black and white: then to now Self Portrait

that's a good one, too

This is a new scan. If you have previously viewed this photo the old scan may be stored in your browser cache, and to view the new scan you may have to refresh your browser. Enjoy! John

This photo, titled "self portrait" is of an artist as she views

herself (and has no relationship to the photographer, who stood on a

stool with his Mamiyaflex for this view--cropped). It is classified

as "street photography" because it was just from "walking by", with

no interaction. This is the first of the original B&W Portfolio

(and maybe the only) to be submitted for rating, and as such will

not be eligible for "top photo" lists because it was not recently

posted. Your ratings and critiques are most welcome. Please honor

me with a helpful and constructive critique if you rate low or

harshly/please share your superior knowledge to help advance my

photograhy) Thanks! Enjoy! John ;~))

I didn't realize it at the time, but the subject of "threes" as a compositional element is a subject that is repeated over and over in my major and minor photos -- I find it somehow pleasing without knowing it in the viewfinder. (one head here, from three viewpoints) J.

John - you also have four - the repetition of the tops and bottoms of the two different easels...This is really cool - a 3-D take on the old "Views herself in Mirror" shot that so many of us do (I have at least 4 in my most recent wedding shoot). I like It! How many of us have viewed it trying to catch a glimpse of th eelusive photographer!

What a wonderful comment with excellent insight. You help me see more from my photograph in words than I can describe myself, even my sharp-eyed commentator Hulki. Thank you so much. ;--~) J

This photo is a 'crop' from a square frame. The square frame 2-1/4 shot was pleasing, but simply lacked the dynamics of this framing. John

what? YOU crop something? The world will stop spinning on it's axis in amazement! I still love this image and the way you draw us in with the title...many regards from the Lone Star state.. lee

It's not MY self-portrait, but it's SOMEBODY's self-portrait. I hadn't considered the ambiguity when I titled the photograph, nor the possibility that others would consider that I am a 'female' despite the moniker 'John'. I'm just a guy, and this is just an art student doing her self-portrait. I didn't like the 2-1/4" square format of the Mamiyaflex camera too terribly much and ended up cropping several of the slides or taking photos from that camera twice -- once with it and another with a 35 mm camera -- see 'balloon man' photo. I would use the Mamiyaflex for 'color' and 35 mm for B&W on occasion, although here it was used for B&W effectively as a 'crop' more effectively than the 2-1/4 square image. ('hi' to the land of big hair) John