'The Proud, Powerful and Poor Pensioner'

This powerful and proud man, his and his wife's once-almost-generous

pensions now eaten away by inflation, bank failures and economic

crisis ekes out a living daily by selling souvenirs with his wife at a

Metro entrance, but retains his full dignity -- one can see that the

proud demeanor of this aged but strong man. Your ratings, critiques

and observations are invited and most welcome. If you rate harshly,

very critically, or with to make an observation, please submit a

helpful and constructive comment; please share your photographic

knowledge to help improve my photography. Thanks! Enjoy! john

This is what became of the 'heroes of the U.S.S.R.' those who because of the supposed 'inevitability of the triumph of Communism' were going to take over and rule the world.

Didn't work, but it left a harsh toll on some very nice people, and it doesn't matter if they were believers in that system or not; they were humans with families, presumably with children (and the Russians and Ukrainians DO LOVE THEIR CHILDREN, PERHAPS OVERMUCH), and they possessed all the hopes and dreams of the people of the rest of the developed and developing world. 

Ukraine may not be a first world nation, and though most of its citizens in their souls believe for the most part they are 'middle class', few have the money to qualify themselves for that role.  It has its share of people without character, but it also has a highly-educated citizenry and many good citizens.

Unlike Russia, where in my experience in regional Russia there was graffiti and vandalism everywhere, there is little graffiti in Ukraine (there is some), and on many Metro coaches there are upholstered seats.  New York City replaced such comfy seats 50 years ago with uncomfortable, unforgiving plastic shells because vandals cut the upholstery and padding with knives.

NO ONE in Ukraine would think  a minute of cutting or vandalizing a Metro seat . . . .

I have NEVER seen a vandalized upholstered Metro seat and almost never see graffiti on their Metro.

It would be unthinkable.

Ukrainians may not have much money, some may have poor character and others may share the kleptocratic tendencies of their Russian cousins, but overall, Ukraine is a pleasant, safe place to be, even if Ukrainians are not openly warm and loving on the street, as are many Americans.

And consumer protections almost nonexistent.

They're much too busy running hard to stay in place.

Because before the current economic crisis they got a taste of 'the good life' and want it back.

Desperately.

Regrettably if citizens they fall behind, there's precious little safety net, and one falls and falls and falls . . . . 

The generous Communist pensions of times past are now chimera, reduced to a figment by hyperinflation and government and bank failures.

The streets are full of old people supplementing their miniscule pensions by selling a little here, a little there, new entrants to Capitalism  . . . . by  necessity.

That describes who this man is, I think, though I never met him but have observed him over years.

john

John (Crosley)

Simple:  This is a brilliant portrait.  It is one that reveals the character of the subject.  And that is complex.  

Thank you so much.

I never have talked to this man.

Yet I have observed him over years on my many visits to Ukraine.

I feel I know his story intimately from observing him routinely over such a long period, and can tell about him without mistake.

I'm glad I connected.

john

John (Crosley)

Excellent portrait - his expression conveys all the adjectives you have used. I like the blur in the front right - that makes his face come out. Regards.

Beautiful work! I am drawn to his eyes which you have captured so well. Congratulations on such an interesting and engaging shot.

This is a 200 mm (crop sensor) portrait taken underground at 1000 ISO stretching the limits of the camera I used then (with present cameras not so much of a problem but this is a capture I've sat on for a long time, waiting until my Photoshop skills improved)

Yet for the record, I've seen this guy, the same guy, same expression, a little older but still vigorous, within the last few days, on yet another trip to Ukraine.

He is correctly described, again though we've never spoken; I'd put my life on the truth of what I've written. 

I know the story, the characters and the history so well (studied government at Columbia College/Columbia University with an emphasis on East/West relations in the 60s, and as part of that did a huge study of Communism and  Marxism-Leninism, and soon knew why it never would succeed, but divined why it seemed so attractive to the have nots.  

Marxism was devised to attract the English working class, by Marx, who also studied at Columiba, Univ., NYC and also the London School of Economics, but Russian serfs were the most moved; and the least educated.

