'The Driver'

This man drives cars for a living and is waiting for a passenger. 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

Hi John, the background provides the context but obviously the eyes are the central piece. Every reading of this image comes from his eyes or goes to his eyes... and if they really are a window to the soul, as many say, our spirit goes down down down as we see no traces of hapiness at all.

Surely a great image.

Regards,

ricardo

It has to be a hard life to make a living this way. I like his vacant stare

Thank you for the very kind comment.  For me, despite his 'look' this is a very 'happy' photograph, at least in its composition and it initially was received enthusiastically with numerous rates, but viewership has fallen with a virtual 'thud' -- perhaps because it's so easily analyzed in thumbnail?

Thanks for your feedback/it need not necessarily be positive for feedback to be valuable, too.  I've learned much on 'what to avoid' and 'how to do it' from constructive feedback from others, and that's one reason I keep after 11 years using the critique forum.  Often I get good feedback and some great critiques as well as occasional (or even frequent) surprises on works I had overlooked (or defects too).

I find this process very valuable and am thankful for your participation.  Best regards.

john

John (Crosley)

As pointed out in the reply comment above, critiques are very important to me, and yours is especially so.  I had not thought so much about the 'eyes' as about the complementary or symmetrical composition.

In fact in the original, the 'eyes' were pretty well sunk in their sockets and barely visible and it took some substantial dodging to bring them out, but that seemed very important; your critique has told me that was the proper thing to do, and I am thankful for your imprimatur.  

I now see that you indeed are correct -- it all comes back to the eyes, and indeed that is why I was dodging the eyes so carefully and intently, to get just the look that has captured your attention.

I liked this guy initially for his unusual look; not Ukrainian (this is Kyiv), so far as I can tell, and with a broader face than commonly found and maybe some Middle East influence (Turkey is across the Black Sea, there are many Middle Eastern tourists, and if you get closer to Odessa on the South, Ukraine becomes a great melting pot with ethnic multiculturalism everywhere seen in the faces, from  British influence to oriental and African (though still blacks from central and southern Africa are few and far between throughout Ukraine, with many Ukrainians harboring (like neighboring Russians) discriminatory attitudes  caused mainly from lack of education and familiarity.  The Russian word for the'N' word is the 'N' word, and it sounds almost completely the same, and said with no shame, as it's part of the vocabulary.  

Besides the face, the symmetry of darkness and shape is what drew me in, placing my stance so the auto shapes in their darkness complemented and were symmetrical with his face darkness and shape for a compositional fullness that I thinks helps this photo.

Thank you Ricardo for helping my analysis . . . this photo is one I regard as a success and no matter the few viewers, it has proved a ratings magnet, which means for me that it was 'interesting', a goal I hold in high regard for my photos.

The mood may be more boredom and a little stage direction, or simply his unwillingness to be moved or react to me, which was great for me, in the few seconds it took me to take this photo -- he was just unperturbed . . . . perhaps he was thinking of family or something important, and just couldn't be bothered . . . and thus my ideal candidate for a photo subject, even up so close. . . . 

Best regards and thanks for taking the time to let me know your able analysis.

john

John (Crosley)

I like your remark about this guy's 'vacant stare' and it reminds me of being 'road blind' after driving, say, 700 miles or more straight throgh in a steady drive, then stopping for a soft drink and gassing up.  One tends to look like this, I imagine, after or during a period of great concentration, removal from concentration, or just absence of thought altogether.

In any case, this is about how I spied this man when I first saw him, decided he'd make a 'great' photo subject candidate, and he cooperated well when I approached him.  The process was over quickly; he was quite unmoved, but interested, though frankly not all that much, compared to many other subjects.  Nice guy though, and I'm thankful for his help and tolerance.

Thanks tony for sharing your thoughts and analysis, that's highly valuable to me as photographer.   Best regards.

john

John (Crosley)

I'm moved when a critic whose judgment I respect is moved to comment; and you are one such.  Just a comment from such a critic tells me I have hit my mark, and my photo has impact, which is one main point of taking photographs - to affect viewers.

Sometimes long critiques and expositions help me to understand another's point of view; in your case, I think I understand yours -- you just like this.  For that I am thankful you let me know -- it helps me the next time and the time after that I am moved to pick up my camera.  

Thanks for valuable feedback.  Best regards.

john

John (Crosley)