street Tranquil

I'd love to read any thoughts or comments you might have on this photograph. Thank

you.

some mystery surrounds this image "Pay no attention to that man behind the curtain" 

Quietly reading, green pants, burgundy chair, that is all we know 

Beautiful color sense; look at that pale green on center! (with the other obvious large areas).

Details that I like: the chair leg with its shadow pegging the toes; the echo between the vertical profile of the chair's two side cushions and the horizontal line of the man's crotch wrinkles; the pale, ghostly drama in the blue third of the picture; the way the upper corner of the chair's left side pillow leans to and just intrudes across the color line, so key to the picture. There's more, but I won't be greedy.

This is a really good photograph.

The color is the best thing about this image. The simplicity is striking. Other than that I don't get too much out of it, but I guess that's what makes it good. Less is more?

Sorry to be negative but why would I want to see a picture of the legs of someone reading? It's not even sharp, even at this low resolution. And there is a horrible green colour cast, presumably flourescent lighting but it could and should have been corrected for. The composition is very central with large blank areas to the sides. Apart from that. everything's fine.

John, that's not negative; it's what you see. I really like reading and considering such reports.

Thank you John for speaking my mind, this photo irked me and you have put its faults into perspective, and voiced it so I understand why I was wishy washy about it.

There is something compelling about the subject, planes and composition. But that color treatment which seems to be trending around the Web lately, doesn't do a thing for me. Did it begin as an iPhone art filter, or something? It has that look.

I think what makes this picture to the degree that it does is the choice by the photographer of the graphical elements of composition and his angle of view. After that it seems to run out of steam, as the subject does not reveal anything of more interest. Using an unnatural color palette, or eye candy, may be compelling to some viewers, but it reveals little (chromatically, emotionally, graphically) that I can connect with and I am left with the thought that it would be of equal interest if it were in black and white.

oops

Possible warning of approaching apocalypse:
I agree with Julie H's comments so far in every respect. That is both in terms of the aesthetics of the photograph and the form of the comments.

"I agree with Julie H's comments so far in every respect."

Well, okay, I forgive you this once. Just don't let it happen again.

I think this photo has mystery, dynamism among its elements and a sense of loneliness ingrained in its atmosphere. I get immediately

curious about the person's attire, the polka dots on his/her socks. The next question is regarding what's behind the closed off booth. The

obscured face in the cold modern interior creates a sense of loneliness, whereas the wild curiosity to see what's behind the partition is

almost voyeuristic. I am very fond of the clean rectangular pipe on the right, with its smooth edge. it also reflects the shape of the couch

and the glass panels, a recurring element in the composition. I like the interaction of the human anatomy with the geometrical elements of

the photo. The grey legs out of the red couch are like filaments sticking out of a dead flower.

I think all the above aspects are partially obscured by the color scheme, or should I say the stain. At the end, that's what stands out and it

prevents me from going back and having a second look into this otherwise quite successful photograph.

There's something quite appealing about this image, from its softly-contrasted color palette, to the main diagonal of the composition, to the lighting which creates mystery in the geometry of the foreground and spirit in the subtle highlights and reflected light of the background. The socks are great.

It's the subject or contents or narrative of the photo that leaves me a little wanting and keeps me undecided about how I ultimately feel . . . not a bad place to be. I don't mind waiting for a photo to settle in. It may reveal itself. It may not. For the moment, I think it may be that this photo is on the way somewhere but not yet there. I've certainly been there in my own work, sort of sussing something out, which takes time and various attempts. Looking through Hani's portfolio, this seems consistent with much but a little less forced than many I'm seeing, particularly in the first folder.

It may be that this photo would benefit from being shown with other photos, which could help commit the photographer to a visual coherence of a bit more degree than what I see when I look at this alone.

THIS seems to be a photo that is exploring the same general idea, though very different stylistically. The story in this black and white one captures my attention a bit more, still playing with that "hiding" theme, the non-apparent. But I think the look of the POTW is more personal and compelling. Then there's THIS photo, in a similar vain but which I don't think brings much to the table.

