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© subhadip c

Home Alone!!


subc

Artist: subhadip c;
Exposure Date: 2013:09:28 15:26:39;
Copyright: subhadip c;
Make: Canon;
Model: Canon EOS 60D;
FNumber: f/5.6;
ISOSpeedRatings: ISO 100;
ExposureProgram: Other;
MeteringMode: Other;
Flash: Flash did not fire, compulsory flash mode;
FocalLength: 17.0 mm mm;
Software: Adobe Photoshop CS6 (Windows);

Copyright

© subhadip c

From the category:

Portrait

· 170,098 images
  • 170,098 images
  • 582,359 image comments




Recommended Comments

An aged resident of Lahaul Valley, Himachal Pradesh, India at the entrance

of her home-cum-tea shack. She was alone, awaiting customers.

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I like the way you include your model in her environment. Well composed. Very nice texture. Beautiful work. Portrait at the best of the genre.

Tommy

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Subhadip,

Very well done image capturing a moment in time.  B&W tonality bang on. Exposure & framing are nice.  An excellent image of a humble person in their environment. Thanks for this one.

Rick

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Makes one feel quite sad.
I would like to see some different compositions of this shot. If the woman was framed further to the left, and the center to right of the frame showed more desolate landscape, would it have a greater impact? Not knowing what was there to the right of the frame, it's hard to say. Perhaps there were similar dwellings all around, so maybe she wasn't so alone after all.

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I don't have much to say about the Elves' choice, per se; but I appreciate that it led me to sudhadip choudhury's portfolio in general.
Most of choudhury's work seems to be in color, so this one stands out. See, for example, the same, I think, subject at http://photo.net/photodb/photo?photo_id=17629419
Not all of choudhury's work is downbeat, by any means. That makes me unsure about the title, referencing, perhaps, a comedy movie?

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I like this image. A clean, clear documentary image of a an older woman in the entrance of her rural, hillside, stone hut. A straight ahead document that is beautiful in it's descriptive power of the subject and her environment. The directness of approach is wonderful in it's lack of sentimentality. The simple composition, pose and B&W rendering seem just right for this situation. Good work!

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I see no sadness in this image whatsoever. What I do see is an elderly person whose life has been hard, perhaps in a number of respects. I see that she probably has been quite steadfast in dealing with life's adversities, and I think the strength of her character comes across quite clearly.

In my opinion, the composition is excellent, assisted by the photographer's perspective. Black and white definitely was the right choice for this image.

Bravo, Subhadip!

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A strong photograph as part of a narrative. Laying stones like that is not only a burden but an art in itself. It tells the story of a hard life in an inhospitable place. Shelter is our first human need. And it tells me of how so much of humanity has little shelter even but makes do. A hard life doing what one has to do to survive. Part of the family of man in a broader sense. A good documentary photo of survival and living out life in a harsh hilly terrain without social services. We are blessed even with our small luxuries and petty complaints and a good reminder of same.

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Documentary photos like this weeks POTW can tell long stories about living conditions in different parts of the world like here from the state of Himachal Pradesh in Northern India, just South of Kashmir, where poverty is widespread but social services (health care, education...)more present than in many of more known parts of the world where most of us live (see here). The state is one of the economic powerhouses of modern India, but also the least urbanized.

However surely the elderly "home alone" woman pictured, is living rough in here (solid) stone house in the mountains will all signs of a long and hard life in relative poverty.

As mentioned above, the B/W picture stands out as special in Subhadips portfolio, but it is well chosen. It highlights perfectly the beautiful stonemasonry (looks like stones used for ancient walls more than than for individual houses) and also the hills behind with no signs of cultivation or animal husbandry around. The choice of centre focus on the woman seems to me to be a good choice which provide both the nearby and the distant of her house.

I agree, that the title is somehow imposing a narrative, which does not necessarily find support in the actual situation of the person. The house might include her parents, her husband, a son or two and the family of one of her daughters with children plus innumerous numbers of dogs - just not present in the frame. Who knows ?

 

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New Years resolutions of devoting less time in front of screens and to talk more with your loved ones, might be one answer to your question, Michael.

General weariness of continuously being called to order and told what is allowed and what is forbidden in Photonet forums might be another.

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...or, as I sometimes find, it is simply difficult to find the thread. It use to be posted on the main page, now replaced by the POD.

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I think that orientation of frame should be portrait not landscape. In present arrangement women is somehow pressed to the earth. I feel that she can breath freely and is happy may be.

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The title is dreadful but I like this photograph vey much. The framing is perfect and the tonalities are outstanding. There is just enough

information to tell us about the woman's way of life. The black and white tone make the woman blend in with her environment. She is

stoic. She knows no other life.

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Michael - if the POTW were on the front page, like it used to be, I know it would get more comments. But then, the last few Photos of the Day haven't had any comments......
I like this photo very much, too. It would be interesting to see a portrait frame rather than landscape, as Lech suggested, but I would hate to lose any of the stone wall or the steep ground on the right.

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This is among the strongest photos in this particular folder, and among the strongest in an overall strong portfolio of documentary photography. If I was a publisher my only question would be "Can I see the color version?"

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I don't know about this one. I find the composition makes me feel 'itchy'- I keep wanting to turn the camera around. I feel this is a bit of a missed opportunity if I'm honest. I would like to see the others in the series if there are any.

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Stephen, please elaborate on why you want "to turn the camera around" ? (The woman would not be in the frame) - and why is it a missed opportunity? Like some others here, as just Lex also have suggested, I find the shot is much better than that. I feel no sensation of itch.

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Coincidentally I was just pondering Stephen's comment and realized that we agreed, while I might have expressed it differently. I was curious to know more about this person and this place. I browsed through the photographer's photo.net portfolio for clues. Unfortunately, as some of us have mentioned for awhile, photo.net's portfolio space doesn't really lend itself well to or encourage documentary photography. But I did find this close up portrait of the same woman in his portfolio, taken on the same date.

I found myself wondering more about her life, her home and surroundings. Her gaze leads us outside, but we can only guess at what she sees. The brief bio tells us she offers tea from her home.

I suppose I find the photo successful because I now want to know more about her. But there is that "itch" that Stephen described.

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I'd like to see the original color version, out-of-camera, as well.

Seems to me that photos of this type, meaning of people from parts of the world without DSLRs, are always somehow by obligation portrayed in this way - contrasty B/W with heavy textures which to me appears cliche.

People who have lived a hard life will always show signs of premature aging whether this woman or a homeless person in NYC, and their wrinkled faces will always demand a story to be told. What I fail to see is, how is this subject any different or more fascinating than that of the Guist brothers living in the swamps of the Louisiana Bayou - in their late 40s but appear to be in their late 60s.

Maybe my objection is in the obligatory association of this type of subject with its predictable treatment and generally regarded as more "artistic" than cliche. I would really like to see an alternate treatment, if at all necessary, to see if it's possible to communicate ones intended message without resorting to predictable treatments.

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The tight composition doesn't work for me. It feels heavy and awkward with what little breathing room there is on the right of the photo feeling very chopped off. I agree with a lot of what Michael Chang says about the treatment of this type of subject and what we've come to expect in terms of this type of presentation of this sort of subject. It's a little too pat and doesn't have much freshness or convey a sense of individuality to me, either of the woman or of the photographer. It's more of a type.

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