'Details'

A panorama outside a Kyiv train station reveals a diversity of interesting,

diverse and unusual human details in the actions of the groupings of the

individuals involved. 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

To me this photo represents the triumph of the banal - life's little moments and gestures, each of their own meaning little or nothing, but together maybe adding up to something.  

john

John (Crosley)

Hi John,

I was surfing your images and overall i like your street photography work.  I think this has a lot of potential, especially the way it is naturally framed by the architecture.  I would suggest cropping more across the bottom to give it more of a panoramic perspective.  My philosophy is to crop everything that does not add to the image.  I would have loved to have seen less of the backs of people facing the viewer, but there are some nice natural interactions going on.  The two men on the right could be a story unto themselves. Overall the focus is good, the exposure is perfect.  The colors seem a bit muted and could either be enhanced a bit or convert the whole thing to B&W.

I'm so glad you picked this photo to critique, because I'm quite proud of it and it received just about a luke warm reception by evaluators despite the great number of little, banal stories that it tells and hence the 'richness' that is there.

One word:  I do not always present photos in their final versions, especially when it comes to cropping.  I dislike cropping, and in this case, I decided to include the plaza for context, but it could as easily be cropped in a final version.  The critics have to have something to critique, and anything trimmed away leaves nothing to the imagination.  Nobody could imagine the plaza, but to leave it in gives you the option of saying 'I like it there', or 'I don't like it there' so much.  That helps guide me in the final rendition which is what critique is all about.  

And you have proved yourself a worthy and helpful critic.  Thanks for the kind remarks -- I found this photo (as I said above) quite rich for its detail and the different stories in it, as they relate to the architecture, and it took a great deal of patience from almost 300 mm away through a passing crowd much of the time to nail a capture like this - hard work and insight was rewarded with an unespected capture -- witness the guys right picking hair nits or whatever they're doing.  Most unusual and probably never again in a photograph or mine or anyone else.  

I think that's what sets my photos apart -- they often have some unexpected element in them that seldom is photographed (the better ones at least) and can be a feast of sorts for those looking for minutia -- at least panos like this (this is a pano, stitched, which I didn't reveal, I think I recall -- one of my first and only, and it worked out well, with very little overlap and stitching at all -- just a smidge.

I'm glad you like this, and thank you for a thorough critique.

john

John (Crosley)

Check out the guy left, seated on the window sill.

What's that he's doing with his hands and his lips?

Besides being interesting and curious (and a little dumb looking), it provides balance.

It's a most interesting gesture.  Without it, this photo probably never would have been posted.

Best wishes.

john

John (Crosley)

Hi John,

It took me almost an hour to find this guy (i had seen his work several years ago), but i highly suggest you take a look at Gregory Crewdson's work.  Though his "street" images are 100% manufactured, they are surreal in their natural appearance (btw, all done in camera, no photoshopping).  He is a master visual story teller.  I'm huge believer in studying the masters and pioneers in order to help shape my personal vision and techniques.  I see some similarity in vignette story telling within the image that it seems you have a passion for.  I would also suggest that if you have the patience and foresight, going large format film (8x10) would be quite rewarding visually and personally.  

--PatrickD

Although I think I understand your post and meaning, I want to be sure, and I would certainly appreciate it this hard to find guy is someone for whom you'd post a link not only for me but for other Photo.net members so I and they too can make the comparison.

Is that possible?

Thanks for a very helpful comment.

john

John (Crosley)

I agree with your assessment, but rater's sure didn't.  Maybe it's too great an exercise to try to unbundle this bundle then rate the entirety again as one, or they are right and it's just a middle of the road photo?

In any case, I like it very much because it is full of life -- very full of life and life's little details and foibles.

It suits me, is what I'm trying to say, and I'm glad it suits you too.   Thanks for offering your assessment.

john

John (Crosley)

Gregory Crewdson is not a photo.net member but in internationally acclaimed artist.  Just google or wiki his name.  I first saw his work on the BBC documentary "the genius of photography" which EVERY photographer should see.  I just now discovered that there's a full documentary on Gregory available on Netflix...my Saturday afternoon is now lost.  :)

Thanks for the pointers.  I'm currently offshore so Netflix is OUT.

I can't even get it by torrent since Pirate Bay is now shut down.

Sad, sad, sad.  No more stealing bios and documentaries.

john

John (Crosley)