Culture Clash -- Parisian Style

This is a great lady - so much of her presentation speaks of the street-wise city woman! The purse looped around the neck, shopping bags anchored firmly between her feet, perched on the edge of the bench with hands grasping it - her whole posture indicates her readiness for flight! And yet, I don't think so - I might be able to see just the hint of a smile on her face and interest in the tilt of her head...A cautious but curious and open-minded woman. Just my interpretation, of course!

The last time I was in this particular arrondissement, a hand went into my pocket and came out with some Euros as I was photographing, and neighbors and I gave chase (as best I could) and there was general hubub. Pickpockets and thievery in summertime is a fact of life in Paris, especially if a victim is somewhat distracted. The purse over the front is a fact of life for all Parisiennes -- or should be. I teach it to newcomer tourists. (I once had the discomfort to watch, trapped behind glass with no way to warn, as pickpockets cased a woman's back pack she was wearing, distracted her with a bump, reached in and stole all her money, tickets and ID. And me, no way to get to an exit of the store to warn the woman!) This woman has, as they say in France "raison", no matter what the culture or color of her fellow denizens. The French need Giuliani!

Yes, this woman certainly is less than "scared" and had no reason to be, and certainly was "interested". The "streetwise" anti-theft mechanisms built into her posture were not for these two men or because these two men were near here or fraternizing by her, or in any way disturbing her -- and she is in fact curious about them -- but just the same, she is older, and the young men of Paris -- from other continents -- often are poor and lack respect for property -- some make a living by thievery, and if one plays the odds, then . . . . well. . . . And, as noted above, there is a huge amount of thievery which goes on in Paris, and it isn't blacks, or Arabs or whites, but it's the total, and most of them are men, and of them, most are young men. So, if one plays the odds and if one is "streetwise" one just wears the purse that way, nestles the shopping bag that way, and maybe even clutches the bench that way, anytime one feels a "disturbance" -- gregarious human activity around oneself by young men, at any time -- and perhaps unconsciously adopts such a posture at all times, anyway out of habit. (This comment is from a former city person and one--time inner-city tutor who used to walk the streets of Harlem, Bedford-Stuyvesant, Brownsville, sometimes with a camera, and who -- because of my race -- got threatened, molested, hassled, harrassed all the time, and even assaulted (almost entirely by young men) but escaped serious consquences by being "streetwise" until one day . . . but that's another story. -- John)

Thanks for expanding on the experience. The few cities I spent any time in were relatively safe, being much smaller- plus I was not trying to shoot street! I do like this image and the relationships between the subjects - the triangulation between the standing man and almost crouching woman..Her caution is contrasted with the open posture of the man seated at the other end of the bench. There is much communicated in this shot!

This is a desaturated color image. Any helpful hints from members on how to use RGB "channels" to develop better B&W images from color digital images would be most welcome. This photo just does not work as a color image as it has too many distracting colors that do not work, plus lights and shadows, and begged to be converted. But I am no master of conversion from color to B&W. I could use any hints. John.

Two Parisian Residents of African origin greet each other 'street'

style, while another, older Parisian watches, with her carefully

guarded purse and bag, hands wrapped around the bench. Your ratings

and critiques and most welcome. (Please submit a helpful and

constructive comment if you rate harshly or very negatively -- please

help me improve my photography). Thanks! Enjoy! John [Placed

inside my 'Early Black and White Portfolio because it represents an

extension of that style of photography] jsc

what has happened to paris?

Paris actually remains a very vibrant city, with parts taken over by persons of African birth and/or descent. But the French are famously tolerant and almost claim 'ownership' of Africa though their former colonies there -- hence much of Africa is called "Francophone" -- French speaking, so there always has been a major African influence in France and a major French fascination with things African. It's where famous American 'Negro' artists and writers went to escape Jim Crow segregation policies in the United States and be truly as free as they could be based on their talents alone. And problems don't necessarily come from these 'black Africans' as much as the Muslim or Islamists from North Africa. If you go to Germany, you'll find that Turks (second Generation) are becoming citizens and the famous German homogeneity will sometime be a thing of the past. Beware, it's happening all over the world, and if we all get along, it's a good thing. John.

Things were happening so fast here that I fired from the 'hip'. The camera was at my side, set to wide angle and I had my finger on the shutter, 'stutter-stepped' to pause and catch the scene, and capture the moment, (not knowing if I had captured it or how well) and continued on my way. Only later did I see my image and know how well -- I almost didn't even remember it since I hadn't seen it through the viewfinder ever. John

This image was taken in Summer, 2004, so, you ask, what's it doing in a folder called "Early B&W"? The answer is that its tone, mood and style (Street photo, shot from the hip, pronouncing a momentary 'truth' is perfectly consistent with the rest of my B&W street photos.

