'Grabbing a Few Winks'

This young man is so tired that when he grabs a few winks, he almost

seems to become part of the furniture. I'm intrigued by his posture --

you? Your ratings, critiques and remarks are invited and most

welcome. If you rate or critique harshly or very critically, or wish to

make an observation, please submit a helpful and constructive

comment; thank you in advance for sharing your photographic

knowledge to help improve my photography. Enjoy! John

I think this is a typical street shot. I looked at it for a while and tried to figure what you wanted to convey. Having thought for a while, I could not think of much. Maybe I require more time with this.

I find that you have commented on the posture of this man. What it reminds me is that of the foetal position. The person is curled up in his sleep, such that you can also see the right knee folded just that bit more than the left one (or is it just the angle of the shot?). It depicts someone who is sleeping in such peace and such depth that it is almost as if he has retired into the security of a cocoon or womb. In his sleep he finds the security and comfort that he may not find in his real life. His clothes and in general his overall dress make him look like one of those young people who do manual labour (certainly in India where I come from). The rolled up paper on his lap...that's interesting, though I cannot state why. But it suits the overall atmosphere. I'm not going to draw inferences from this but just say it fits in.

(Am I becoming some sort of a repeater and a bit stagnant in my ideas, with double layered interpretations, John? Refer to my last comments on "Monkeyface".)

Perhaps I will require more time to appreciate the depths of this photo.

Samrat,

Not every photo is rife with double and triple meanings.

I saw something interesting to me, and I took a photo of it.

In my lifetime I seldom see such scenes.  In India, I am sure they are much more commonplace, especially in villages and in many portions of major cities where people work hard, long hours, 'live at the job' and don't have much time for rest.

This is a man in a place of 'no creature comfort' making himself comfortable, and greatly so.  He can be faking nothing, given his posture.  His posture tells his truth.

In the USA, people don't engage in such behavior much, and even so in Ukraine too, in a major city like Kyiv, though more so in villages, etc.

This is a photo about contrasts as I analyze it.  Everything man made here is made of straight lines with minimal curves.  The straight lines here are very 'masculine' and forthright.  There is nothing comfortable or forgiving about them; they are very utilitarian; they are made for short stays, not lengthy sleeps.

The wallboard is marked with straight lines (striated) (I might have emphasized them more in processing). 

The wall joint is straight. 

The floor meets the wall in straight lines. 

All the furniture is made of straight lines and starkly so except for some small curvature where the iron chair leg is bent to support the seat.  The planks of the tables and chair seats and definitely straight and make strong straight lines.  Only the cylindrical cans, ashtrays, are curved.

In short, this is a photo of lines, and all man made lines here are almost exclusively straight lines -- firm, strong, uncomfortable, masculine, straight lines, meant for utilitarianism.

This man is like something from 'The Wizard of Oz'.   Imagine him 'melting, melting, melting away'  like the Witch from the (where was she from, which compass direction, who just melted away?).

In a sense, he is melting into sleep, just like that witch did into her pool in that classic film.

What was once an erect, straightforward man who sat down in a room full of straight lines, atop furniture made of straight lined planks, made of straight lined (mostly) wrought iron, has gone from being homo erectus into homo meltus into sleepus, and not just in any casual pose but into a very, very deep slumber that suggests he is almost without supporting skeleton.

That is what caught my eye; that he is so disjointed and so lacking in internal support, and of course the surroundings emphasize that because all around is so  'erect' 'straight' and 'strong', but he is not.

Contrasts make up so much of my photography, because a contrast tends to emphasize the thing being contrasted.

Here the man's slumping is contrasted with the apparent strength and the forthrightness of all around him.  Everything around him is strong and straight; he is a lump, falling deep into dreamland.

Everything around him is NOT designed for comfort; he is making comfort from the most uncomfortable circumstance, and apparently succeeding.

That's incongruity.

You may have seen it commonly in India and it may be common in other, less developed parts of the world, but in developed countries, such posture is rare.  Kyiv and Ukraine are second world, bordering on first world in part.

I could have just taken a photo of him alone, and it would mean and look like nothing, and same with the room corner and furniture.  They would look like and mean nothing.

Now, with that in mind, please take a second look at this photo of him, the furniture and the room, and see if it tells you something new, or if you still feel it's just 'blah' to you, Samrat.

I have to view these things through my critics' eyes often to understand them myself; as I take and understand such photos myself so naturally, quite often.

This one said to me  'It's interesting' and 'post me!', because it's different and appealing 

Maybe to some it never will be. 

And that may be cultural, or I may just be cockeyed today.

Oh well, post 'em and take your chances.

I like it, maybe you never will.

That's why they make vanilla and chocolate (and sometimes strawberry).

I love your critiques, though, keep 'em coming.  They make ME think.

john

John (Crosley)

If you look at this man from foot to head, and look at the lines of his body, it's almost in a classic 'S' curve, then elongated into his arms and hands which disguise that his torso is in that 'S' curve.

The 'S' curve is most interesting because the eye tends to follow and engage it.

I think that's what his body may do, though it's an individual thing and this 'S' curve does NOT lead into the horizon as many of the most classically interesting ones do.

Now, put that body curve into your pipe with all those straight, masculine, utilitarian lines and see if that doesn't combust a little.

john

John (Crosley)

Love the moment you've captured. I'm a bit confused by the wall behind the main subject. MC &HNY.

I'm very fond of this moment captured too.

As to the wall, this minute I don't have the original capture, but it's either

(1) bad paint, or

(2) jpeg compression from this site, but not from my computer. 

I think it's just a Ukrainian paint job. 

It's a kiosk or storefront like restaurant, and they kind of wing it in such places.

