Lunch at a Katsu Restaurant

The hunter hides in the weeds, or are they called "blinds"?

Eating and conversing while maintaining an air of manners and politeness. Nicely captured. 

Jack,  Etiquette on manners? discreet talking? or is the food too spicy? whatever it's a well composed great scene and the lonely lady with the hat adds a little bit of spice to this classic photograph. Nice one! 

I was also captured by the girl(?) with the extravagant hat that somehow falls out of place in what seems to be a conservative dining place. As for the timing, I feel that the couple of at the foreground are making fun of some ridiculousness that may be precepted from the large group hidden at the background.

In all, a rich narrative composition.

Regards,

ricardo

I particularly enjoy the proliferation of white disc shapes tying the various elements together. Follow the bouncing ball around the frame. Another nice one Jack.

Compliments my dear friend, really a very good shot.

Jack,

  Wonderful b/w image with great tones.  Take care, Patsy

Jack, I enjoy this shot for all the reasons the others have given.  Lots of different stories about the couple can explain their gestures, and the composition is great.  The warm tone works very well.  It's a photo I can linger on for a while.  Words in a photo always attract my attention, and that's the case with the "toilet" sign over the woman's head.  I suspect you kept it in the scene for a good reason, although the various narratives I envision don't have that sign as an integral feature.  For me, excluding the sign better keeps my focus on the people without upsetting the composition.

I like how you caught this daily scene in a restaurant with people that seems did not observed you and they look natural.Very nice tonality and a palette of grey tones.

One of my usual haunts.

There's actually quite a lot to see here, Jack.  I won't try to recount what everyone else has said that I also like, especially Gordon, but I will say that having the empty table immediately in front is a good--but unusual--touch.  Even showing all the way to the bathrooms reminds me that that is often what I check out when I enter any establishment.  Then, of course, there is always each couple or small group, immersed in their own conversations--and lives. 

 

This is quite a slice of life you have here, in my opinion.

--Lannie

 

I would wager there is some sort of junior  / senior relationship.  Rather formal (old fashioned?) covering the mouth while eating, well dressed a modest restaurant.  Business lunch? Interesting contrasts. 

This image has the sense of loneliness that I can't express properly. There is a very strong sense that the viewer is without company. He is looking around the other tables to see people chatting, having conversation. I can see the part of his (my) table (not sure if its his table) with neatly arranged menus and empty chairs. I can empathize with the photographer and share his lonely world (which is Jack's persona solely for this photo, not the real Jack). The only person that I (and the photographer) can relate with is the lady sitting alone facing the mirror. That is also another strong symbolism of the isolated compartmentalized world.

 

As for the composition, I think the foreground menus and the mid-ground couple are perfectly balanced and the eye follows the converging lines created by the tables to the rear row of kids. This right biased flow is counter-balanced by the mirror with the lady on the left, who is a key figure in this shot I think. I like how the row of bar stools leads to her.

Wonderful atmosphere, straight out of the 30's.

Thank you for your comments on this picture, I'm gratified at the response.

 

This is a restaurant near my apartment where I "dine" occasionally. I like to go out to lunch, usually alone or sometimes with one of my students. On this day I was packing the Sony RX100 III. I had seen a video on You Tube claiming it was the best compact camera for street photography. One of my students is a hobby photographer and this camera happened to be among the many he owned. I asked to borrow it for a week and he was kind enough to let me. This was strictly a grab shot in the restaurant. One can't be too obvious taking pictures in a restaurant so I took a snap or two and went back to my (solitary) meal You're right Supriyo, but I actually enjoy eating alone and reading a book or going over my Japanese flash cards in a pitiful attempt to at last become conversant in the language after nearly 30 years. I never go out for dinner alone, though, considering that somewhat pathetic. Anyway, thanks to you all for taking the time to put down your thoughts. And hey there, Gordon, nice to see you again! Post some damn pictures!

Thanks for the comment and apologies for the belated reply. I'm quite comfortable in places like this - but then I'm an ancient dinosaur.

I also picked up the sense of the most obviously solitary observer--I think that the paradoxically cluttered empty table in the foreground conveys that somehow.

