Sarajevo

When I firstly suggested to crop the photo, I didn't post any image. Now I'm convinced that it is needless. You can do only minor crops that don't change much or change nothing.

As to interpretation for me it means the senseless of war. As Marc G. wrote ... this picture shows HOW FRAGILE life is and what a devastation a war can be., I have quite another interpretation. There in the grave among all the others is an unnamed soldier. There are crosses and sticks symbolyzing diffrent religions, also opposite sides in the conflict. No matter what they were fighting for, the result is the same. They are lying one by one left as an unimportant bag in a small hole .... There in such cemetery it all ends. The senseless of war it means for me.

Strong image, no words, only congratulations

The power of this image is in what it represents, it would be as powerful taken with a five dollar disposable. How it is cropped, exposed and composed is almost irrelevant. This is photojournalism, the only important thing is that it represents the truth, at least as much as is possible via the medium. Congratulations to Jean-Baptiste for being a witness.

This is a striking image.I have seen many images (photo-journalism), of the mass graves of victims of tsunami in Nagapattinam,South India, in recent times and victims of Bhopal Gas tragedy, in the distant past.There was an element of horror, of macabre sensation when one viewed these images.But this image does not assult our senses because of the shrouded corpse.I can not imagine a more "sensitive" or "beautiful" way of presenting Truth.My best regards to Jean-Baptiste AVRIL.

Wow, this is probably the most compelling photograph I've seen in a long time. It really brings about an emotion and that's not easy to do. I love the wide-angle approach, and personally wouldn't crop a thing from it. Perhaps I'm just a lover of wide-angle shots... they bring the entire scene in for the viewer... and it takes a lot of skill to craft a very good wide shot. This one really stands out to me because the grave is such a major focal point (especially the contrast of the body) and gives the feeling of an endless sea of others just like it. Amazingly powerful!

 

I do have to respectfully disagree with what was said above about foreground blur. Sometimes, especially when you are really trying to draw someone to a particular part of the photo, it's very effective and really "cool"-looking, for a lack of better terms. I guess what I am really saying is... is there such as thing as a true no-no in photography? In the proper context, almost anything can look right.

 

Congrats Jean-Baptiste... excellent photo!

Amazing photo. The best I have seen here for a long time. I fill shivering whatching it, and that's what makes it so special.

 

Amit

A great allegory of the last 'vertical' journey ... from the cold earth in foreground to the unknown fogs in background where everything disappear.

The power of photography.

Alberto

This is a fantastic photograph. There's a lot of symbolism here, not just the markers, dirt, and the fog; but also the shallow depth of the grave. This is just barely deep enough to keep dogs from digging them up again! For me, this speaks of the multitude of people lost in the conflict.

 

A very powerful image, excellent work.

Crop or no crop what really gets me upset about the POW discussion is someone always has to try and hi-jack the thread by posting some obnoxious picture they have taken. My suggestion is the moderator should kill those posts immediately. They bring NOTHING to the discussion except useless self-gratification.

I thought the photograph has been well composed. The fog and countless crosses give this photograph an endless feeling which adds to the message it is trying give. I think although the body wrapped in the white cloth takes a major percentage of overall attention it is somewhat disturbed by the presence of a cross. But that is just my opinion. Black and white is an obvious choice for this photograph. Overall I think this is splendid work of photojournalism

 

Anant

That's it! End of the week...

I'd like to thank one more time Photo.net for choosing me and giving me that great

opportunity to express my work and myself...

I'm also glad that this picture opened up one more time the important issue that is

creativity, and the opportunity (or non opportunity) to interfere with it. The debate will

never be closed... But I believe that it's always good to keep in my that aspect of

everybody's work.

I say it again... For me the issue has always been to think about I wanted to do before

doing it. Works the same in Photography, and the choice of the frame is definitive. Not

cropping astrain me to be extremely rigourous when I work. So many of my pictures ended

up in the basket bin, and quiet a few passed it successfully because I found out, on the

contact sheet, that I reached my goals. And that was for me the ultimate satisfaction!

