Searching For Lost Beauty (Coiffure d'Alberto)

Please take a moment to examine this "busy" street photo from

Strasbourg, France, and to consider that in French, the

word 'Coiffure' means roughly 'hair stylist' or 'hair cutter' but

when translated more loosely into English more probably would

translate into 'beauty parlor', then please consider the photo

title. Your ratings and critiques are most welcome. (Please take a

moment to write a helpful and constructive critique if you rate

harshly or negatively/Please share your superior knowledge to help

advancer my photography). Thanks and Enjoy. John ;~))

people in it are good, especially the lady and the boy musician; the shop window does not strikes me so much. I would have preferred a cluse-up on those 2.

I was heavily influenced by Henri Cartier-Bresson after I discovered he existed (my style predated my discovery of him). And I absolutely loved what I saw, including the "no crop" stricture and the "slice of life" view as well as "composing in the viewfinder" or however else one composes, but seldom if ever in the darkroom. I know I was presented with the choice, especially of cropping out the right window, but I liked the "fleeting" "Redwing" shoe sign at the top and the moving feet of the man with hat at the left and felt that somehow they set each other off, although far from perfectly. And the windows are full of reflections: bus, tram, dog, people walking-standing-talking-even one in mid-stride right in front of the guy with the cap, left and behind boy with accordion. So, I chose "no crop" and to go for "slice of street life". This is particularly important for American viewers. Also, I am not sure the resolution would gracefully stand the blowup, and I like a more complicated image sometimes. My single folder portfolio is full of rather uncomplicated images with "large" graphical content, and this allows me to show that I am more versatile than that. I hope that explains. John.

great composition

Thank you for the nice comment. I have considered this a favorite from the point of view of the people and the "busyness" i.e., what's going on in it, and of course the bent old lady beneath the 'beauty salon' sign (as we would read this in America). But it's not always an image that I was sure would 'translate' to others and I have held it close to my chest, never revealing it to anyone until now from the mid-late '80s. Thank you for the endorsement on the composition. It was taken by an American, and possibly for an American viewer -- what Frenchman of that era would see something 'new' or 'unusual' in this photo? Would it have been successful in France then as a contemporary photo -- I don't know -- perhaps because of the bent old woman and the beauty parlor juxtaposition alone. Of course, now it's aged, and maybe I've captured something more timeless. John

Although I mostly had put down my cameras since the late 60s, early 70s, during this trip to France, I took three or four rolls or film (if that). This is was on one of them. I have always like it. Strassbourg, downtown area, about 1986 or 1987. John