Haunting Memory

Bad title. (See below for better comment.)

Beautiful, dreamy shot.

Wonderful picture with great atmosphere that fits well to the subject.

Very melancholy, very beautiful... I love every thing about this pictures, composition, colours, all. Compliments!

This dead tree stands in a backwater graveyard of stumps. I'm told

that the area has been flooded for seventy years. The skeletal

remains of this tree reminded me of synapses. It's that allusion and

the moody setting that prompted the title.

 

Does this work, or are photos like this too simplistic? Do you have

suggestions to improve this image? In addition to post-processing, re-

shooting is an option.

Nice photo.

it is not too simplistic. just simple motives are powerfull.here the background and the smooth water are fantastic.the dead tree gives the picture a special character.you can try to change it but not to improve because thiswould be a matter of taste. i tried to change the picture with PS manipulation but without a satisfying result.Photos like this are for "thinking" aswell a aestetic pleasure.

i add my trial change, but let it as it is.

best regards robertO

Very nice mood.

Slava, I accept your comment, but would you mind noting why you don't like the title and suggesting a couple alternatives? I've been criticized before for using "boring", literal titles.

I like this very much and wanted to see the technical details so I've also read the other comments. Can't see much in the way of improvements, excepts perhaps (and I'm not sure) a bit more reflection included at the bottom and a bit less background (about 1/8 of height?)...Or perhaps crop/zoom in a bit more on the tree. Interesting subjcet, nice lighting, good colours, and the title's fine with me.

Love it but it is getting perilously close to the teenage room wall poster.

The photographer asked for a better criticism so I hope this is.

Well, this may just be a personal thing, I don't like it when artists tell me too much about what to think or how to feel about their piece (either through their titles or their comments) since it defeats the purpose of the visual aspect of the piece (poetry is better at having words carry a feeling across to the viewer). Who knows maybe the viewer - who brings his own set of visual references and inferences - has a different interpretation, one that the photographer may have missed, not be aware of, be happily surprised by, even.

(Yes, I've fallen into this trap myself on occasion (and I fully grant that explaining my own intentions is a failure in execution).)

The case with the current title ("Haunting Memory") is doubly so:

• haunting - Yes, I agree the photo has a haunting feel. It has a peaceful, contemplative mood. It has a lonely,sad look. It has a atmosphere. It has many things; I'm not sure why I'd pick 'haunting' above the rest.
• memory - Well, aren't all photos aspects of memory? "Memory of seeing a sunset", "memory of a women's smile". etc. So there has to be something else about memory itself, in order to use the word "memory" usefully in reference to this photo. Some options:
  • a memory is like a mangled, dead tree.
  • memory is lonely.
  • memory is a cut-out.
  • memory is that thing between reflection and fog.
  • memory strives up, but sinks down.
  • there's as little use in saving memory as in saving a dead tree.
  Ok, so maybe 'memory' is kinda a cool word for this picture. Maybe.

My title suggestions: "Untitled" (smile), 'Drowned', 'Before/After'.Again, maybe just a personal verbal quirk.

Nice photo by the way (think I neglected to mention that the first time).

I like that the branches of the tree merge below the surface so as to direct the eye down into the water but also add a dimension of mystery to the photo.

I like the three textures/surfaces and how they come together: the fuzzy vertical background, the matte cut-out of the tree stuff (a nonsurface, really) and the glistening plane of the horizontal water.

I like that ... but I can't put it all into words, which is good, since I'd rather refer to your photo in expressing those thoughts/feelings. :)

Slava - I sincerely appreciate the time and thought you put into your last comment. I didn't know what to do with "bad title" other than to change it, but this gives me much more to think about -- well beyond the confines of this photo. This is what critiques are all about.

Frankly, I cringe when struggling to title photos, because my feeling is that the literal has a tendency to be obvious and dull the senses (e.g., "This is a Tree in Water"), while the creative labels flirt with pretension/silliness (e.g., "Metaphysical Pilgrimage"). On the other hand, it's useful to have titles for identification. I suppose something like "Number 7120" would work, but then one tends to falls back to the literal when discussing it ("Number 7120 -- you know, the one with a tree in water").

