Sugamo Boy

The essence of innocence.Good shot.

Try cropping the sky and the light- I reckon it's even better.

This is outstanding in every way. I respectfully disagree with the cropping suggestion. I think you need the sky and the light to give us this extraordinary sense of place. In my opinion without the sky and the light you completely lose the sense of place. It would still be a pretty nice portrait of the kid with the suggested crop, but as it is,... it has an impact based on a feeling or some kind of emotional response to this kid IN THIS PLACE. It is excellent in every respect...I can not make a suggestion that I think would improve this image. Beautifully composed and executed! The print (if it was a scan from a print) is also beautifully executed.

Chris, I think this shot with the contrast and brightness adjusted works better than the previous.

Alan, if you crop the photo they way you suggested, it loses it's essence. It becomes a shot of a baby with some meaningless background. Here it is placed in a real place and the background creates the mood.

too often portrait photographers seperate their subject from the environment that gives the subject his or her identity and personality. without the environment this shot could have been meaningless - for me the background has added a real sense belonging and dimension. excellent

I agree with several of the others. The background in no way distracts from the image. It is precisely what makes it unique. Otherwise it would be just an ordinary, although good, shot of a baby.

I love the sea of bodies and urbanity behind this kids floating face. Absolutely fantastic. cheers

I completely agree as well that there should be no crop here.

 

Not only do we have the environment in this picture and the building lines forcing our eye down again and again to the kid's face, but I also find an interesting 'dialog' between the light and the face because of their similar lightness. This exchange makes the picture interesting. Remove this bright light spot and the pictures loses much of its interest for me.

"Alan, if you crop the photo they way you suggested, it loses it's essence. It becomes a shot of a baby with some meaningless background. Here it is placed in a real place and the background creates the mood."

 

that´s the truth,,,,,, best regards

Taken in Sugamo, a suburb of Tokyo.

What takes this shot to another level for me is the background light and the cluster of persons, both of which bring out a kind of mystery: that coupled with the expression on the child's face creates a whole universe in this picture, a place that draws me in and away from the commonplace, a place I want to know more about. This is work to aspire to.

A great shot ... and a good performance too because Sugamo is wellknown for its old timer shopping streets as Harajuku'streets are famous for the teenagers in Tokyo.

That's correct: Sugamo- the town of the Old. Not much tourists there. In fact, I did not see a single non-Japanese person there that day.

awesome work, as always. I've been looking forward to the japanese souvenirs, that I knew you would bring us.

Beautiful work Chris. Once again you are proving to be very versatile photographer. This is a beautuful frame. Lookiong forward to see more.

This photograph would have to be very concise to only speak a thousand words...it is a thrilling shot, very clever balance and a masterful use of background. The entire photo helps itself achieve depth, clarity, activity...it's great!

This is astonishingly good, certainly one of your best. The background is essential to the overall effect.

Wonderful face captured in beautiful light with background adding context - perfect!

This works very well. I agree with no cropping - the busy background is a necessary element in this composition. With just the baby, it would be "just a baby" and not as special. Nice work!

GREAT!!!!!!!!!!!!

One of the best baby/travel/documentry image that I have seen on photo.net.

 

Well done, Alex