Retail: The Ideal and the Reality (B&W Ed.)

This monochrome rendering of a color photo in my Single Photo

Portfolio seems more appropriate as a B&W and I have converted it.

Let me know what you think, please. Your ratings and critiques are

invited and most welcome. (If you rate harshly and/or very

negatively, please submit a helpful and constructive comment/Please

share your superior knowledge to help improve my photography).

Thanks! Enjoy! John

 

(Part of a series of conversions of 'street' photos posted in color

to B&W)

Every guy becomes the "Thinker" when they are faced with such beauty. Maybe less background so there is more focus on the subjects. Your call. I like it.

I understand your thoughts about the 'background' and your wish for more intent focus on the 'subjects'.

 

However, this photo was meant to contrast or juxtapose the 'ideal' of the fashionable, beautiful woman, with the nitty-gritty of this retail seller's life, and the background, with its fence and pole, covered by tattered bills and a building under construction, emphasisizes the 'grittiness' of his existence -- an existence which is temporary at most and barely tenable.

 

Perhaps he's really thinking whether his children will have meat on their plate this 'week', not just each evening, but maybe once a week, if that. They may be lucker than some, for there assuredly will be vegetables . . . see foreground.

 

Life's a little different in other parts of the globe, and such contrasts are the order of the day, for some. In other cities in Ukraine, where this was taken, it's not uncommon to see dumpster divers actually at work AND consuming the spoils of their diving adventures, so maybe he's got it luckier than some. However, judging from the billboard beside him, he's got a very long ways to go to reach Western levels of consumerism.

 

Ironically, many of the big Western names in retail are on main retail streets not so far away, and some can afford to pay fabulous prices for designer goods, but that's not what the ordinary populace experiences, here in Dnepropetrovsk, Ukraine.

 

Communism, for all its numerous and regrettable faults, actually did provide food for everybody, and people in latter years of Communism didn't regard themselve as poor -- the joke was 'see how poor we are, our refrigerator is so full we have no room for anything else.' Now, the joke of Capitalism is on many, whose refrigerators are empty, though the stores are full but with goods too high-priced for purchase by many.

 

Ironic, isn't it? (My knowledge comes firsthand from friendship and kinship with Russians/Ukrainians who lived under Communism and is not speculative at all.)

 

However, it appears that the building behind him under construction is just one of many arising from their just-laid foundations, and ultimately Capitalism will triumph. It's just that some people were unprepared for the rigors of Capitalism, having been promised a life of steady jobs and a steady supply of essentials (bare housing) and sufficient, nutritious food. A worker with a 'guaranteed' job under Communism often didn't work at it full effort, or sometimes even bother to work at all (some being drunk, or making 'deals' -- read bribes - with their bosses).

 

Then the quality of output from factories often left more than a great deal to be desired and 'service' Soviet style was literally a joke (about which a film 'Garage' -- I think -- was made that became the subject of a joke throughout the Soviet Union, as workers routinely disregarded those who came to them for service.)

 

The rigors of the marketplace are enforcing a new discipline, as here, and it's not always so pleasant, as good jobs for a highly-educated populace are scarce, and it's common in parts to see doctors driving taxi-cabs or (as one heart surgeon I knew did) giving massages on the side to supplement an inadequate salary.

 

The decline of state-sponsored health services, once of pretty good quality overall, coupled with the lack of good jobs, alcoholism and a diet high in fats (for males generally as the women take pretty good care of themselves) -- means that the male populace at least is now dying at a much earlier age than at the time of the fall of Communism. (The women live much, much longer lives, and there literally is a numerical surplus of women.)

 

This photo encapsulates the bitter-sweetness of the changeover from Communism to Capitalism, I think, and for that it is somewhat of a social document.

 

That's why my choice to place the background in this photo. (If you want to view photos more like clip-art, you might see my single photo folder, where color dominates and there's more of an attempt to post 'pretty' photos (although this photo came from that folder and was desaturated for this folder where I think it really belongs.)

 

Thank you so much for your comment. (Hope the geopolitical 'civics' commentary was not off-putting).

 

John C.

Dear John,

I have to thank you for your first comment on my Abuse Report on the Forum so I had the opportunity to find your Portofolio and to admire your B&W photography with such great skill regarding the BACKGROUND :)

Thank you :) I learned a lot from your work, and will be back!

 

Biliana

I have tried here something similar daer John! At least my intention was to use the Poster in the back!

What do you think?

The photograph is a little bit damaged :(

 

Thank you,

Biliana

Yours are some of the most original and wonderful photos on Photo.net, and I've always wanted to tell you, as I did in that comment. Thank you for showing me what true 'originality' means, and how it can be coupled with beauty -- you're a true artist . . . I struggle along.

 

My compliments to you, and thanks for commenting on some of my photos -- you've picked some of my most interesting, and I'm satisfied that your taste in choosing which photos to comment on (as all the rest of your taste) is excellent.

 

Thanks for the many kind comments and the interest.

 

You are always welcome in my portfolio. I see one of yours almost every day . . . and you can guess which one.

 

(I like your posted photo -- I think I'd 'select' the person's head and make it stand out a little, by contrast adjustment, lightening, or some other method, for a complete juxtaposion . . . just so we're not looking at a headless subject, unless I've missed a point.)

 

I'm going to go back to your portfolio and see more of your photos.

 

John (with appreciation)

Oh, thank you so much for your wonderful words on my work, cause I am so insecure, and trying my best, and again, trying each time again uf..

