black and white: then to now 'The Passersby'

Life's quick and busy at airline terminals. This huge terminal in Chicago

is reduced nearly to silhouettes and lines - nearly a graphic display -- by

concentrating on the artistic design of the concourse/tunnel, all in black

and white. Your rates, critiques, and observations are invited and most

welcome. If you rate harshly, very critically, or just wish to leave a

remark, please submit a helpful and constructive comment; please

share your superior photographic knowledge to help improve my

photography. Thanks! Enjoy! John

This is a beautifully-balanced, elegantly composed moment. Terse and quiet, yet speaks graphically of the day to day functions of an airport terminal. By silhouetting the figures you have actually produced a more descriptive photograph than if you had exposed for more detail....a very fine photo.

Thank you so much.

 

I shot for four minute total, all of it from a wheelchair and got about four or five ones worthy of exhibition, plus numerous others worthy of posting.

 

It was just too good a setting to pass up.

 

;~))

 

I am an opportunist, and the motto of the opportunist is 'let no opportunity go unexploited.'

 

This is one of the better opportunities, kind of like a landscaper finding himself in Utah's Red Rock country at dawn on a sunny day. Just too good to pass up and lots of possibilities.

 

Thanks again,Stephen.

 

John (Crosley)

Very good composition and reflections ! I like it !

Best regards, Mircea

It was natural when I saw these lines and the reflective floor to ask the man pushing my wheelchair to stop for a scant few minutes.

 

I took a number of good ones, including one now in my single photo, color, portfolio, showing the colors. It is as good as I can take, and this is the same scene with different actors,also quite good,desaturated.

 

I seldom post two of the the same scene, but made an exception here because they all were so strong. And all are strong in color AND black and white.

 

I got about four color and four black and white photos (desaturates) of this scene that I think are top class worthy of exhibiting anywhere -- this is one of them, and the color version is simply wonderful too, but you won't see that here, probably ever. (not two of the same scene, generally).

 

Thanks for the kind and flattering remarks.

 

John (Crosley)

 

Great use of lines, shapes and back-lighting!

This is just one of several.

 

I had my wheelchair pusher stop,and fired away for four minutes total.

 

This one came pretty early, as did an earlier post (that post was in color -- this also is 'special' in color, as well, but I don't like to post two of nearly the same thing in the same mode (color and black and white I consider 'modes')

 

It suggests 'paucity' of material. It's 6:36 a.m. and I'm still downloading some of the 7 - full 8 gig cards I shot yesterday plus some partials, through a pro downloader which adds to the EXIF so it's slower than just 'moving files' from one folder to another. It processes each photo separately, adds special copyright into, adds 'do not copy' info (and legal threats, etc). ;~)) Gotta protect this stuff; someday it may have worth.

 

Or not.

 

Who knows?

 

Anyway, not for want of trying.

 

Also copying onto three hard drives minimum just for storage in the USA (triple redundancy) double redundancy minimum in Ukraine, and soon another copy in a very safe place in a EU country (unnamed makes it even safer.)

 

With instructions to those who will own if I die, where those copies are, so they'll never end up being sold 'at auction, like a wonderful female photographer whose work was just revealed who was born in the '20s, photographed around Chicago and died last year -- never having exhibited anything, her work sold 'at auction' and no word what auction, but it included lots and lots of undeveloped film from an 'unknown' so it probably was a storage locker auction that made its way to a serious collector, who's curating it.

 

It's wonderful stuff.

 

I once helped a man, a priest or preacher originally from Russia or Ukraine, who somehow wangled his way into being the heir to a Russian man's estate (generally a serious 'no-no' for priests-preachers, and can result in huge damages for 'breach of trust' if challenged).

 

However, there no challenge, he got half and aged sister in Moscow got half, but she very,very very old and his half included half of (1) house in San Francisco downtown and (2) art works by the decedent, a one-time fine art painter and who painted stunning 'art deco' works which he finally had ceased to produce, but his house was filled with them.

 

In their haste, the priest and the relative of the aged sister sent over from Russia to the US to 'take her inheritance' indicated they were not going to curate that wonderful art that belonged in a museum and just 'take it' or do something not serious with it, and thus it appeared that wonderful art would get no recognition, thus never become important, and as a result 'disappear forever' and never really be discovered at all. I wish to God I were wrong (maybe I am finally,but somehow I doubt it. - the priest suddenly hustled me out of the scene when he learned I thought highly of the art but he made known he just wanted the house sold and the art 'gotten rid of' promptly. Perhaps he changed his mind; I doubt it, but maybe.

 

I don't want that to probability to happen to my work.

 

I don't want some curious web archivist/photo historian say 100 years from now . . . 'that John Crosley guy, he put a lot of stuff on that hoary site Photo.net and was a bigtime contributor -- but nobody's ever seen his stuff since'. 'Whatever became of Crosley's captures/his digital files and/or negatives?

 

I plan to never let that happen.

 

The wheels are set in place that can't be turned back no matter what.

 

Even if I disappear from this earth today.

 

(hubris?)

 

I rely on the judgment of a Lucie Award winner who says 'get them into finest museums and galleries',and I'm going to contact him to follow through on his advice now that I can.

 

He has the black book full of names and contacts (most friends and a HUGE reputation), and I have the photos which he admires.

 

And he's already heavily invested (in time and effort including curating and mentoring) in my work - mostly on his own motion and mostly for 'free'. and without asking for payment.

 

I don't want my work ending up in a storage locker auction someplace after a traffic collision or a case of bad health.

 

I stay up at night making dupe disks -- terabytes of them (it takes two or more days just to copy two terabytes by USB 2.0 from one disk to another (and I have lots and lots of disks ... . .of raw captures and lots of processed ones).

 

Shooting is the easiest part of this work.

 

Just keeping track of it is a full-time job right now, but when finished, it'll be done once and for all, except new additions.

 

Allan, part of it is because interest of viewers like you which suggest to me there may be a huge audience -- plus other search services than Google.com show there are lots and lots and lots of blogs that 'appropriate my web rez photos . . . . and people do view and comment on those there . . . though most are older photos now.

 

(most bloggers are lazy and will just steal whatever's easy.)

 

Best to you, Alan.

 

Whether you realize it or not, the presence of YOU and those like you is a prime motivator for my shooting and posting.

 

Without YOU and those like you, maybe I wouldn't shoot so much, so well, or post so many good ones.

 

Like this and others.

 

john

 

John (Crosley)

A nice abstraction of the way some of us live.

Aren't we all a helpless passerby in big cities?

 

Hence the caption.

 

I tend not to do things 'lightly'.

 

And tend to see 'messages' in many things 'street'.

 

It comes with my fervent mind.

 

But I'm not dangerous.

 

Thankfully.

 

Thanks for the kind and understanding remark.

 

john

 

John (Crosley)

Symmetry and movement are the background for a strong back-lit shot about our contemporary life. Bravo, ciao, Giuseppe.

Thank you so much. Your approval means more to me than almost any other member of Photo.net. You are a master and know a good shot.

 

Period.

 

Thank you so much.

 

john

 

John (Crosley)

Interesting scene.