 

The camera you used also caught my eye--1" sensor makes it pocketable, etc.  Something to think about there, if one wants to get certain shots that will not work with a big and obvious camera.

 

The clarity of the shot--shown here with a big file--indicates that quality was not sacrificed to get portability.

 

Great work and great judgment, Jack.

 

--Lannie

A perfect example of what you are trying silently "to teach", us the formalists, through your work. A masterpiece out of seeming "nothing".

I can't take my eyes out of it. Such a sweet "order" of things, round recurring whites demanding our attention, strong perspective lines, shades, grays and whites interacting and blending so harmonically, a lady in front of the mirror perhaps addressing to her loneliness, a happy company with children that are gently cutting us off from their privacy and the great protagonists in the middle, both hidding their mouths from each other leaving us wondering about their gestures.

Into my favorites, into my heart. Thanks Jack!

 

Jack, how did you find the RX 100 lll ?  I had picked up the original iteration of that camera, to use scuba diving. While I do not get out to the city often, I do like to use it for street shooting and carried it with me on a recent trip to nyc.

 The longer I look at this image the more I realise just how astonishing it is. I learn a lot from my occasional visits to your pages.

 I forget to post images to pn and question the point, as they get few views and even fewer comments. I'll toss a couple out since you asked. 

 

Thanks for taking the time to comment at length.

 

First, about the camera - I had seen a video on You Tube where a street photographer claimed this was the best camera for quick, unobtrusive and high quality street shooting. One of my students had this camera (among many others) so I asked him to borrow it for a week and try it out. I was very pleased with the performance and the result. Of course because it's Sony it has it's own set of quirky features. The battery takes forever to charge and I think the charger is sold separately. I tried to change the menu to English but because it was purchased in Japan the menu is only in Japanese. It's the only camera I've ever owned where you couldn't select the language. There were occasional focusing problems where the AF seemed to "lose focus" perhaps while daydreaming about something else. In general focusing is fast and accurate but not remarkably so. That's about it for the problems. It really is small, even for a compact camera and scores high for ease of use. It has a louvered monitor screen which is a nice addition. My Olympus cameras often featured them and I thought they were very handy especially for street shooting. It's very easy to operate and you're not accidentally hitting controls and changing the settings with your clumsy fingers which is often the case when I shoot with my Olympus XZ2. I didn't really test the full range of possibilities due to the previously mentioned problem with the menu language. Picture quality is excellent and with the Zeiss lens there's no distortion at the edge of the frames as is sometimes the case with my other cameras. All in all, it's the best camera I've yet found for those interested for taking unobtrusive and candid street shots. Now where do I go to pick up my promotional check from Sony?

 

Lannie - Thanks. Big city life is big city life. People walk around in a solitary daze and are generally unconnected to one another, like icons in a video game. Too bad but it doesn't hinder my picture taking.

They might not pay attention to me but I pay attention to them.

 

Michail - Thanks for your very generous review. As you know, I'm quite a fan of your work. The most important aspect of a site like this, full of creative people, is that we inspire others and are inspired by them in turn. That's the way it should work. It's all about connections and creative feedback from your peers (and sometimes from people who are far above you in their talent and expertise)

 

Gordon - How do you like the camera? Do you agree with my summation? I'd like to know your experience since I'm thinking of buying one myself. Glad to hear you're going to post some new work. Did you hear about the recent debacle when they tried to completely revamp the PN layout. It was a real mess, features disappeared and nothing worked right. It had the completely unexpected effect of waking people up to what they almost lost. Things are going to change, that's for sure, whether for good or ill is up to us. Maybe some of us are waking up to the fact that you can't take more out than you put in. You know I have my frustrations with this site but it's the only place I've found where I can have intelligent conversations with creative people like yourself and the others who commented on this picture. I'll go over and check to see if you have uploaded anything new. All the best, Gordon.

 

 

 

 

Nice proportions. I like your handling of the bw colors. Very good capture.

Tomm

Thanks for the comment. It gave me an opportunity to check out your portfolio; there's some very nice work there. I've added you to the list of photographers I follow so you'll be seeing more of me.

