capturing the image at all was clearly the high hurdle, with other issues becoming ancillary or completely irrelevant in that moment. This is the epitome of "being there" that makes up so much of great photography.

Al seguir de ver las obras de Leo, la importancia de la obvia verasidad en este imagen es aun mas claro. Leo hace una coleccion eclectica de varios tipos, incluyendo los imagenes compuestas. Esto no es una compilacion, aunque Leo se puede hacerlo buy bien. Esto es la cosa verdadera y original, lo qual es de significado. Felicidades a Leo por hacerlo asi.

Saludos a la Argentina, donde vivia ya hase mas que 30 anos.

Now, in the lingua franca: In reviewing Leo's portfolio, the importance of the reality captured in this image is even more clear. Leo's portfolio contains an eclectic collection of image types, including some intriguing composites. Given his aptitude for the composite and for the carefully crafted image, the real, documentary nature of this image makes it even more significant. Congratulations to Leo for taking the risk to share this with so critical a group.

Best POW (in my eyes) for a while.
Bravo, Olé, etc.

Great photo.

Great analysis, Julie.

--Lannie

David, definitely, the "documentary nature of this image" is huge, goes right to the skin, but note that bullfight is ritual and the bull is one of the most mythologized creatures/forms of all human history and culture.

It (ritual/bull scenarios and their ramifications) is so inculcated into our, or at least my, cultural background that it's almost hard for me to notice how immediately that was already in my 'seeing' of the picture.

Something worth considering is the documentary nature of all photos (and art for that matter). Even the most staged

photo and the most unrealistic painting are realities and document the mindset and emotions of the photographer or

painter who created them. There is no hierarchical precedence to the "reality" of candid photography. Weston may

have spent a great deal of time fussing over the lighting and angle of the pepper, but that pepper is no less a reality than

one found more randomly in a market on the street. This is a good photo not because it's more real than other photos. It's

as real as every photo. It's a good photo because it approaches its subject in such a way as to command the attention of

the viewer and tell the story of an event. I think it's more comparable to Weston's pepper in its command of light and perspective and zeroing in on

subject than it is a contrast to the photo of the pepper. Though the photo of the bull is timed more immediately and

is part of somewhat spontaneous action, they are both documents of a reality each photographer was acutely aware of and the import of which each photographer is able to convince the viewer of. What grabs me in a photo is how and with what excitement or passion the photographer appreciates her subject, whatever that subject may be.

Realmente agradecido por las hermosas críticas recibidas... Gracias a todos !!!
Si quieren ver mas sobre esta fiesta centenaria pueden en
https://www.facebook.com/LeoFagiano/media_set?set=a.10210752326068760.1368061334&type=3
Los Abrazo desde Argentina...

Realmente agradecido por las hermosas críticas recibidas... Gracias a todos !!!
Si quieren ver mas sobre esta fiesta centenaria pueden en
https://www.facebook.com/LeoFagiano/media_set?set=a.10210752326068760.1368061334&type=3
Los Abrazo desde Argentina...

Photo has a lot of power. And the bull gets the key role in this performance. In coming back to it today, I still wish that the tall lampost did not bisect the human " matador." A distracting element in its location unfortunately. I can both place myself from the perspective of the powerful bull as well as the clearly not so professional antagonist or in the corrida de toros. Compressed perspective puts all in play. And the spectators get some attention too.

I have distant memories of watching televised bullfights (from Mexico, I believe). Now I consider the activity even worse than gladiators fighting to the death, even though presumably the meat from the dead bull is distributed to the poor. But forgetting these considerations . . .

To me, this image's subject isn't the bullfighter or the bull. It's the drama of the event Leo captured. Its sponsors apparently felt the event was festive enough to string flags above the arena. The spectators are sitting on the edge of their seats, both figuratively and literally, waiting for the inevitable conclusion. Dust is stirred up, possibly by the wind, but more likely by the bull and the bullfighter. Most dramatic of all, the combatants are staring at each other with serious intentions, as if one is waiting for the other to make the first move.

Thank you, Leo.

Indeed,Leo, there is so much to grok in this image. Well done on all counts.

Especialmente me gustaría aclarar que esta celebración es única porque no hay crueldad entre los oponentes...
Es la únic celebración Taurina sin sangre en el mundo .. Sin asesino, ya que el único objetivo del torero es quitar la cinta que lleva el toro en la cabeza y dar a la Virgen del Valle
Especially I would like to clarify that this celebration is unique because there is NO cruelty opponents ..
It is the only bloodless bullfighting in the world .. No murderer, because the only goal of the bullfighter is to remove the tape bearing the bull in the head and give the Virgen del Valle

Leo, thanks so much for the clarification. Better still, thanks for providing an image worthy of POTW.

Great shot!!Compliments

Great shot. I really enjoy the depth, direction and motion. It tells a story and leaves you to piece together possible outcomes.