uncertainty

Lovely tones and very nice facial expressions.  It makes me wonder what they are looking at.  I only wonder if positioning the lady and child more to the right would not result in an even stronger picture.  Now they are looking out the picture instead of into the picture.

Ben

and now i'm so excited you're among us, Bozena. this is a perfect piece of work on every level, especially technically, imo. i luv the aesthetic choice of much wall on the right frame to give comext to the reality of the scene, and with subject looking out at edge of left frame to give the sense of something happening outside the frame. it humanizes and dramatizes a poignant relationship between the two subjects. quite honestly, finest picture of its kind of seen in a long while! ;-} dp

Bozena, welcome to Photonet.

This is a very dramatic and facinating image. It has the look of WW11 Europe with the brick road, the sepia tones, the forties style clothing. The light is wonderful, I like how it illuminates the mother, with her expression of what looks like fear and caution. It pulls me into the drama of their situation. The little girl's expression really pulls the heart strings as she looks up at her mother with concern. This is a very impressive image and I am looking forward to seeing more of your work.

Best wishes from Canada,

Linda

Excellent work. great tension in the shot and beautiful p/p work...Bravo!

Please note the following:

• This image has been selected for discussion. It is not necessarily the "best" picture the Elves have seen this week, nor is it a contest.
• Discussion of photo.net policy, including the choice of Photograph of the Week should not take place here, but in the Help & Questions Forum.
• The About Photograph of the Week page tells you more about this feature of photo.net.
• Before writing a contribution to this thread, please consider our reason for having this forum: to help people learn about photography. Visitors have browsed the gallery, found a few striking images and want to know things like why is it a good picture, why does it work? Or, indeed, why doesn't it work, or how could it be improved? Try to answer such questions with your contribution.

What a striking photo, especially viewed in context of the entire portfolio. My only wish would be for a tiny bit less vignetting. Congraatulations.
Diane

Very impressive photograph, all of the elements here worked superbly together to enhance the high quality f this image, Bravo.

Fantastic Retro look of this photo. Bravo

Very nicely done. There's a certain tension the photo inparts which keeps the viewer's locked into it

A very strong image that tells a story, depending on the viewer's imagination. Maybe a happy story; maybe a sad story. You want to keep looking to try and figure out what's going on.
All the shots in this folder are equally compelling.

Excellent capture. I love the light, the tones, the details, well everything except the vignetting. I'm not sure if this dramatic picture will work with less vignetting, but nevertheless I'd like to see and compare it. Keep up that excellent work. You have some really great pictures (on your website too)

Kind regards,

Christian

Her portfolio contain only nine images, but honestly all are at a high level of technique. Composition and the lighting are always beautiful. I feel nostalgia with this kind of black and white tone which was present with some printing paper in the past. The contrast can express or reflects the mood of people. Yes, as it was said by friends BRAVO

While I love the technique, I can't say I'm sold on the staging. And this is staged, not street photography. All of the photos in this very nice portfolio use the same models.
This photo confuses me: why is the woman staring expectantly down the road while the child is looking up with a pleading expression at the woman? To me, this is a story technically very well captured but physically not well told.
And as with so many posts on Photo.net, I wish there were EXIF data.

While technically it may be nicely done, and while I like the idea behind the photo, ultimately it's the expression (or lack thereof) on the faces, especially that of the boy, that leave me flat. I just don't see truthfulness in their respective expressions. The photographer has done her part; now more coaching is needed for the actors to portray their roles in a convincing manner. IMO, of course.

Stephen - minor correction: that's a little girl.

I agree with all. Excellent photo on both an emotional level and a technical one.
Maybe a little less vignetting on the left side??? but that is nit picking.

6/7
John

Once again, another photo that didn't require vignetting - or far less of it so that it is not so obvious.
One does not need to be hit-over-the-head with vignetting to force my attention to the subjects. If the photo is strong enough (i.e. good control of depth of field, lighting, composition, color rendition etc.) then there should be little or no need to apply something that is obviously so fake.
The only reason say Cartier-Bresson had vignetting in his images is because the limitations of the lens. Today with modern lenses, that factor has been virtually eliminated. And if he did apply vignetting it was almost imperceptible.