I thank you so much, and I have to say that your Photographs are so good, so well mastered, so well composed, and I am so sorry that I did not see your work much much before or I did but now I am paying attention, cause I see that I can learn so much from your Work and I am so grateful to YOU and your photographs, cause I have to learn more and to improve more :)

 

This photo I have shown you, was just some concept, but it is too dark as you said it, just to show you that I too have tried to incorpore the background(s) within my subject!

 

Thank you so much and now I am blushing :)

 

All my best and see you around!

I will stop by your portofolio each time so I can lear more from your brillant street Photogoraphy and documentary!

 

Thank you again dear John,

Biliana

Now I'm blushing . . .

 

Thanks

 

John

John,

Perhaps if you had clarified the circumstance of the shot in the title, I may not have seemed so shallow. I was looking at the photo. It looks as if it could have been taken in Paris, Egypt, Athens, Brooklyn, or thousands of other cities around the globe . There is no sign telling me we're in the Ukraine (expept for a sign that could be in Greek); no indication of what the politics were/are, or of the hardship. My initial impression was what I wrote in my first post. If you we're trying to make a different statement you failed. There isn't enough info for me to get what you felt. You gave me part of the story to convey what you wrote so eloquantly. I've seen vendors like him in every part of the world. Obviously you where there, in the Ukraine, but as the viewer I don't know that. I don't see the good/bad, capitalism/communism, hungry/sated, cold/warm. It's not there. All I see is a photo I like.

I hope you take this as constructive critisism.

Cheers.

P.S. I love your portofolio. You rock!

Actually, your comment wasn't shallow at all; it was a very good remark about the photo -- she is beautiful and frankly we all pale in comparison to women beautiful enough to put on posters.

 

As you said, ths photo could have been taken in any of a large number of cities around the world, especially in underdeveloped (developing) countries, and as such, it wasn't posted to be exclusively a statement about Ukrainian people at all.

 

In fact, as your constructive comment suggests, (for which I am very flattered), this image seems more universal, if not so pretty. You actually might like the color version, found in my single photo folder.

 

[i'd post a link but I don't know how, unless I would have to write in XML or HTML, which I haven't tried to do yet. Anybody can give me instructions and I'd welcome it; I saw it once, but I forgot where it is.]

 

The color version more clearly delineates the foreground (colored) from the background, mostly whitewashed and in a totally different plane and so obviously that it shows much more clearly in the colored version.

 

This is one instance in which a 'street' photo may have been better off in color -- you viewers can be the judges, and please, let me know.

 

('There is no color dependant subject' as far as I'm concerned is so much malarkey -- some photos are color dependant and some are not -- I'm thinking for instance of a member's photo of a woman's legs with a flowing red skirt and red dress shoes with heels -- carefully color matched.

 

OK as a B&W photo, I guess, but stunning in color and there are numerous other examples that make that assertion simply 'wrong' as overbroad.)

 

J-F, your initial criticism did add something to understanding this photo, it was not commented on prior to this posting, and was worthwhile just for that -- not shallow at all.

 

Sometimes a comment can be valuable even if it doesn't 'box the compass' for all possible criticisms/observations but only adds something new or uncommented on.

 

And your second comment is actually high praise for me, as it denotes the universality of this photo. The posted remarks were indeed a 'civics lesson' but really not directed at you, but in general more a meandering about life in Ukraine, which can be extended to a comment on all former Communist Countries that still are underdeveloped/struggling with Capitalism.

 

But this photo does have a broader meaning, which you underscored -- the ideal versus the reality, which is not unique to Ukraine. Ukraine just happens to be where this photo was taken, and I happen to know a lot about life there and in Russia, having been extensively to both countries -- even lived part-time in Russia with many trips to Ukraine.

 

So, the comment was to add depth to the actuality of this particular photo, but it in no way was intended to undercut remarks which went to its universality, and its message was seen as being universal to the underdeveloped world -- hence the title. And that's why there was no reference to Ukraine in the caption; the comment was just to add color and becaue as a quondam writer, I like to make my comments readable AND educational -- I think especally with street photos, sometimes it helps to put them in context, although one does so at one's peril.

 

As to the comment about that my photos 'rock' -- I can only say thank you -- that's better than a string of 7s!

 

I'm very grateful you stopped to comment; please come back and leave more -- nobody thought you were an airhead -- I just got a little didactic there for reasons really unrelated.

 

(I think a lot of the readers of these comments -- and I hear there are a few -- are the type who don't shrink from big words or major ideas. After all, 'street' photography is not always obvious and it often requires more than inconsiderable thought to understand a photo.

 

In fact, as shown in a recent upload -- the next -- often I don't understand what's good or bad about my own photos, though intuitively I can feel it, until someone elucidates this or that point or gives a breakdown of composition or other photographic devices and their feelings/observations about what it means.

 

That's why I love the comments left, and feel each one is a springboard for sharing extra knowledge, whether about the photo, politics, poetry, philosophy, and a host of other disciplines that have worked their way into my comments.

 

And yours was that springboard.

 

Respectfully,

 

John

John,

I went to look at the color version. There is a nice contrast between her white dress and his black sweats, and her blue jacket and his (almost blood) red stripes that you don't get in the B&W. She looks somewhat angelic, full of promise and certainty. He is almost in a fetal position - defensive and unsure. And they look as if they'd had a long, heavy conversation and are now in deep thought. What are they looking at? Makes you wonder.

I prefer the color version. As you said, sometimes a color photo should be a color photo - but aren't we lucky that we have the option to see both versions?

 

In any case, I really enjoy your photographs and your posts. There is much I can learn from both. I will return often as there's so much to see and read. I may even ask for your advice.

 

Have you published any books? If you haven't... you should. The combination of your pictures and words would be one I would gladly own.

 

See you soon.

J-F

I am humbled beyond words . . .

 

John