The Reluctant Follower

!!!!

;-)

Nice visual flow from the boy in the foreground around to the kids in the background.  BTW, what did you do with the rest of your wonderful portfolio?  I should do some paring down myself, but you didn't leave much! 

Ominous shadow.  Comical sleeve.  Childhood is so complex.

This young person casts a giant shadow.  It appears he is spellbound by the other shadow.

Excellent composure, shadow and scene.

Shadows every where and this is the attractive point to me here,is interesting how you saw this and composed,like it.

This is set up nice Jack, with our friend in the foreground producing a nice shadow and the child in the distance, taunting 

I love the shadows and how they form, IMHO, a major component of this image. 

I really liked the expression on the child in the distance so that caused me to look for a 2nd image.

Jack,

  Wonderful b/w image with great play of shadows.  Take care, Patsy

Jack,

When I saw this, I giggled. This looks so familiar to me, as if I am part of it (being the dad of a two year old). Showing this from the perspective of a child is wonderful. You have successfully used perspective and light to your advantage. It is very hard to predict whether the foreground child will follow his friend or change his mind and turn around. This places the image at the junction of alternative realities.

The cinematic perspective that you used pulls the viewer right in the middle of the drama. I was wondering whether imposing a dutch angle could introduce some more playfulness to an already energetic scene.

It is interesting that Tony's crop emphasizes the relation between the distant child and the sitting adult which was far less visible in the original photo. This makes me wonder, whether the distant child is simply laughing with his mom, which the foreground child mistakes for an invitation for him. That would be an alternative storyline IMO, one that adds another level of ambiguity and mischief.

Love this composition, shadows, everyone looking in other directions except the one child, in such an interesting pose. Also love Tony's crop on this. 

The original, as Jack presents it, provides the viewer (me) with empathy. I am not looking at a scene but rather invited to be part of it, through the presence and shadow of the foreground little boy, a simultaneously imposing yet demur human element. For me, the perspective and the boy's inclusion off to the side with shadow center stage, is the lifeblood of the photo. I love the way the girl in the back stands almost like a statue, completing a sort of tableaux that's alive, and breathing. The contrasts of stillness of pose and movement among the children is wonderful. It's hard in most cities these days to photograph unknown children and I limit myself when it comes to that for fear of treading inappropriately and not being understood. I admire you, Jack, for doing this kind of photography and getting such vital and substantive results. Worth the effort.

Very nice, especially as seen large.

--Lannie

Thanks for your input on this picture; quite an impressive collection of commenters and some of my favorite photographers. I'm gratified.

I think this picture is interesting, even provocative but far from perfect. The relationship that interested me was between the boy in the background turning back to look (with that wonderfully long sleeve flapping behind him) and the boy in the foreground who is seemingly led by his shadow. There are a few too many extraneous elements in the picture that I wish had disappeared themselves but unfortunately I'm not God and must take the moment as it's presented. I think Supriyo is right that Tony's crop suggests the relationship is really between the boy and the woman and in real life that very well might have been true. But we all know that photos are open to many interpretations and I prefer my little tale in this case. Fred, and Supriyo, thanks for devoting so much time and thought to this picture, more than it deserves. Fred's remarks about shooting children are worthy of note. It's a sad fact of life that almost every street photographer is suspect nowadays. I think it's more permissible to photograph children in places like playgrounds where there are a lot of adults around as long as you are open about it and smile a lot (especially to the adults) but I have to admit that any candid or situational photography is greeted with increased suspicion, though I think more so in the US than in Japan where a smile and a friendly wave tends to disarm any possible tensions.