It was a utopian plan that sounded SOOO goood, it just was doomed to failure because of the totalitarian aspects of the system, if not in the first steps where it modernized feudal Russia and the rest of the Soviet Republics, but later because of totalitarian excesses (purges, murders, vendettas, endemic corruption, nepotism, and so on right up to the major myth -- that Communist control of the world was 'inevitable', which was its main control over its citizens - it was semi-religious in concept). 

Communism failed to take into account that an educated citizenry would reject the people who ran the state because of how it was run and the people who ran it, and quietly rebel, causing the state to just fall apart, as it did Christmas, 1991 (Western calendar).

China is adapting; leaders have transformed 'Communism' into 'state capitalism' although retaining totalitarianism, and so long as they let the populace keep getting more wealthy, nobody's going to put on the brakes, or challenge their leadership, but when the economy starts falling apart or stalling in China, then watch out -- especially as the Chinese populace gets better educated throughout.

This man is a life size icon of history; in microcosm, he depicts the world's struggle in the second half of the 20th Century and the first part of the 21st Century just in this portrait.

Perhaps that's why it seems so dramatic.

(I've improved my Photoshop skills recently, also rather dramatically, so my presentation doesn't detract.  I've learned from the professionals I hired for other work, and am adopting and adapting.)

Thanks Jayanti for the compliment.

john

John (Crosley)

Sometimes it takes a great subject to make a great portrait (not always, but sometimes).  This man is a great subject.

In the four to six years I've observed him, he never willingly would submit to a portrait or even a photo, but long ago, I got this shot with a 70~200 mm f 2.8 at ISO 1000 on an older, but very good -- for the time -- DSLR - and awaited a time when he might allow a close up portrait.

That time has never come, and this photo has haunted me all that time; it always had such POWER and CHARACTER, although he was moving and his arm outstretched (right), and even his mouth moving, blurring it slightly.

But the essence was there, and it didn't require Photoshopping to bring out the character, it was there in spades.

I mostly have the interpersonal skills now to get up close with wider angles for most portraits, but still not with this guy, and I think I've given up; he's public, except for cameras, and that makes him an available subject, but not particularly willing.

Now that this is posted, I see no further reason to try; this is as good as I'll probably ever get.

I'm glad you like the eyes; I spent about 2 hours working up a version, saw the eyes, didn't like them in that version, just deleted it and started from scratch, with the eyes being one of the main 'focal' points of my work.

(no pun intended.)

Thanks for the kind review.

john

John (Crosley)

This really is a powerful portrait, well worth the time and effort to obtain it.  I admire your skills and perseverance.

Thank you for the compliment.  This is a 'candid' and I always hoped for one with cooperation, but that was obviously never to come, so I made a decision to post this one I've been looking at for several years, but only after working it up with newfound Photoshop skills.

I'm glad you approve -- I always found this man's visage (face) exceptional, and have almost been surprised each and every time I pass by him in a heavily traveled area, but he's severely camera shy, and he recognizes me on sight, so I no longer try.

I guess just one good one is good enough, hunh?

I think his wife would treasure this one if she knew what words and comments accompanied it and how well it showed him off. . . . don't you?

john

John (Crosley)

Stephen and others, this photo was taken underground in a Metro entrance from an underground complex, and the lights were bare bulbs (with cages around them I think), and the lighting was horrendous, but you shoot with what's there in 'street'.

The result was that portions of his face were too shiney when initially worked up so that he looked unnatural, and it was a hard job even with newfound, hifalutin Photoshop skills to even things out, while still retaining enough contrast to make him appear as naturally powerful and 'gritty' as he does in person.

I went to post a previously worked up version, it it just fell flat, so I spent hours reworking a new version, the eyes were wrong, I discarded that, and then worked up this version. 

I think it's right.

I am not known for long photoshopping, my philosophy is 'just go out and take another photo', but this time I realized that although I see this fellow pretty regularly when I'm in Ukraine, he turns away when he sees me so I won't be getting any more chances, and frankly I want to honor his wishes (though he is very public in a very public place and therefore fair game).

So, instead of playing cat and mouse, I spent hours on what I had,  to bring this to you.

john

John (Crosley)

the time you spend "photoshopping" paid off: tones and details perfectly suit to his mature, proud face. His gaze sideways seemingly in the same direction the blurred person in foreground moves adds a lot of dynamic - he surely is no tired old man.