I must confess that I don't like surprises... And I want to be sure, before I shoot, That I

know exactly well what I want. The contact sheet become then just a confirmation of what

I wanted.

Thank's

JB

I appreciate your position, Jean-Baptiste, but are you an absolutist on tossing everything that you do not frame as you wish?

 

Would you have tossed this one, or would you have cropped it as Henri Cartier-Bresson is reputed to have done in order to save it:

 

http://www.magnumphotos.com/c/htm/CDocZ_MAG.aspx?Stat=DocThumb_DocZoom&o=&DT=ALB&E=29YL53KGUTK&Pass=&Total=349&Pic=18&SubE=2S5RYDI9CNRQ

With all the respect due to Cartier-Bresson, I don't pretend to be anyone else but myself,

and therefore choose my own personal way to do what I believe in, and fully assume it!

Thanks, Jean-Baptiste, and please do not think that I presume that any of my experimental croppings have managed to equal the brilliance of your original.

I like the light, tone, and isolation of the subject against the intrigueing and repeating

patterned surroundings. It's easy to be mundane shooting a graveyard but, due to the

decisions made by the photographer and the presence of the body bag this is special.

Jean-Baptiste, I used to feel as you did (being a slide shooter) but surely someone of your caliber has had images published and cropped. Did you object? Wasn't the idea still intact?

I guess my question is, for anybody who refuses to crop, if are carrying only 35mm cameras with you, and you find a great picture that would be better in a slightly different format than 3:2 (say, 4:3), do you then decide not to take that picture because you can't take the perfect one without cropping it later?

Very powerful image Jean. Great composition and atmosphere makes feel the

situation even far away from Bosnia. Thanks for sharing it.

the finished product is essentially washed out--this may be a function of (1)the photographer having his monitor incorrectly calibrated, (2) an ill-advised artistic decision or (3) a restrictive exposure error. i fully understand that it's very much a bold move to have the light source coming torward the lens *in any way*, but one has to be in top form through every step of the process to pull it off. as things stand, the photgrapher has not fully succeeded, though i am fairly sure he could have.

 

vuk.

"This member has rated 479 photos on this site, with average ratings of 4.62 for

Aesthetics and 4.87 for Originality "(precedent comment...)

Well Vuk, how could I correctly answer to your so positive critics :))

I do not like framing, in my opinion here such it is better

In the matter of cropping, Avril is of course following Cartier-Bresson. It's all very well if one can afford to blast off seven rolls of 36 exposures each and select that one perfectly framed negative or slide. In the real world, though, there is jostling and there is pushing, there are people or walls in the way -- and, for one reason or another, cropping is the only route to perfection. Some insist that what they cook must be eaten just as it is. Others permit the addition of salt, pepper, mustard...

Hunting about for a way to comment on the photograph, I ended up here again.

Coming from a man who apparently does much architectural work, the slanted verticals are disturbing. I do not see, though, how they could have been avoided if the camera was to look into the open grave. A camera with movements would have done it, but that approach would have been most unusual in photo-journalism.

Perspective presents itself in two ways: graves get smaller as distance increases, and then there is the haze.

A fine picture, never mind that Avril probably just stumbled upon it.

Architecture just came a few years ago in my work, using PC lenses ans switching to the

ideas behind that technology. During all my years in reportage, I was never really

disturbed by the fact that perspectives could go bizarre. I was then just trying to use the

best I could the distortions going along with wide angle lenses.

Concerning the compositions, I hardly shoot more than two films a days, even on a 2/3

weeks assignements. When I actually shoot for myself, it's barely a two films a week, and

find myself quiet happy if I come up with 4/5 pictures out of 72. It also happens that

nothing at all comes up:((

But the real challenge is time, and prediction of timing. To be able to wait till things I don't

want into my frame have gone, or to observe enough what is around to understand what

will come up into the frame, and when.

Cartier-Bresson called it "the decisive moment". And I do believe that this is the essential

clue to photo-reportage.

This is a historical document.