Love

This young couple seems very much in love -- note their intertwined

hands and arms, as winter is waning and Spring -- the time of love --

approaches. Your ratings and critiques are invited and most welcome. If

you rate harshly or very critically, please submit a helpful and

constructive comment; please sharee your photographic knowledge to

help improve my photography. Thanks! Enjoy! John

hey, this is a surprise - well, I knew, you had colour photos in your portfolio, but saw recently just B&W. It proves you can work with colour at least as good. Again, a great composition - it's fantastic how the hidden parts of lover's faces "show" in the background picture.

cheers, Wolfgang

At the outset, I posted almost exclusively color photos and desaturated almost nothing.

 

Black and White was limited to old captures from long ago.

 

One member, when analyzing my color photos and comparing them to the few newer ones posted, said 'strangely enough, your color reminds me more of Henri Cartier-Bresson than your Black and White'.

 

He and others suggested I start desaturating more of my posted color work, which I began doing and then my Black and White portfolio became my biggest emphasis, but not before my HUGE color portfolio had millions and millions of views. Look at it, and imagine that some of the street work (and other photos too, from lesser quality folders) has its color work desaturated.

 

In fact, in one of my highest clicked and viewed photos, it started out as color, was posted as color, was highly successful then a member said 'desaturate please' and it then got three times the number of views and nearly a full point higher in rates.

 

This also looks 'great' in black and white, and I was also tempted to desaturate it, for consistency, but I have in that folder a lot of kissing/loving couples, but this one is color coordinated -- note the red on the background girl, right, the foreground girl and the background poster girl, left rear and the near-red of the wall treatment, for an overall 'red theme' - something relatively rare in shooting 'street' even in color.

 

So, any time, almost, I can go from shooting color to black and white and back, as all my captures start out as color and many well-received desaturated shots are just as good (or even better in some cases) in color.

 

Good observation; you should scroll down, through my 1400+ photos some time when you have a spare week or more;~)))

 

john

 

John (Crosley)

You made an exceptional point about the wall mural's young girl with smile, seeming to complete the obscured mouth of the girl/woman foreground with her wrapped arms obscuring her mouth.

 

It's a wonderful analysis and a terrific insight not obvious at all until one has it 'revealed'.

 

That's one major plus of the critique forum -- such things are 'revealed' that might never be noticed.

 

Thanks so much.

 

John (Crosley)

John

this image i so effective! And it is for a number of reasons. There are four people in this photo (well ok, five but one is practically invisible): the two lovers, the smiling girl on the wall, the other girl behind with the red and white dress. Take away the girl on the wall, and, as it has been pointed out, the image loses a very important "reference" to the feelings of the two main characters. Take away the girl behind on the right, and the background loses character, becomes dull. Take away the objects in the foreground, and part of the story vanishes. This photo is a most indicative example of the fact that in documentary / street photography the main subject never exists in the void, but instead, it is its relationship with the environment that makes it significant and telling. And the difficulty of the game is to catch the point where everything works together.

If I had to name a change to make here, I would consider cropping somewhat on the left side, say to the thin vertical line visible on the wall?

Cheers!

L.

I endorse your analysis in every aspect (but one small nit).

 

It is singularly one of the most effective and thorough examinations and dissections of a photo I have posted on Photo.net in my past six years here.

 

If anyone has any questions about my views, I would (and do) just refer them to your discussion and dissection above.

 

However, because of the leading line of the mural/picture frame, I would not crop to the left.

 

I like the aspect ratio of this (about 4:5, cropped at right from 3:4 to avoid extraneousness at the right - distracting color on background person, right).

 

If one crops left, as you suggest, it also means cropping the food tray and separating the table somehow (and maybe dissecting the I-Pod headset - both unworthy tasks and which will not help the 'story' and will help take it out of context.)

 

Also, people in some countries have a very big interest in the 'garbage/rubbish' found in others . . . . much to my earlier surprise . . . .

 

Photos of garbage/rubbish sometimes have unusual interest and enduring value . . . as German friends once taught me by their interest in a photo of an overturned garbage can, or another when a colleague entered a photo of such a can into a nationwide contest by the world's largest photo magazine (and it was published) )(garbage can overturned with American flag draped, discarded over the side). [my memory is a little hazy, so I cannot swear to the particulars and it was a long time ago]

 

I found that garbage interest amazing and was unprepared for it, but no longer.

 

Now we in America have seen such trays as ordinary products of day to day living, and maybe also in Italy, Germany, etc., but what about parts of Indonesia, Rhodesia, Nigeria, Peru and so forth?

 

Point made?

 

Despite the pickiness of the above, the brilliance of your analysis left me with only this small nit to pick at.

 

Congratulations on posting a most edifying deconstruction and analysis.

 

John (Crosley)

A food service worker whispered in the ears of this couple they were being photographed, but a glance from the girl/woman left, had already shown me she knew of that.