It's interesting to read about the background of the person and circumstances in Ukraine - communism has lost - but capitalism hasn't won either...

Best regards, Wolfgang

I write and write -- sometimes out of sheer willingness to share what I absolutely know, and if others choose to read, then they will be enlightened, for I write from personal experience and wide reading.  I have a wonderful  school education, but also a great education from a lifetime of learning; I never stopped when I left school; I barely had started then.

Also, long ago I was a journalist hired as a photographer (in part because of my writing abilities) and later without training became a writer, editor and manager/boss/editor of photographers, writers and translators, in Associated Press's New York headquarters for their world service (before age 25) and sat on their highest daily council, decades younger than the next youngest person.

I had a great reputation for being truthful and not 'slanting' the truth, then only writing what I absolutely knew, only writing to the extent of my absolute knowledge, or if I wrote something that was reputed or quoted, then I wrote that it was reputed or the attribution, and the source so others could evaluate.

What you read about this man is not what he told me, but what I surmise from my extensive life experience in former Communist countries (Russia and Ukraine), from 40 years of study of Communism and its collapse, and from repeated viewing over half a decade, intermittentently, but regularly, of this guy, always with an eye toward possibly photographing him.

But he made his wishes known, so after this photograph, I basically understood his wishes,and because he recognized me on sight and always turned away, he sent me a clear message (too bad, for if he understood how great he looks, I don't think he would have shied away).

I am only now as I go into my ninth year here learning how to use the advanced selection tool in Photoshop (never the 'quick mask', don't use 'layers', and edit destructively, so if I make a mistake, I go back in history, rather than just make adjustments along the way as one does editing with 'layers').

There is reason to my madness based on Photoshop history; they once didn't have the filters I needed in 'layers', though now they do, and Photoshop pros tell us we should label each layer step so we know what we did (too slow and  burdensome!)

I work quickly and intuitibely now, like an artist, and each iteration is slightly different. 

Now I don't care so much as I once did about replicability, since I keep  numerous master copies of my output, and I always seem to be able to come really close to the original when redoing my work, since I have a vision of how each photo should look, but often only for many AFTER I start editing. 

I experiment a lot, moving the sliders one way or the other for a 'look' and when I achieve it, that's it.

If something displeases me, I will simply discard it.

I suddenly work quickly now, and without ever having had a formal Photoshop class, however having watched a few Photoshop tutorials, and in particular like Jan Kabili's latest videos from Lynn.com on innovations in Photosohop 5 which taught me most of all about 'quick selection' -- an absolute treasure of  tool that is less heralded than it should be.

I watched that particular lesson (on quick select) over and over until I mastered it, and it freed me more than any other single video I've ever seen on photo editing.

Meir S. has taught me much about tonalities, for which I keep thanking him, and I always check with levels to see if I can do better, though I do sometimes let the histogram clump up one way of the other if I want a particular 'look'. 

I am not bound by convention.

I am only beholden to the image, and seek the best presentation of my own image and keeping my images true to life.

I have finally realized that what comes out of the camera is a best approximation of what a mechanical device can do in recording in digital form, one scene or another, but there is a place for 'artistic vision', but I use that seldom to the extent that it is taken by most of the Phortoshoppers, (as opposed to photographers), on this site - many of whom are frustrated artists.

I am a photographer and use Photoshop and image editing more reluctantly for my type of shooting and only for enhancement, and do not use an image as a 'starting point' for a work of art.  I am no Jerry Uelsmann, for whom the image is just the beginning and who is basically an artist, or one of the Photoshop artists on this site who are photo based.

People seem to like what I've been doing recently; it shows in the scores.

If camera firmware allowed cameras to make captures so well, then there'd be no need for Photoshopping at this level, but I photograph frequently under most abysmal lighting, and image editing definitely is called for.

I learned to shoot under studio lighting my first year here in a rented studio in Odessa, Ukraine, and it was a breeze using flash tubes and softboxes with cover girl models on their days off.  After 15 minutes tutorial from a pro,  I was on my own, and with stunning, pro models; it was all so easy.

The lighting seemed as though it was the simplest thing in the world, after shooting 'street' and obtaining similar looks with the barest or most abysmal natural or artificial light sources.

Studio photographers I think would go nuts of they had to make decent captures under conditions under which I sometimes get great captures . . . . even without my photoshopping (image editing).

