Boys in Parking Lot #2

Good shot - a slice of life. Pointing my camera at young people who are strangers  makes me feel that the parents are close-by ready to take action. You must have great technique!

All the best before I turn in.

Best regards

PDE

These fine young people are guardians of the sign, and of the vehicle, respectively.  I wonder whether they are cross-trained.  

I was in the Outer Banks with some friends, we purchased a loaf of bread to feed the sea gulls, I wanted to get some action shots. A little girl came over to us and asked if she could feed the gulls bread, of course we gave her a couple of pieces. Well she did not know to throw it and she just held it in her hand. The gulls were flying up next to her trying to take the bread from her hand. It was a great shot but I could not take it. The little girl was in a bathing suit and I was afraid that I would be accused of something so I turned the cameraa the other way. It's a different world we live in today.

Sorry to use your post Jack for my rant.

I like how relaxed the young man is and the other being a bit more playful, nicely done buddy

Photography has changed in so many ways. One hesitates to take pictures of kids. One can't get as many good photos of women gracefully puckering their lips while exhaling cigarette smoke. The cars on the street are generic-looking plasticized heaps compared to the old classics. 

Now what I have noticed as I've gone through my parents old photo albums is that people back in the 1930s and 40s knew how to play to the camera even in their snapshots. There was a distinct Hollywood influence in pose and gesture. Of course, the fashion of the day, and the fact that people dressed with more design sense in general than they do today, helped a lot.

Well, the boy by the sign has his pose down. He's poised and ready for the shoot. The other guy, who I would have bet was a girl but I'll take your word for it, is almost the antithesis, which sets up a nice tension. 

I mentioned snapshot because this has that character but also goes beyond it. So I'd say it's not a snapshot but relies on a snapshot aesthetic for its punch. 

The black and red sign reads well along with their skin tone and against the gray background and the white car. Selective coloring without Photoshop!

It's really very, very good even before you see the kid on the right.  Two more different poses I have rarely ever seen in a photo.

The rest is just good old eye candy: the composition, the subtle colors, etc.

--Lannie

Two different personalities, at least as far as what you've captured.  I like the hodge-podge outfits.  The rivets on the wall and the absolute lack of anything organic, except for the children, create such a harsh visual world.  The children are a welcome intrusion.

Nice

referring to Tony's comment - just read this: "The age of innocence is long over in photography. There have been way too many photographs made for anyone to be able to innocently take a picture anywhere."

While I'll tend to agree to this statement from Jörg Colberg - I'm glad, that Jack's photo proves that there still can be exceptions to that rule.

Thanks for the interesting comments on this picture. Sorry it's taken so long to get back to you. Lazy.

Tony -What you mentioned is certainly a real variable that you need to consider in this age of distrust and questionable motives. I've developed a variety of techniques to deal with it from stealth to a disarming smile offensive. It doesn't work 100% of the time but I've got a pretty fair batting average. Usually a smiling "arigato" and a wave allays any lingering suspicion.

Pierre - Thanks as always for your comments on my photos as well as your frequent comments on the work of others.

Michael - I don't know about cross-training but it's pretty much an anomaly to see kids getting up on walls nowadays.

tony - That's the world we live in today. We have little in the way of a shared community nowadays and so the bond of trust has become seriously frayed. To take pictures on the street or at the beach as you were is a case by case decision. Each time I have to weigh the circumstances and try to read the mood of the moment and the openness of the people involved. As for taking pictures of young children, I've found that If you can first make contact with the parents, acknowledge your intent as well and silently indicate your camera and wish to photograph their kid(s) (no need for long conversations which I'm incapable of here in Japan, anyway), you generally get tacit permission to take a couple of shots. That's generally the way I proceed with kids if their parents are around. In this case, these kids were at a festival but playing alone, off to the side. At public celebrations like this, everyone is taking pictures so it's not much of a problem.

Fred - Thanks as always for your thorough assessment of the picture. I addressed some of the issues you brought up in my reply to tony above. That's really a good point about people in old photos. I used to love to look through my aunt's photo album when I was a kid. Most of those pictures were taken in the '30's and 40's and there was a particular vibe to them; you're right, people posed differently back then. Either they consciously posed (ala the stars they read about in fan magazines) or simply stood their almost without affect as their picture was taken. You can find this "thereness" in many of the pictures of Dorothy Lange and Walker Evans, especially in pictures taken in the rural south. I'm very much influenced I think by the snapshots I saw as a kid in those long-forgotten (except by me) family photo albums and when I'm taking pictures at family gatherings I'm sure the idea of posterity enters into my approach - i.e. some kid years from now looking at pictures of Aunt Sue and Uncle Tim and their mom as a six year old romping with the family dog will find something interesting in the photos and the way things were back then, as I did.

Lannie - Thanks for the comment. The kids were great, especially the boy on top of the wall. He was aware I was taking his picture but never really changed his demeanor. I must have taken eight or ten pictures of him over a couple of minutes and he never once flashed me the "peace sign".

Jeff - Thanks. It's rare to get such a spare setting in which to photograph kids in Osaka where everything is in constant motion and the buildings are all right on top of each other - just a profusion of people and things getting in your way. It all gets pretty messy at times. Here the kids could star - as they should.

Edward - Thanks for the visit and the reaction. I'm a fan of your work.

Wolfgang - Thanks for the comment and the link. I went there and read the article. I understand the author's point of view but the whole thing is an awful lot of intellectual baggage to lug around. I understand the necessity if you are shooting in locals with which you are unfamiliar. Then you'd be well advised to approach cautiously until at least you know the lay of the land. But in the end you have to find a way to get the picture, by hook or by crook. When you get ready to press the button, you'd better be operating on instinct - albeit an instinct formed in the crucible of your own, hopefully extensive, personal experience. Even then you're going to find yourself in some uncomfortable situations, but that's the price of candid street photography.

The different ways the two have reacted to the camera are evidently what makes this image so appealing. How many children would pose with a leg at a right angle? It is a gest of a child but also something that identifies the character of the subject. His look is also determined, compared to the little girl who is just happy to be part of it all. They have both adopted this playsite and allow the photographer a few moments in it. Very fine perception, Jack, and maybe it could be part of a series of yours on little people and their environment?