 

They feigned 'surprise' but weren't at all. I invited them to review a photo or two and chose this as a representative photo, just passing over the ones of her tongue out teasingly, and others of them kissing, as more 'trite' or ordinary, and this as 'extraordinary' because such intertwining is seldom seen, especially in public in a brightly lighted place.

 

This is in Ukraine where there is no voiced disapproval of such behavior; housing is smaller and no one skeptically chants 'get a room, for Chrissakes!' as might happen in the US.

 

That's just often not possible.

 

There are dark courtyards, alleyways, sometimes for the wealthier, car seats etc., but then it snowed that night (two nights ago as I write this).

 

Or maybe mom and pop have gone to bed when they get home and turn 'deaf' to rustling in the next room (if one is lucky enough to have 'bedrooms' for all - which is not usual, and people in Russia/Ukraine and other former Communist countries I have previously observed sometimes sleep on hide-a-chairs even in the kitchen . . . . . then the sleeper is withdrawn in the A.M. and it's used as an ordinary chair (this is not everywhere of course and levels of wealth vary dramatically, also levels of crowding and overcrowding, with relief more and more common) My experience is more from Moscow and elsewhere in Russia than from Ukraine, also.

 

But I had a Russian wife, and she told me lots of stories about life in Russia as a youth re: the natural of interpersonal relations among teenage youth, and I have no doubt they were true.

 

Russian and Ukrainian youths spend some pretty good times together I think, and form close friendships in ways American youths do not, much of it on the 'street', at least in clement weather including sometimes drinking, singing (in the summer) and in general carousing, but with not such great ill effect in many cases.

 

It seems part of a general Soviet/Post-Soviet Slavic culture, challenged by Internet gaming and Internet cafes in places where people cannot afford their own computers (system a bloc) and Internet hookups.

 

And, if you're going to engage in heavy petting, best not to do it with mom and pop watching . . . . lest you be teased or otherwise be made to feel self-conscious.

 

;~)))

 

I met the couple -- they invited Me over to Them, and showed them this capture. They liked it, took my name and I know they'll google.com my name and see this.

 

So 'Hi' you two.

 

I enjoyed meeting you, very much.

 

Hope you two have enjoyed my photos. You now can see this is an attempt at genuine 'art' rather than mere voyeurism - you never said otherwise, but the colloquy above must underscore that point.

 

Best wishes.

 

john (the guy with the cameras)

 

John (Crosley)

 

 

 

 

Hello is John, glad an acquaintance with you, thank you very much for a to

photo, pleasantly.)

 

(Fellow which on a photo)

Igor and his girlfriend are subjects of this photo, who were invited to see for themselves how they looked online.

 

Thank you both so much for your good humours.

 

John.

 

John (Crosley)

A lovely moment, well captured!

I guess you can thank not only me, but Igor (message above) and his attractive and very affectionate young miss.

 

Both were very kind to me, and both pleased with this photo (as you can see from the post second above yours).

 

It's not always in street photos that one has the subjects render their opinions of being photographed under the photo, as here, and I'm delighted that has happened. Many times subjects do take the identification, and I am sure from seeing them later they have viewed my site (and often their photos are posted by then so they have seen their photos) but posts by subjects are somewhat rare - though they do happen.

 

It's quite an honor to some, to appear in a good photo . . . . a real distinction to be singled out . . . . and some who observe do not really understand and if given their 'druthers would intervene' but would do 'Igor' and his young miss no favors.

 

Thanks Alan, for stopping by and for the compliment.

 

john

 

John (Crosley)

This is a great thread to read.

@Igor: cool that you stopped by and - I guess this is pretty unusual for a street photo (where subjects usually stay anonymous and hardly have a "voice").

@John: well, I guess I indeed have to take a week of vacations (or longer?!) for closer examining your portfolio - it's impressive.

cheers, Wolfgang

'Street' photographers sometimes get a 'bad rap' when one or another complaint surfaces, but Igor's actions speak for themselves (and for my behavior).

 

Because I often photograph alone, there often are no witnesses to my almost always very good behavior (though I recently shot 'street' with a Photo.net fledgling member who saw me meet and interrelate with lots and lots of people 'on the street' and many of them had seen me 'once or twice -- maybe three times' previously' but most never had encountered me (the first day) and the second day no one had ever seen me. We never had an unhappy moment with subjects, and he was with me to 'learn' about how to behave on the street both to overcome innate shyness, and to allow better, more intimate captures that had eluded him.

 

(He write me that it was highly successful, and his photography seems to show marked improvement . . . and he is highly skilled.)

 

I'm highly flattered by your compliment; let the record show I'm blushing more than a little.

 

(I made hundreds of posts early on without critique just to free myself from the ratings/critique trap, as I shoot for myself, not for rates, and always have. I use PN's 'views' as a test of popularity; its critiques for an useful aid in developing my skills (as improvement is why I seek critique, not to show 'superiority in any way -- I'll post an obvious 3/3 photo if it appeals to me, regardless of rates, though I'm sometimes very pleasantly surprised.)