I'm extremely sympathetic to your distaste for being told what to think or feel. That's an excellent point. "Haunting" is probably too leading in that respect, isn't it? Maybe it's something else entirely. However, I've seen titles used to prompt the viewer into interpretation. Consider Magrittes "Ceci nest pas une pipe" ("This is not a pipe"). Without the label/title it's just an unremarkable pipe. There the title is everything, and it's flat-out telling the viewer what to think. I have far less lofty goals than Magritte, so I suppose I'm safe leaving the viewer with a little more freedom. ;-)

I might let the title stand on this posting so that our comments don't lose their context, but rest assured that I will give thought to a better one. Thanks!

hi there... really like the foreground of this shot (the tones are awesome, esp. in water) but the muddy green tones of the foliage in the bkg i think detract from this image. i think it would be improved by a cold colour treatment overall or just a more selective treatment concentrating on the trees behind (or both). I think it would make this image more haunting to give it a slightly colder look?

I would leave this photo as is. I like the tones and atmosphere of this picture. I am never sure about titles either. You can take a picture, upload it quickly and then spend hours agonising over what to call it. Forget the title, this is an excellent shot!

I agree with all the people here. So, what can I add ? I'ts simple and BEAUTIFUL. And thanks a lot for your comment and advices about my "Tit who certainly likes his groundnut"

A great shot and obviously one that has made quite a few peolple feel compelled to make comments.

It has a haunting quality and it has evoked some memories for me, so the title fits from my point of view. As they say, though, "What's in a name?" It is the visual impact, not the name that drew me to look at this picture. Retitle it, untitle it, but don't screw up the image. It is a keeper.

Lovely work! I like the atmosphere you created...

This is where photography becomes "art".Perspective,tone and light achieve an image I am drawn to and will remember.

This photo reminds me of something out of the movie "Deliverance". A powerful photo.

"A Viking Funeral" The grown children of the deceased are forever gathered to watch the deceased return to it's roots. Get it...."roots".

Ahhhh

Fantastic!

Two comments:

Specific photo

This (June 3, 2003) is a different photo from the original, no? It's not duochrome - or am I real dumb and looked at the other with a bad monitor. The billowing shapes in the background now appear as trees rather than formless fog clouds. The boundary between water and fog is better articulated. The tree outline crisper.

I noticed a pixelation halo around the tree though. This seems odd.

But to me this photo has a different affect from the original: the coloring of the trees give a more hopeful tone - ie, the fog/mood will lift and life (ie, green) will become apparent again.

As far as titles, I also suggest (just suggest), "Backwaters" or maybe if one likes more abstract titling, and in honor of a prominent American's bicentennial: "Moment of Transition" (Ralph Waldo Emerson). These allude to the memory theme.

Art Theory

John, you're right that titles can contribute to the artwork as in Magritte's "This is not a pipe". However, that piece works only because it is conceptual art - the visual and textual parts are integrated (even with the cultural - the pipe is an allusion to Freud's "Sometimes a cigar is just a cigar"). But I disagree that the meaning is easily discernible. For example Michel Foucault commented that ("This is Not a Pipe, 1968, J. Harkness translation, 1982):

I don't actually know what this all means, but at least someone else thought the meaning of Margitte's painting was nonobvious.

:)

No, Slava, this is the same image it's always been. To me, the JPEG-compressed USM halo isn't blatant at 100% (about 5x7" on my display), but maybe I'm due for a monitor re-calibration. A halo is present, but I'd attribute some of the effect to the contrast between the branches and wisps of fog. Then again, I've probably been too ambitious/sloppy about JPEG compression.

I don't think you're the least bit dumb. The color is muted, and the trees are dim and out-of-focus. It's the dawn light, a wide aperture, and a little curves adjustment. (For completeness I'll note that I also dodged a spot in the fog above the rightmost stump and sharpened.) Sometimes subdued palettes capture my attention because they teeter between my expectations for duotone and color. It's almost that I get a sense of something being "wrong", so I end up looking a little closer. Maybe it's just because vibrant super-saturation has become the norm for color photos. For a slightly different take on duotone v. color, look at this IR and color blend by Willem Dijkstra.

I like the "Backwaters" suggestion.

As for Magritte, I didn't say his meaning was easily discernible. My point was to imagine what interpretations might have been given to the "pipe" without its title/label. I was offering it in contrast to the other example titles. By the way, I've always thought Foucault was the type to take three left turns to make a right; your comment made me grin.

Thanks for all your thoughts, especially the critical ones. (Affirmation from other photographers is nice, too, but constructive criticism is uncommon.) I might not get to your portfolio right away, but I'll do my best to make good on the critique karma you've earned.

I think I wrote a previous comment while there was a slither of sunlight here and it glared up my monitor and washed out the difference between the dull forest greens and browns of the water.The tones are fine.

A friend of mine is writing an art history dissertation titled, "Memory into Modernism". I couldn't get past - no, out, I couldn't get out of - the second sentence.