 

And although some may think I have stopped taking images of such quality, not so!

 

They just haven't looked at some of my color images and imagined them desaturated.

 

I just like taking color for the added dimension -- even though early 'street' shooters took B&W out of necessity -- there was no good color film or printing then available. If there was, there would have been almost no B&W 'street shooting convention'.

 

I don't care much for conventions, as I'm not in a contest, or taking photos for a coffee table book in one medium or another.

 

I just take (and post) what pleases me, and this did.

 

John

This photo, taken in 2004, presages racial trouble in France in the end of 2005.

 

While probably these men, almost assuredly residents of Paris, were not involved in the violence of Nov.-Dec. 2005, the divide between the races and the failure of the French to assimilate the Muslims of North Africa and Black Africans into their culture (which they need because native French are not multiplying and aging rapidly, and the others ARE multiplying creating a ready 'work force') is a problem that came home 'to roost' with car fires, bus burnings throughout France.

 

But those things emanated from the 'banlieus' -- the suburbs, where there are giant apartment buildings, not the usual seven-story apartment buildings named after the architect Haussman who literally redesigned Paris to his and its present wonderful and historic style -- Hausman style.

 

This photo was taken on the way to the 19em arrondisement (19th arrondisement) which is largely populated by blacks and Muslims, a place where I have stayed frequently, and so know the 'culture' of better, the 'milieu'.

 

It's a place where 'pork' does not have a good name, and the charcuteries are rare, because a major feature in a French charcuterie is the ever-present 'ham' from which they make slices, and Muslims (light skin from North Africa or dark skin from central Africa) who come to France seeking their fortune (or welfare at least) generally shun pork because of religious stricture.

 

So, this story 'foretold' events, somewhat and was an 'accurate' reflection of its time, I think -- regrettably too accurate.

 

John (Dec. 2005)

This, and another image have been requested for permanent exhibition by an anthropology museum, Cologne, Germany, showing encounters between people.

 

For the record, as of this date.

 

John (Crosley)

This is a color photo that had almost no Photoshopping. As a longtime film photographer armed with a digital camera on almost my first digital outing, this photo was desaturated using the most rudimentary means.

 

And that simply meant using the 'desaturate' command in a photo editing program.

 

It has far, far greater potential and that potential has been overlooked as myriad other photos have passed though the lenses of my numerous cameras since this was taken -- I always have had plans to use Channel Mixer in Photoshop to re-desaturate this, using the Red, Green and Blue channels separately for best results (see above discussion).

 

Also, this image, taken when I took film to pro or other labs was a digital image and needed Photoshopping, yet it was posted without any substantial Photoshopping, and it will improve considerably with some basic Photoshop techniques applied -- especially 'selecting' the hands/arms of the men and applying various low-level techniques to 'contrast' them with the background so the interplay between hands/forearms and the background is made to stand out more, without being artificial or distracting. It's a fairly basic task -- not easily done, but well within my present skills or those of any veteran Photoshopper with intermediate skills and using a later edition of Photoshop.

 

In other words, this image has far, far greater potential to be 'pretty' or more aesthetically pleasing than just the subject matter would make it appear, and far greater than 'as posted' which is a post from the most rudimentary fashion without any of the more 'basic' photo enhancement techniques applied that commonly now are applied to almost every posted photo of such complex nature and/or contrast.

 

Similarly, this photo also will be enhanced by better treatment of shadows and highlights throughout -- in reprocessing from the original digital image which is stored on several archival terabyte hard drives in three cities around the globe (for disaster recovery purposes).

 

(One is with me at all times, generally, one is Moscow, elsewhere in Russia and/or Ukraine, or somewhere in Europe, and one (or even up to three) are in California or elsewhere in the United States, generally at present, though the locations may change.)

 

One noted photographer on this service commented to me that during a move when he couldn't be present, a huge number of his images were lost, just as my Viet Nam images were lost/destroyed through the fault of others, and can never be recovered. One of his images shows more than 1 million 'views' on this service; his loss was inestimable, I think (though I don't know about that particular photo's history).

 

I vowed never to allow that to happen again, and have gone so far as to refuse air transportation several times if the airline refused to allow me to carry on board one or two terabyte hard drives with my images and insisted that I check them as checked luggage (after first boarding me for the first leg as cabin baggage).

 

My experience with the Transportation Safety Agency is that in all cases, (read this: ALL cases) I am missing some major and/or minor thing from my luggage after a TSA inspection, with the major missing items tending to be reading material and/or DVDs which feature women -- which are almost certain to disappear.

 

(If others have this experience, please post here, or please write me; this is a PN issue of importance.)

 

John (Crosley)