I'm preparing my second book. 

The first was for galleries/museums and was not distributed. 

It  was wonderful but absurdly expensive -- it looked great -- but at the time books were not used for gallery/museum presentations. 

Now they are.  

It was ahead of its time.

Also, it was far too long with 200 photos exactly, and too expensive to be sold in stores at a production cost of almost $150 per copy by a world class exhibition printer.

Some day they'll be collector's items, for the few whom I choose to get them (there are four left, I think).

My next book will be for genuine sale -- with highest level Photoshopping -- I hope a world class book in every way. 

The first was great. 

Hundreds of test viewers have looked through it, and less than 5 per cent have put it down without looking at EVERY PAGE of its 100 pages, (200 photos) which means that for those who did get a look at it, the photos were interesting enough.

It may be collectible some day.

I care about my photography.

I knew from my first role of film (really and truly one photo on my first roll ever!) that this type of photography was my calling, not the nude photography I had envisioned. 

That photo has its own folder here in my portfolio and  was something special, nearly 40 years ago. 

Now as time has passed, it's time to put it all together and share more than on Photo.net, but with the world.  Photo.net has has been a great and worthwhile proving ground, which I do not plan to leave; its valuable to me just to have friends and contributors like you, Wolfgang.

I'm ready to go now, and working hard toward putting my work out to the public in books and exhibitions.

Wish me luck, please.

(anybody contact me, if you want one of those remaining four books, my e-mail's on my bio page).

(one other book is promised to a PN member, and I will be delivering it to him by mail this week when the post office reopens after a big holiday).

john

John (Crosley)

P.S.  I am still highly honored by nearly each and every comment, view and click that people make on my photos and comments.

Thank you all.

People these days are overwhelmed by media competing for their attention, and I find that blogs (especially those in Russia and Ukraine, but also from Viet Nam, Korea, Europe and other places) have linked to my photos, in great numbers. bring tens of millions of new viewers . . . . and I can either be offended for their purloining my work or proud they find my work worthy of attention.

At least they spell my name correctly and most time links go back to my Photo.net portfolio, where I see the results in the view totals.

;~))

jc

John:

I have nothing to add to the well-deserved praise you have already received for this shot, but I do have one question:  have you shown it to him?  If you do, he might recognize you for the friend that you are.

Thanks for this fine photo, and for all the dialogue explaining it.  I have learned a lot here.

Bill Moeller

I often do not know the truth of things until I write them; that applies to this photo, its workup and posting, and what I have written.

That is to say, the ideas are not formed until I write them.  It's like the cerebreal critic who wrote of Cartier-Bresson's captures, that they didn't take place until they were captured to be seen.  My thoughts are often not known to me until I sit down and put the words one in front of the next and like them into ideas and sentences. 

Sometimes the results surprise me.

Sometimes the depth of my knowledge (as here) surprises me.

I write what is on my mind, not knowing when I start where my sentence will end, or my paragraph.  I never have an outline or a draft.

I just try to write the truth as I think it interests me, and hope that it interests others, because it is intended for sharing for those interested; others needn't read of course. 

I've started putting warnings on longer posts so those who don't want to read can just skip, just to be fair.

So to be frank, other than recognizing that (1) this guy was a great photo subject who (2) avoided me for half a decade and (3) has turned away whenever he sees my camera or recognizes me after long ago I once tried to photograph him from up close, he and I have had no interaction.

He really is averse to being photographed by me, and anti-me, and I have no hope of changing that.

That being said, it would be inappropriate for me to convey to him 'oh, years ago, I did take a telephoto shot of you, post it recently with words of praise, and show it to a world you don't know about and never will know, even though you daily are in a prominent public place and tens of thousands of people pass by you every week, perhaps daily, and you are 'fair game' to be photographed. 

Why rub his nose in something he has made clear is odious to him?

My language skills are not strong enough to approach him, and I don't want to run the risk of an adverse reaction.

His work neighbors will be told, and if someone thinks he is up to it, they might point this out to him -- I have a good friend/acquaintance who sells flowers not far from him (a guy who looks at my photos every time I walk through -- he reviews my captures each time), and I will tell that fellow about the posting, and if they do have an acquaintanceship and if my 'friend' judges this guy would be flattered, he might tell him, otherwise, at his advanced age (he's quite old),  best just to show this photo here as a work of art and sociology.

