Sleeping Portrait

i like it very much. very much indeed. good expression though your explanation made me feel uncomfortably voyeuristic.

You have chutzba my friend. Much braver than I. What would you have done had the gentleman awoken? Very nice photo.

I have to admit I'm a sucker for a good street photo, just the fact you usualy have to be quick and work with what you have. I love the contrast and balance. Good Job.

Have enjoyed browsing through your folder. Excellent composition. Love your dark rich tones.

Very nice image. Balls of steel. I love the richness of the tones and the detail in the shadows. Good image to print. James

I wish I had the courage. It shouldn't be that hard (what's this guy going to do to you anyway?) but one still feels like an intruder. Excellent.

Nice tones and lines

I like it and want to look more.

Wonderful photo, using the diagonal is perfect here, framed face with the hand and the dark tones on this strong subject takes this pic to the top. Congrats.

I like the picture as well, especially the diagonal composition.

 

*Now for a really dumb question*. I notice a number of posts related to Chris' comments on how he took the photo. I know there are additional comments when going through the "critique" forum, but how do I see these same comments if I go through "top rated photos" or if I am viewing the portfolio of a photographer of interest (such as Chris here). In these instances, there are often explanatory notes which I would like to read, but am unable. What do I do? Sorry for taking up space here, but the number of posts referring to Chris' original comments compelled me to ask. Thanks in advance.

this is absolutely the best(imo) shot posted on photonet that i have seen so far...how?how?how?do you do this...this is the detail and composition and interesting subject and tonal range i strive for and fall so short of....have you printed this?how did it turn out?did you have to do much manipulation(post exposure)?sheesh!i am in awe..no!i am way past that...you took this with a 990?...i'll stop now before i embarrass myself,oops,too late.....good shot

I don't think this is exploitative or even particularly confronting. It's kinda peaceful, actually. REALLY lovely composition and tonality. This is an image of a guy that's at peace with himself. On the "Brutal And Cynical Invasion of Privacy" scale I give this a "1". As a photograph, I rate it much higher.

Really impressive

Sleeping out in the open, this was an unplanned snap of a man asleep

in the city.

I generally no longer photograph the poor and unfortunate, however

this portrait immediately presented itself, and so I took a

Photograph.

Beautifully done and extremely powerful - a very involving photograph with excellent "exposure." You have re-created the finest in black and white portraiture WITH A DIGITAL CAMERA! I wouldn't have believed the richness from a digital camera. Thanks for the great photo.

 

How close did you sneak in for this one? I ask because it appears the image has been heavily cropped (thus the heavy grain-like structure), though I'm not familiar at all with digital film medium, just film emulsions, mostly Tri-X for B&W street work.

Anyway, no biggie. Whatever the production process this is a very good picture, not taken by someone without photographic experience or sense for the scene.

Hat's off!

Hey Tris, I actually added the film grain texture in Photoshop. A sort of tribute to the 70's and 80's use of Tri-x.

 

The pic isn't cropped.

Great face. Great detail. Great expression!

I wish people would stop (over) analysing and reading too much into photographs, diagonal this, digital that, it sometimes feels like they like to recite what they've seen in beginner textbooks. This really is one of the most interesting pictures I've seen on photo.net.

Very powerful visual. A+

I agree with comment on over-analyzing. This is a beautiful documentary photo, born of a troubling social circumstance. Chris, I wonder if you have any aspirations for social commentary - your work could be deeply moving in a directed narrative.

A beautiful photograph just on composition and tone, to say nothing of the subject. It reminds me of images of death-masks, and the feeling that the hand on the right is either holding up this image of the face or about to remove it is really fantastic. Big thumbs-up.

 

I disagree with the "voyeurism" implication. I don't think there is any sense that you are taking advantage of this guy any more than taking a photograph of anyone else on the street is taking advantage of them (though there are folks who would say that is immoral too. I just disagree with them.)

 

It seems to me a photograph and portrait first, and not some sort of squalid sensationalism. There is a tenderness in your approach, I think aided by the close range, that exalts rather than denigrades the subject. And heck, most folks I have photographed and then approached afterward and given a copy of the picture are very happy to have an image of themselves, that someone cared enough to take a picture.

Nothing at all - that I can think of - could be improved... As for the problem raised here about shooting this person, I doubt that this is a crime, since what you are doing is enhancing the subject's Beauty... I wouldn't be surprised to hear that this person would like the shot as well... Maybe you should try to give him this picture... Another point I feel I want to make about this kind of people pictures... I've taken pictures of poor people in asia for 4 years from 1990 to 1995, and only 2 persons denied me the right to do so... Hundreds were actually very happy about it... It has got a lot to do, I believe, with how you feel when you take these pictures... Your feeling will be written on your face, and these people can read faces like no rich man can... Most of the time it resulted for me in great human encounters...

This image is EVERYTHING that I strive to capture on film when I'm am photographing the homeless. Mine pale in comparison. Just because someone is poor or mentally ill or dying, it does not make them any less of a human being or any less attractive as a photography subject. I pity anyone who can't see only beauty when looking at this image. And, as someone who loves to photograph people, I've had to 'sneak' a good portion of my images - homeless or not. Unfortunately, you won't be able to publish this image without this man's permission and that is what I find tragic. Good work!

such tender loving care with the toning, composition and light - i hope the gentlemen sleeping receives some also

Tops!

Simply Amazing Work!!