They started when banks failed, state jobs were lost with the fall of Communism, and people turned wherever they could to make money; thousands of kiosks, restaurants and other places sprung up, all ad hoc.  Zoning in areas of such places, often around Metro or bus stops or transport hubs, is usually nonexistent and same with 'architectural integrity'. 

It's an urban planner's nightmare, but then the whole Soviet Union was centrally planned, with 'economists' in Moscow determining how much of each thing people in Novosibirsk got, from matchsticks and toilet bowl cleaners to Dior gowns.

Yes, they got Dior gowns, and probably more than any other buyer in the world.

Guess who got them -- party boss wives and wives (and mistresses) of bigwigs.

Some things remain the same no matter who's in charge, even if they're so-called 'proletariat' and 'comrades'.

When you frequent such places, the last thing one criticizes is the wall paint!

You're just lucky to have a place to sit; Ukraine is full of men who are great squatters, as chairs, seats or stools are not required for 'sitting' or 'squatting'.

It's somewhat different than my home country, and for this guy, I think, a chair may be a luxury.

Thanks for helping dissect this a little more. 

I'm glad it pleases you.

(What do those letters mean -- an acronym?)

john

John (Crosley)

I like how he is leaning heavily on what is the visual diagonal, making the leaning feel more heavy.

Another instance of more heavy is Cartier-Bresson's Rue de Cléry, where the woman's feet are both on the ground, the baby and stuff she is carrying weigh her down, and the bright sky triangle plunges down to weigh upon her as well.

Nice job.

--Tom

P.S. Don't look at my images on here, I have since actually taken some good photos, heh. Gotta update this site sometime.

Excellent view

Best regards

 

Xavier Corcobado

xcorcobado.blogspot.com

Your insight expressed as this:  leaning heavily on what is the visual diagonal, making the leaning feel more heavy. . . . . ' is precisely why I post so many photos for critique, hoping for a gem of an expression and insight like just that, stated also so succinctly.

It is a genuine insight.

I looked on the Internet for Rue de Clery (missing accent, no French keyboard installed) but don't remember the photo though I know 90% of Cartier-Bresson's work.  Probably I know the photo, just don't connect the description with the photo in my mind's eye.

But in looking, I came across his latest touring exhibition's web site:

Here is a link:

http://moma.org/interactives/exhibitions/2010/henricartierbresson/#/

Please report if or when it is broken.

There are some wonderful, well known photos in it, but also some few I had never seen, which surprised me. 

The old coot is a man I increasingly understand . . . . after three and a half decades of 'getting' only some modest part of his better works, now I understand nearly everything. 

I can 'see' what he was doing -- almost experience it -- almost see through his eyes.  Critiques such as yours and posting on the Internet have helped me greatly.  Never underestimate the value of an audience for 'street' exhibition and good critiques.

Not everything in the exhibition is so wonderful, either; I might have curated it differently, but its scope is intended to be encyclopedic, rather than only his 'best'or 'most iconic' I think and to avoid being a 'Cartier-Bresson cliche exhibition.

I'm always delighted to have any work of mine compared favorably to the master's.

Thanks. (put up your new works, let's have a look)

john

John (Crosley)

 

 

Thank you for such kind words.

john

John (Crosley)

In my search for a meaning to the photo, my first sentence summarises it all: a typical street shot. Which is basically that you liked the situation, hence you shot it. However, I noted your comment on the posture of the man. That set me thinking about any possible interpretation that there may be. Of course, these are my own thoughts, whether for this or any other photo anywhere; I just enjoy the opportunities photos provide for interpretation and questions. Regards.

Sometimes it's possible to look to hard or in the wrong places.

Although I do, and frequently take and post photos with some statement about the state of mankind of the individual being photographed, some photos are all about the composition and design.

My idea of what comprises a 'typical street photo' on this service, consists often of a bunch of people in randomness on the street, with no particular design or organization, no special meaning, without particularly good composition, but if shot with a Leica and Leica optics, often amazing tonality.

What I put forward as 'street' often is far removed from what others show, I think (not you, but many others) -- even though almost each shot I post is a 'one off' and features different actors and different subjects, I have been told my shots are often instantly recognizable as being my work.

So, I wonder, how do I fit with the 'typical' street shot?  Here, this shot is about contrasts in lines, the curved vs. the linear, and the forthright, linear and strong versus the weak, human, and crumpled individual expressed in curving lines.

In itself, that may be a statement about 'life' too, and though certainly about this one scene this one day; it also may have a universal analog if you start to dig deep.

Thanks for replying, Samrat.

john

John (Crosley)

John this is indeep a well done photogrpah. I have studied for years and seen shots that attemtped to capture what you have portrayed in this image. It is well done well framed and great prespective. This is a true street shot in all areas. selection of anything other than black and white would not work... Well done... MJ

I do not know how to make the dramatic photos that you make, so I am left with capturing life's simple moments, hopefully in a special and unique way that represents just what interests me.

Mostly what I do is inchoate or innate, though I have through this service and through a mentor learned how to explain what I do, and in some cases, also to teach how to do what I do.

I believe as you do, in sharing.  When something is as innate as this, who is going to be an immitator and steal my thunder?  On the other hand, I love to share what it is and how I do it, even if I do not always go through that process until well after I've taken the subject photo.

But sometimes, I take critiques and lessons I've helped teach others through their and my analyses of my photos, and employ them when I shoot anew, and it's yielded some pretty good photos.

I'm in awe of your ability to dramatize things, but I'll take my moments simple, as that's my nature, and if there's complexity in them, it's subtle, I think.

Thanks for such a wonderful and succinct analysis.

john

John (Crosley)