Jack,

Every time I return to this image I see something else. I just now realised that all three people in full view, have their arm raised in front of their face. Perfect timing on your part.

 I do like the little Sony RX-100. My original version does not have the articulate screen which would be nice for street photography. I have had the camera long enough now that I have made some sense of the camera menus but they seem anything but intuitive to me. Perhaps because I've used Canon cameras since moving to digital. I love the quality of the lens and the bigger sensor means I can print to 16"x20" without a significant drop of image quality.

I did witness the debacle  that was PN 2.0, only because PN sent me an email boasting about its unveiling. Inconceivable that such a train wreck was the result of three years work. I would have expected more from a high-school students summer project. I'm sure that 3.0 is around the corner and just as certain that it too will be a disaster, based on the behavior and attitude of current management. The only solace is that it will likely take another three years to roll out the new version and in the meantime those that still use the place will be able to carry on relatively unhindered. 

Thanks again for the comment. The gestures of the diners are random luck but the hand in front of the mouth of the woman in front is very typical behavior among women here, especially when eating. Until fairly recently iit was not considered demure to show your teeth when eating or laughing. Possibly this has its roots in the bad teeth of many of the baby boomers due to post-war malnutrition. Few people realize what desperate straits the Japanese people found themselves in during the Occupation, at least the 5 or 6 years following the war. I think it is a period that is considered shameful here in Japan and is rarely discussed, more the pity, because it's when the seeds of modern Japan were planted..

 

As for the camera, I think it performed beautifully when I borrowed it from my student and put it to the test. I guess because of the larger sensor and the lens, picture quality was really impressive. I loved the fact that it fit easily into my pocket so that I could carry it everywhere.. Sony has always been a bit of an oddball company and one of the drawbacks of Sony cameras sold here in Japan (or at least that model), is that they only come with a Japanese menu. So I didn't have any problems with the menu since I couldn't read it in the first place. I think it's possible to get an "international" model but there's an added expense. Buying the camera would represent a considerable investment for me. If I do get it, it will be during my next trip to The States in November but I'll have to think long and hard before plunking down almost $1000..

 

As for the management here, well it's a good thing that they are largely absent (except for the occasional banning and witch burning) because I'm pretty sure they're idiots. But, in reality, I don't think it's management that's to blame for the lack of vitality and the exodus of members. There are a lot of factors involved and I think management policy is rather a minor one. For me it's more a case of people wanting more out of the site than they are willing to put in. That's an equation that doesn't work in any endeavor. Photonet is like a large city, you can't know everyone. But as for myself, I try to find people whose work or personality I admire. I'm pretty isolated here in Osaka when it comes to creative discussions. It's just not really part of the Japanese culture so PN gives me an avenue to express myself and get to know other creative people with whom I can exchange ideas. Don't get me wrong, the ticket into the creative carnival is a portfolio of interesting pictures. I understand that I'm more active than most simply because I teach at home and have ample time between students.

 

There are no truly dynamic photo sites as far as I've been able to determine. I've always looked for more adventurous souls such as yourself, Billy K., Drew, Niels, and a lot of others that have slipped away over the years. They don't get much support here or really on any of the other sites as well. The pretty and the polished will always attract the most attention. Most people don't want to wander too far away from their comfort zones. I'm also drawn to photographers than have a special charm and warmth that is evident in their work, people like Marjolein (a truly superb photographer who posted wonderful pictures and elegant critiques between managing her six kids. People like Carlos who seems to have a special relationship with his subjects and a way with people I can,only envy. I could go on and on and name a host of photographers I admire for one reason or other. Many go, some return occasionally like you do and then there are some great people that I've met lately such as Leslie with whom I've shared many a long e-mail on the state of PN and possibilities for the future. In the end I stick around because to leave wouldn't benefit me. Sometimes when I get ticked off, I take a vacation for a few weeks or even a couple of months but I always come back with new photos and new hopes. Indomitable or needy, take your pick. Anyway, this has stretched on long past my initial intentions. Thanks again for the comments, Gordon, I always look forward to your visit whether it's with a new photo or a few friendly words. You'll always be one of the good ones in my mind. Best regards, Jack