What the POTW has going for it is that absence/presence seems not just to be shown in the subject but in the lighting, the composition, and the overall mood created, so the absence/presence idea is more holistic in the photo, more layered, more supported by elements other than content.

I like it but in my mind I immediately thought: "hmmmm, if this was my photo . . ." and I made some changes: cropping and color. I'm new to this forum so I don't know if its OK to post variations on the original. We have a forum for that anyway.

The first photo you linked to Fred, is much more compelling than the second and even the current POW. It has a dynamism that is missing from the one chosen for POW. I like Another Day Has Gone, much more.

Absence is effective in inciting the viewer to imagine something that is not present or what the photographer has purposely excluded. The strength of an image becomes that which is imagined. Curiosity (both that of the viewer and the photographer) and exploration (the photographer) are good companions.

The portfolio of Hani shows that he is very open to exploration and therefore very willing (like a researcher) to accept both ordinary and strong images, those that go beyond ordinary and seemingly complete or evident visual records. While I find that his present image promises more than it delivers, I admire his explorative personal approach in street photography. Exploration and curiosity are valuable parameters in making successful images.

Compare Frank, Arbus, Hopper, Hopper, Hopper, Hopper.

... and contrast.

Does the man in the POW seem to be in the same 'mood' as those I linked? Or does he seem to be just where he wants to be (those socks! those pants!)? What's the difference conveyed by the POW choice of colors vs Hopper's color choices, again as conveyance of mood? Do you see any pink, yellow, or sky blue in the POW? Why not?

He knows we're looking. The vertical magenta line just to the right of his hand is his royal comment to us.

To the extent to which they can easily be seen, the faces in the examples of two photographers and the four examples of the painter provide much of their messages, complemented to differing degrees by the position of their bodies and the surrounding elements. There are I think much better creations of Arbus and Frank than these two images. The Arbus just shows us that the woman is reading apparently alone in a dark room and we are shown (the principal message of the image?) that this is made possible via a bright window very present in the photo. Other than the fact that she is alone, what else? The Frank gives us a jukebox and restaurant as secondary subject, with lots of lens flare and blur, with the main subject being a man (in that overall and usual or common environment) ostensibly reading as well. Perhaps his hand over his right ear is an attempt to isolate himself from the music or noise, or simply a comfortable pose while reading?

Can we justifiably comment here in regard to these two images, and perhaps also in the POW, the words "so what?" Maybe, but also maybe not. The Hopper paintings show isolated individuals in well constructed compositions (which is also the case of Hani's image, in sole respect of the compositional elements) of other elements than the principal subject. To some degree, those elements and color palettes make the Hopper images and we can perhaps presume that the original composition of Hani's photo also makes his. Unlike all the forgoing examples chosen by Julie, we are not privileged to see his or her face, and the attire (trousers, socks, standard shoes) do not provide any particularly vivid hint to the nature of the person reading (And is there a child hung onto his back, other persons positioned within the samne space that he occupies, or other?).

If instead the pants were green, or magenta, or the shoes instead colorful running shoes, we might think more about the nature of the person. So we come back (sorry, at least I do) to the supposed secondary subject of the linearity of the compositional elements and their juxtaposition, and to the apparent main message of the image which is seemingly simply graphical and non emotive.

Among the persons with visible faces in the six examples of Julie, there is much more I think that can be said about the constructions of Hopper. He has chosen the surrounding elements to correspond well with the situation of his main subjects. Hani has some very interesting and original compositional elements, but I believe that they are not shown to be particularly relevant to the situation of the human subject. I guess that is where I unwind in what I get from the otherwise original POW.

i find the shot to have much character and charm. so many black and white copycats.... this one has something to it.... a timeless well captured photo

The color palette is interesting, but I would like it a lot more if the shiny chair arm rest on the right was not so visible and breaking up the dark red, although there is not much the photographer could have done about that without it looking odd. Certainly the whole chair is most unusual. I would also have to learn to love a central composition for me to really like this shot.