 

As to subjects posting responses, look in portfolio comments by two women, 'miss X and Julie whom I met in McDonald's in Dnepropetrovsk', and I know from personal experience that it must be thousands of subjects and acquaintances who've looked up my portfolio based on meeting me and/or being photographed with/by me.

 

On my fourth trip in two years to California's Venice Beach,a companion shooting with me must have thought I was a frequent visitor. We had gone no more than a block when I was stopped rather aggressively and a little rudely by a rap artist but when I mentioned a fellow artist (peddling his wares) who dressed all in white (SALT), and said that guy had great respect for my photography, he turned to ward SALT who was nearby in a truck front seat, got the thumbs up from SALT and his behavior changed immediately.

 

We went to Muscle Beach, and I was remembered by two or more.

 

Others remembered me, and willingly did things, or acknowledged me or spoke with me as a friendly guy though we really had little interplay over two years.

 

My companion, I think, understood how it is I get so many photographs, and I told him quite candidly that over the past six years of shooting, my growing abilities and my prominence as a shooter and its recognition have helped increase my outgoing nature quite a bit. Whereas before I would interact, now I have some body of work to refer to (before I had nothing, just big cameras and some chutzpah) (and some old photos taken in my '20s that were pretty good --look for them I'm proud of them!

 

I'm still blushing though.

 

I wish well on your journey, but beware of getting bogged down in those 10,000 comments/critiques (and remember many are my own 'essays' and you may want to skip them; in part they're practice for a book/books I might wish to write. This place is a great place for judging writing popularity too,as many members have written me asking me to publish my writing!

 

Best to you,

 

john

 

John (Crosley)

 

 

John, awesome shot. I like that their faces only partially revealed and the checker pattern jumps out. The smile of the wall photo echoes the emotions.

You've seen me; you've shot with me and you generally know how I shoot and my behavior on the street from close up.

 

It's my usual behavior that you saw, and it's impossible to 'fake anything' over a long period.

 

'The truth will out' I found out from my days of practicing law.

 

When interviewing people, especially new clients, I often interviewed not only for the essentials but for every bit of minutiae, as an excuse to keep them in my office with two goals (1) to learn of any other cases they or their friends and/or relatives might have that were unrepresented and needed representation that might otherwise be 'gifts' to insurance companies or otherwise indicators that individual were either getting 'cheated' or 'getting a haircut' by not having representation (2) to learn if the clients' demeanor was the same over a long period of time, so I could learn their true selves, and how they comported themselves not only in the first part of an interview but as they became tired, answered a lot of questions about details (no details might mean a made-up story, rehearsed) and so on.

 

It was hugely successful.

 

I called it the iron-butt technique.

 

It got me a huge number of cases and also a huge number of clients whose stories (when they survived the long process) I truly believed, not just who made claims, but who dispelled any doubts so I could really 'go to bat for them' - guns ablazing.

 

It meant bigger rewards for them, usually, and once they'd been through the process, and saw my thoroughness, they weren't likely to 'fire' me and try to hire another attorney; it bred huge loyalty on their part over a very long term. They saw my dedication if not to them personally, to the justness of their cause and to the truth of what they told me.

 

It works that way in life, also. I put it on the line - even in walking the street with another and am willing to be judged by the result.

 

You might be interested in a thread being conducted elsewhere on this site - it's long reading to which I have contributed, about revealing one's captures

 

http://photo.net/photography-news-forum/00W0RS

 

You have firsthand knowledge of some of the assertions made by me therein, but are not referred to; your privacy is respected. A link is provided to this photo, as an example of how I get along with 'street' subjects, (Igor pictured herein, wrote post No. 7 above, which is a rare occurrence).

 

If I ever misstate or misrepresent your experiences (or feelings) please let me know, but remember, such things are personal and not identifiably mentionable by me relating to anyone without some sort of consent -- I know how to write and I also know how to write with restraint.

 

I think you might learn (even enjoy) the colloquy of that thread, it's quite lively, and if you detect a misstatement, please let me know immediately, so I can correct it.

 

I do not like to make misstatements and try to correct any substantial misstatement that I make. I make lots of mistakes as life passes by; my commitment is to correcting significant ones so no one ever is harmed, annoyance is nonexistent or minimal and my good name is not harmed.

 

Whew, this must seem like Sanskrit to a non-involved person.

 

I'm greatly glad you enjoyed this photo; it is just one of a half dozen good to wonderful photos, but this one stood out for not being a petzaloy (kissing) cliche (at least I've so many kissing photos that any more might become a Crosley cliche). Many were taken in this very spot . . . . .

 

My best to you Mark.

 

Thanks for stopping by. You're always welcome here.

 

And your observations are (as the British say) 'spot on'.

 

john

 

John (Crosley)