The composition, tones, focus/DOF and processing are all great. The poses and emotion captured- even if staged- tell a good story. The variety and contrasts of the shiny street and faded buildings are all great. I don't see vignetting at all /imperceptible if done and for that matter all the processing - and looks like not too much and was done expertly in my opinion. I think it's a very fine photograph/ image and good choice for POW.

I like the idea behind this series a lot. The street as staged. An open and honest attempt to create theater on the street and with photographs. The photographer as director, not just capturer. There's an intelligence in such an approach and it takes pulling a lot of elements together, from composition to dress to expression to pose to gesture to lighting to post processing. I think the processing does give it a staged look and since the content and context is theatrical, the processing and the vignetting, which I do think is quite obvious, is not at all objectionable to me. It might be "over"-done in a more candid and documentary-like street photograph, but in the context of this work, the vignetting seems to integrate with the bigger picture. No, the vignetting doesn't integrate in such a way as to not draw attention to itself, but there is a kind of intentional stylism to the processing of which the vignetting feels consistent. I don't look at this photo as I would most more casual street shots. It's a whole different thing.

I think more work and refinement could be given to the expressions and poses here. I am more conscious that there is an attempt at storytelling (and I like this kind of storytelling) than I am involved in the particular story. In other words, it's not quite convincing me. I don't mind seeing and feeling process. I actually like feeling the artificiality of fiction (when it's genuine, which I think this is) sometimes. But for me there's that much more when the artificiality complements or goes along more seamlessly with also being involved in what's happening. If I felt my involvement being offset or harmonized or even contrasted with the artificial process of fiction and narrative, I'd be OK with that. But as it stands, there's nothing really hooking me into the fiction so I'm a little stuck just noticing the attempt at fiction, and a good attempt at that. I'm facing it but not quite experiencing it.

This is cool idea, but the models' faces don't look good here.... why this is photograph of the week, I don't know.
Typical East European styling?

I love the artful staging. Its beautiful, but I think the processing is just a bit overwhelming. The beautiful image could stand on its own without the brown tones (too dark) and the heavy vignette. It makes me want to see it in color, with either bright or else muted tones just to see.. I think the expressions are fine and see no problem with the performances.

I look at the tone differently here, with the stile of the dress wearied by the young one and the lady along with the aged buildings in the surrounding, the tone do add a very sensible touch to this image.
Why this is a POW as stated by some other member, well the way I see it, there is a great potential in the imaged and could well be a superb source of educational photographic issue for many members by having every one else comments here.
Typical Eastern or westerner, thats do not de grade the interest of Art to me, where ever it come from, it have my great appreciation and respect.

Period pieces are difficult to get right and I think that is a lot of what we have heard here in this thread. Props, casting, wardrobe and the attention to detail--any wrong step and the image suffers.

When I first looked at this image I was also just not buying the little girl. Part of the problem is the look, which would seen to make more sense if she was rifling through the woman's purse while she kept an eye on her prey as she is doing here. But I think the biggest issue for me and this girl is that she is apparently supposed to be a street urchin and yet she is so clean, shiny and well put together. There is nothing believable about her. In fact, and it might be because she is just so clean and tidy, I felt that she was not a good casting--not enough angst or whatever in those eyes.

Anyway, I thought the woman was believable by herself and that the image might have been more successful if she were by herself here. I don't have any technical issues per se with the transaction of the image. But overall, looking through the series, my comments above would apply to a great number of those in the photostream. I think it could be a great series, but a bit more grit and a little less cliche might make them better overall--keep working at it.

Like the technique and detail. Like the tonality. Don't especially like the photo, itself. It isn't good enough to be a fashion shot. It's too staged to be a real street photo. Any tension in it looks phony to me. There's not enough variation in it from the others in the photographer's portfolio to make it unique. Could be a Photo of the Moment, but Photo of the Week? No, not in my opinion.