For he is an emblem of his generation, and the capture has historical significance; he has lived through God knows what, from the 30s, I think, through the horror of World War II and the Nazi occupation, maybe even the 'Holodomar' (mass starvation of the 30s which Ukrainians insist was a Soviet 'holocaust', and which Russians deny), and eventually the fall of Communism which guaranteed him probably generous retirement benefits, and his later years of selling souvenirs to fight penury in a place where mostly Ukrainians go, not the rich Westerners (though Ukrainians and Russians can be tourists too, as Kyiv is a prime tourist destination for much of the Slavic world, including Russia.)

********

I write easily and almost 'stream of conscious' - the words flow without planning, and although I often edit them at the end for continuity, grammar and spelling, most likely the first draft is the final. 

That's the result of writing millions of words for Associated Press, some in final form 'live on the wire' with no chance to edit.  

Many stories one year went straight from my head to my fingers on a live teletype (we couldn't afford a teletype operator at one particular bureau, as otherwise was standard), and what I wrote often was ripped and read over the airwaves within seconds by newscasters. 

Any error would have been unforgivable.  The teletype's reader swallowed words at 66 words per minute, and often when I punched teletype tape for it to read and after ten minutes writing/punching, I'd end up with a minute or two of tape on the floor still feeding through the machine at that rate.  (I was and am a fast typist and writer.)

Although I can think quickly sometimes, sometimes also the simplest things take me years or decades to figure out, but when I do, then I OWN them.

Thank you for endorsing the praise of others. it's hard to get good rates and good praise when one shoots and posts more black and white than color; when I shoot color, rates tend to jump and so do views.

People on Photo.net for the most part still prefer 'pretty' photos, to the insightful ones, I find.

But black and white is classic and appropriate here, I think, and works especially well with 'mixed lighting' where photoshopping for color is almost impossible without ending up with a pastiche or melange of various Kelvins competing for attention with the main subject -- this historical man.

Bill, special thanks to you for kind remarks.   You made my day (mon jour de naissance, but I won't say which one, lest I be marked 'historical' or a 'relic').

john

John (Crosley)

Very expressive character!

even if the story you've told is not exactly the on of this particular man - the photo of him is a symbol of that story.

Of course I'll keep my fingers crossed for your book project! Your photos deserve more than just the internet as platform.

Best regards, Wolfgang

It is very possible you've seen this man.

However, from what I've seen of your photography, you tend to take photos in daylight or in strong lighting; he works underground.

Also, I dare you to raise a camera in his presence, even with your very clandestine approach to photography which I've observed (but just barely, you're so clandestine).

;~)

I envy you for your ability to 'blend into the woodwork', something I must uses ruses and/or personality to accomplish many times (not always of course).

Thanks for the comment.

john

John (Crosley)

Book No. 1, intended for galleries and museums only but forestalled because I was informed THEN they didn't consider books and anyway at 200 photo/100 pages, it was 'too big', ,and it was), but it's a pretty good book, with excellent reproduction on Photo from Lightjet or Lambda printers on finest photo paper.

People who look at it almost never put it down before looking at every photo;turning every page.  To me, that's amazing!

I still have a few copies left; I distributed a few to closest people who did me HUGE favors over time and have four or so copies left to distribute at cost.  II you send me your e-mail address (see my bio page for my e-mail) I might be able to get you one (if interested, and either way, please let me know).

The photos published there ended in 2009, but there are some of my absolute lifetime best, and now I'm working on Book No. 2 and simultaneously Book III and parts of Book IV.  I'm contacting prior publishers to get copies of long ago published photos I don't have best copies of . . . . and have some tentative approval.

But whether one or the other will be hard published or some will be e-published, or both, are open questions.  Photo books that are hard published are prestigious but notorious money losers for publishers, unless the photographer is very famous already and there are 'presales' and many editions.

In any case, if you like my photos it might be worth having (sealed in plastic now, but I can open and autograph). 

It's likely to be a collector's item if you think my career has any 'legs'; I do.

Let me know, anyway, would you?

I am very grateful for your comment.

john

John (Crosley)