'Ready For the Ride to Zhitomir'

This big, tall tall, man relaxes with a cigarette before boarding a

cramped jitney bus to Zhitomir, a city not so far away his departure

point on a major boulevard near the outskirts of Kyiv, Ukraine. Your

ratings, critiques and observations are invited and most welcome. If

you rate harshly, very critically or wish to make a remark, please

submit a helpful and constructive comment; please share your

photographic knowledge to help improve my photography. Thanks? Enjoy!

john

Realistic scene, realistic portrait!

wise use of the wide angle for this rooster... to balance the dark hulks on the left and afford us a deep view of the vehicles and the prevailing conditions... the eye travels from him along the much billboarded wall to the group (of jitney drivers and/or waiting passengers i assume), takes in the bereft trees and tall buildings and returns by the jitneys and the snow, ice and time shattered sidewalk... admirable your foraging, in such dreary conditions, for photo-ops

Good street portrait, John. You've got a knack for capturing character.

Yes, this is a very realistic scene.  Not all of Kyiv looks like this, for sure.  This is just one small, heavily traveled part, where the jitney buses to Zhitomir leave, right in front of their own Metro station on a heavily traveled boulevard, of course with numerous shops, a supermarket, and kiosks as with every Metro stop.

This is reality, as you have so aptly noted; it's my stock in trade.  I'm creating a living, breathing visual history of YOUR city.

It may be the definable history of your city in your times, and imagine, created in his spare time by a man from the US West Coast!

I'm the US for a brief while, but back very soon -- Second of March, no later, I think.

Best to you.

john

John (Crosley)

E. Short,

It may be that I do have a 'knack for capturing character' in part because I now have the cajones to walk up to a man like this (BIG ENOUGH TO TEAR ME APART) with my camera and lens and after assessing the situation for my safety, point the camera AND NOT BE TOO AFRAID TO DO WHAT IS NECESSARY TO GET A GOOD PHOTO.

I pit my brains, wile and street skills versus my estimation of what he physically could do to me if I perturbed to him,get in there, confront him with camera and les(as well as other subjects) and rely on very good street manners designed NOT to perturb a fellow like him.  (and as a fail safe also trust my ability to yell for militia at the top of my lungs - used exceedingly rarely)

FEAR is a prime deterrent to getting good captures, and I have plenty of that, but I put it away.  Fear is a good instinct to have, but you must hide it; subjects can sense fear, and like wild dogs, they can turn on the photographer who exudes the scent of fear.

But I've had enough success now, I just tell them I'm an expert (in their own language, rudimentarily) at 'portrait photography' and I'd like their 'portrait' (same word in both languages actually). 

Some have to be talked into it but don't hide, some resist and block their faces but I'll sneak in a good shot before they turn away, show them the shot and how good it looks or when the hands go down, and win them over, and some are just naturally vain and/or gregarious. 

It all depends, and there's a special spin on how to handle each subject.

Some just stand there and don't object . . . and that's permission enough.

Most want to see their portraits -- that's a form of vanity or self-interest.

They don't want to see their PHOTO, but a PORTRAIT from a portrait artist, that's different.

Interestingly enough, I've spent a lot of time with a Capuchin monkey (New World, Brazilian) (two of them actually) and if they saw their images in a mirror (metallic for safety reasons) they assumed it was another, aggressor monkey -- their intelligence did not extend to the ability to self-reflect (if you get the point) whereas a chimpanzee does indeed have that ability . . . . it's a basic intellectual or intelligence difference.

This fellow liked his photo  . . . . wouldn't you guess?

Thanks for a nice reflection on the development of my photography (and the skills that allow it to come about.)

john

John (Crosley)

What an interesting choice of words - a 'rooster'.

I didn't choose them, but see what you mean.

He may read this, so I won't comment.

I also won't comment on your commentary, since it's excellent as usual, and just suggest others read it.

I will suggest that you try to quarter this photo - divide it horizontally and vertically, and see what you get.

I think you will see that the vast bulk of the man is on the left side and the vast bulk of the rest of the scene, on the right.

His shoulders roughly are on the horizontal centerline (dividing lower from upper).  In a sense, this is a very 'geometric' photo, though one might not recognize it easily.

Shortly after I posted it, I lamented that it seemed almost unidimensional, but on reflection and especially after reading your critique, I realize that for those seeing this for the first time, there is plenty to engage the curious eye -- to draw that eye from the man, to the distance and back to the jitney buses (and drivers), right.

This man may easily be a driver, but I forgot to ask him (my bad!), hence the carefully worded title (caption).

Another great analysis for which I am continually thankful to you.

john

John (Crosley)

Maybe he's not so tall; maybe you are very short? 

No.

john

John (Crosley)

Great John.

wim puts,

thanks.

john

John (Crosley)