The Jugglers

Andy,

 This is first rate.  I love children and I love cats, and have pictured them interacting.  But the juggling carries it to a higher level.  Who taught the little girl to do that?

 But the cat's attempt to interact makes it way over the top.

Ah ha! I just realized that the top apple has a shadow angle that is not in agreement with the shadows on the others.  These were pasted in with photoshop were they not?  Well you had me fooled for a while. Congratulations!

Jerry

Either this kid is a rockin' good juggler, or this is multiple exposures superimposed. The cat's pose, the kid's expression, and the apples all aloft (and the ones on the ground not being smashed) are all so perfect as to be improbable! Still an excellent composition, though, in my opinion. Just doubting whether it was captured in a fraction of a second, but rather composed from several shots merged together in PhotoShop.

Ofcourse, it is "impossible" that a single, get-it-in-the-camera, exposure could capture such perfection of moving, complex elements---but my heart responds as if that were true.  The humor and joy of this image will quietly massage the critical perception area of my brain for a long, long time.  Virtually all art requires longer than a 1/125 second shutter speed to create---sometimes hours at the computer bringing the elements together to fashion and present the final vision and statement.

Your imagination and creativity are a delight and this composition does not disappoint! the joy on the child's face, interaction of the cat, you really know what it takes to make a composition like this 'come to life'. Excellent work Andy!

Nice photo!

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Congrats !

I've perused this series many times in the past year and I'm never disappointed.  The whimsical companionship and joy are endearing.  I have no idea how you did it but I don't really want to know.  The result is wonderful.

I'm just not moved terribly by trading in on the sentimentality of cute children and cute kitty cats. What's good for Hallmark often leaves me pretty cold. That says, of course, as much if not more about me than about the photo.

The fact that it's perfected in Photoshop even lessens it in my eyes, because it is again trying to perfect sentimentality and there are enough real instances of sentimental moments, even with imperfections, that make for much more interesting photos.

I love collages, but I generally love them when they're not masquerading as moments that actually happened. Make a collage that IS a collage and make it work. Then you'll get more of my attention.

On the plus side, your black and white conversion is good, subtle, nice shadows on the wall, good texture in the floor, lovely skin tone.

At first I thought it was a candid capture, but then I saw it was a mock up, its sentimental but reminds me of internet pictures that get sent around in emails and facebook of cats in hats, cats wearing baby clothes, flowers with baby faces in them, that sort of thing. Fred said it best.

Another fan Congrats!

The sheer number of apples being juggled by a 5-year old should be evidence enough that this is a whimsical view of childhood and not one to be taken literally.  Perhaps I'm fortunate to have not been jaded by greeting cards or unsolicited emails with pictures of assembled moments.  I view this series as exactly that... a series.  I imagine these hanging in a gallery where I wander from one framed print to the next and marvel at Mr. Prokh's ability to tell a fantastic and engaging story of this little girl and her cat.  Pippy Longstocking couldn't really lift her horse over hear head with one hand, you know?

I sense that most of the critics here know the difference between fact and fiction and know the difference between a photo and reality. And yet, some of us simply don't find this photo engages our interest. I don't care or need to speculate on what may be awry in your understanding as to cause you to like this. I think you just like and I think that's as valid as my not liking it much. I accept that and embrace the difference.

As do I, Fred!  My thoughts weren't meant to be a debate on your opinion, just my opinion which differs significantly from your own.  I do value and embrace your opposing viewpoint.  I suppose that what has gone awry in my logic lies deep within my decidedly non-cynical ability to suspend my grasp on the empirical for my own amusement.  Some have recognized the implausibility of Andy's photograph yet are able to see past that and find value, others have not.  Neither is right or wrong.

I appreciate your response and further thoughts. For me, though, it's not the implausibility of Andy's photo that keeps me from embracing it. I tend to love implausibility, artificiality, and even some contrivance in much photography and art, when it speaks to me. It's the way it's all put together here and the level at which it strikes me that is more problematic to me.

You mentioned a well-known children's story. Some children's stories appeal to adults, whether on a similar or very different level than they appeal to children. Other children's stories are much more suitable to children and don't really do much for many adults, even if adults can appreciate why children would love them.

For me, the implausibility per se is not the issue. It's a combination of all the elements working together with and around the implausibility that just doesn't gel for me here. And, as I said, it's also the sweet Hallmark character that doesn't do much for me.