pretty darn new 'The Jazz Great or from the Hood (or both)'

I was photographing some jazz greats mostly from the past then

retired to a local restaurant, and she may be one of the greats whose

name I do not know, a tourist, from the hood (a local) or all of the

above. (I only photograph celebrities with invitation, and I was

invited to do just that). I just do not remember the circumstances of

this photo subject. Your ratings, critiques and remarks are invited

and most welcome. If you rate harshly, very critically or just wish to

make an observtion, please submit a helpful and constructive

comment; please share your photographic knowledge to help

improve my photography. Thanks! Enjoy! John

I was attending a 'jazz great' conference and festival in Los Angeles at a hotel, and taking photos of certain entertainers by invitation (only by invitation as many were celebrities and I do NOT take photos of celebrities except by invitation and with consent as I am NOT paparazzo).  This is mixed among the photos, taken at a nearby restaurant, and probably within the hotel, but I have no notes about her identity, hence the confusion. 

If anybody can identify her, I would appreciate it. 

She may be a famous jazz singer, player or someone else. I can offer no direction except to identify the circumstances with some particularity and say the event is held annually.

john

John (Crosley)

Beautiful portrait, expressive eyes!

Personally, I think it's very good. When I found it, I said 'Wow, I took this?'

But raters  . . . . seem underwhelmed.

Oh well.

I like it.  You seem to like it.  That's good enough for me.

Thanks.

John (Crosley)

Another one of your wonderful portraits. No snooping, no peeping, just one of your straightforward "I'd like to take your photo please" ones. Therefore, this is as straight as it comes...no meanings to unravel. What you see is what there is... :)

Sveetlana is right about the eyes...they are so expressive. Almost like an avalanche of stories that could come tumbling out of them...but most importantly, they tell you that a connection has been made here.

Regards.

...before I forget, great cropping. :)

Thank you for understanding.

This is another 'find' from mining older captures - ones I took and never really examined.

'I took THAT?' I said to Svetlana, I exclaimed as I uncovered this one, never even viewed since I took it.

I think it's one of my very best.

There are many others, too, uncovered at a rate of 3 to 10 a day, some of them pretty darn good,  others more marginal and only maybe 1 to 3 downloads a session, with over 1200 downloads, with few of them completely picked over.

I have new sight and insight as time passes, justifying chances I took long ago and giving new insight to visions I had long ago but which I was not then 'in synch' with.

This is a good example.

More to come as almost everything here since May has been recycled, although I have produced some new work, but have been doling out my work more intentionally and with less of a time line to my shooting with the idea to break some boundaries as I did during my first year or so here, which was richly rewarded, since people here had a tough time categorizing me.

I try to keep them guessing a little bit.

You gotta see the two of 'sneakers' (athletic or 'tennis shoes' with purple laces in full color) wrapped around the metal rungs of a tall stool.

I take all kinds; people just do not always see all of them because I seldom post out-of-street genre photos so much any more.

I'm devoted to ensuring I don't get too typecast now.

john

John (Crosley)

Thanks for mentioning the cropping.

It was all 'in camera'.

I darkened the left background a trifle to isolate her more; it was too light for my taste; artist's choice.

In any case, I am very pleased with this one.

It meets my standards.

It is 'in your face' but not 'intrusive'; a way I like to photograph.

She's got some mysteriousness in there; some unrevealed stories, but you can see there's something substantial brewing back in there, even if it's not 'up front' here.

People with such dark skin can be interesting to photograph because of such possibilities with tonalities, even in harsh or bright light, so long as you're not exposing for the rest of the scene and I do spend some time in neighborhoods with darker-complected residents, photographing, and in part because I have more facets to my personality than my need to be solely around WASPEs. (The 'E' stands for 'Episcopalian', though now very long lapsed.)

I'm often far more at home in Inglewood, CA than in Beverly Hills, though my resume would say otherwise along with my cultural upbringing, but I move among and within cultural settings, mingling here and there with ease generally.

john

John (Crosley)

The first word I think about of I look at this photo is expression.

That is making the photo.

And I like it, it's a typical John Crosley photo.

It is very good John.

Thank you very much; your clarity is comforting.

john

John (Crosley)