The Triad

'The Triad' is part 'street', part abstraction' or better yet,

part 'surreal'. Your ratings and critiques are invited and most

welcome. If you rate harshly or very critically, please submit a

helpful and constructive comment/please share your superior

knowledge to help improve my photography. Thanks! Enjoy! John

I think this young man is a security guard (see the chain around his neck that holds his 'credentials') who came to me to tell me (in Russian which I didn't understand, at least all the words . . . heh heh heh) that I couldn't take photos in this brand new multi-store building -- a three or four-story affair which was more than a year abuilding in central Dnepropetrovsk -- its most modern and European affair -- and named 'Europe' or similar.

 

The irony is that I was only in the building to buy a pair of shoelaces because one shoe wouldn't stay on, my shoelace on one shoe having broken, and the manufacturer of this expensive brand of shoes has an outlet in this building, an unusual happenstance in Ukraine where there are few imported goods for men (there are many expensive imported fashions for women, but few buyers).

 

So, he came to me, as I wandered through this building's stores, cameras around my neck, not really thinking I would take any photos, since it all looked so 'homogenized' and not of the general character of this rather poor city, and he stood in front of me then attempted to speak to me to 'forbid' photos. He scratched his head at the language difficulty.

 

So, I raised my camera and demonstrated what it was he was trying to 'forbid' --- you mean 'like this?' and took this photo.

 

'Da' he said.

 

That is the genesis of this photo.

 

Enjoy this photo (and the story, I hope.)

 

I am having the last laugh, and I hope you are too.

 

John (Crosley)

 

;-))

The above story doesn't mean that as I saw this man heading toward me that I didn't move toward the 'background' that I'd spotted and manage to maneuver to have him stand between me and the 'background', so that when the moment arose I could just raise my camera and take his photo, and he apparently was none the wiser.

 

The 'security' staff at this particular building, even thinks they can 'ban' photography of their building from the block-wide pedestrian mall in front of their building, and in general are most officious, so if i seem a little mean-spirited, above, you only have to consider the circumstances.

 

These guys stand in front of the building, as though they were really police, not rent-a-cops, and dream up ways to harass people, especially anyone with a large camera, though anyone with a camera phone or a point-and-shoot is free to take photos of their friends inside the building (or for that matter, the store displays or anything else, as those cameras are not deemed a 'threat' -- which is an inherent hypocrisy, since size of camera means little -- if I were 'spying' on them, I'd just use a small camera and bring some erstwhile 'family' with me for disguise, and they'd be none the wiser).

 

The 'security' guys are so 'afraid' of . . . (well, they don't know what, but they're afraid of something because anyone who has one or two large cameras who comes close to their large modern building must . . . must . . . must be 'dealt with' because . . . in their weak minds that person must be 'up to no good'.

 

And I just went in truthfully to buy shoelaces.

 

Frankly, it's a sterile place, mostly devoid of photo potential -- far too Westernized for the effort of even raising camera to eye -- a place completely lacking in 'character' -- one of the things that brings me to that particular city in Ukraine -- character.

 

John (Crosley)

There may be some symmetry or other significance in the placement of the various arms/number of arms in this photo.

 

Anybody care to comment?

 

John (Crosley)

 

I like this juxtaposition of reality-guy with the larger fixed image behind. The two arms that are parallel (one from the guard and the guy in the BG) give dynamism...Funny also the contrast between the BG characters that have a very strong attitude (either having fun or standing solid like the girl) and the uncertain and almost shy attitude of the guard (eyes and arm expression give the impression he doesn't know what to do)....it's impossible to know from the photo that it was a guard but since you tell it I think it's even more funny because normaly he shoud be the character in the photo with a strong attitude....a street shot that I like...thanks for sharing.

Thanks Laurent . . . there's another point specific to the arms and placement . . . anybody notice it?

 

Nice, well thought out critique.

 

John (Crosley)

The woman, left, has both hands in her pocket, the security guard (or store clerk) foreground, has one hand on his forehead (tentatively), the black man, jumping and active, has two arms upraised.

 

It's a circle of arm activity, from two in the pocket, one upraised to two upraised and around; a sort of symmetry that I saw subliminally and I'm certain that caused me to choose that particular moment to raise my camera and shoot then and not some other moment (I remember the moment well, but not the particular feelings and reasonings except I know I HAD to photograph this guy when he had his arm upraised . . . it seemed imperative, or there was NO PHOTO).

 

It's interesting to me how an upraised arm and a timid expression can make or unmake a photo like this, and how one arm upraised can complete a sort of symmetry or make a 'chain' of symmetry.

 

John (Crosley)

...thanks for the detailed explanation. There is dynamics in this photo I did not understand at first sight...but looking at it, I appreciate it more and more...regards.

You actually explained a 'dynamic' I wasn't able to articulate so well; I had been fixated on the arms, and you didn't articulate that, but you hit on another point I should have been prepared better to explain to myself.

 

It just goes to show the value of a good critique; thank you.

 

It's a subtle kind of photo; it does not 'hit you over the head' with its minor compositional complexity, but it's more complex than just three static figures.

 

I hadn't seen it for two months or so -- my hard drive was crashed, and while I await restoration of my hard drive, I had taken all my chips from that period and used a recovery program to 'rescue' all the images from my flash cards (it's possible -- deleting or reformatting only destroys the file structure, not the image itself unless it's overwritten, so philandering spouses beware), and lo and behold, when I got around to looking at the deleted photos that were 'restored' there was this TIFF file, and I said to myself 'whoa, this is pretty good', I remembered taking it and the almost forgotten circumstances, and stopped everything to post it.

 

John (Crosley)