'Aliens Among Us'

For those who are convinced Aliens are already among us, why not on

subway posters -- after all, they might be able to transform

themselves in various ways? Photo: Paris Metro. 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

Ths photo, however rated, is my wit at its most droll.

 

I note wide disparity already after 5 ratings, with 3/3 to 6/7.

 

I know who I think has rated it correctly, but then photos have no 'correct' rating, it's all in the eye of the beholder, and some may not 'see' what this photo is all about, or may resent the joke about 'aliens' and think the aliens among us are getting a 'bad rap' by my droll humor, because, maybe their next door neighbor is one, they are convinced their neighbor or their boss already is a space alien -- they are sure of it, and they are convinced that if only we all had guns, we could kill the space aliens among us.

 

John ;~))

 

 

This photo, composed of three 'heads' or 'faces' is bound to end up in my 'Threes' Presentation. Why not have a look; it's a work in progress.

 

It also will end up in my 'Presentation' 'Photographers: Watch Your Background' also a work in progress, which suffers from lack of my ability to edit it, due to PN software failures.

 

John (Crosley)

Love it! Great composition and very original! Three's indeed!! :)

This one just delighted my puckish sense of humor.

 

And of course, like with film cameras of older times (gads), I couldn't review my capture until quite a bit later, when I got off the Metro, there in Paris.

 

I was quite excited when I did, however.

 

I pity the poor French, so frightened about claims of privacy that they cannot follow their muses and pursue the street photography pioneered by their own: Robert Doisneau, Henri Cartier-Bresson, and pursued by the famous Magnum Group, Group VII, headquartered in France, etc.

 

Quelle domage (what a pity)

 

France is a treasure trove still of wonderful 'steet photographs' and most of the people have no compunction about being photographed, nor do the police get upset (except at Gare de l'Est' where they're down on a photographer like a hawk, photographers beware -- they have different rules there, apparently than in all the rest of Paris -- and interpret 'Operation Vigipirate' quite differently there.)

 

(Please tell me how this photo undermines the securite of la France . . . prithee and opens the way for terrorism.) Cartier-Bresson must be turning over in his grave at the actions of present day authorities (or he'd just be still hiding his Leicas under handkerchiefs and table napkins (serviettes).

 

Paul Louis, thanks for your succinct endorsement.

 

John (Crosley)

Haha... the eyes! Very good!

yes....excellent!!!

I keep looking, I keep laughing...oh my, what a treasure! Just now noticing the "alien" on the poster as having human hands. :) John, photos like this certainly are excellent reminders that we all need to slow down and focus more on things/people around us. Never know what you might see. Bravo! -Tammy

Yes, the eyes . . . I could hardly believe it when I looked at what I'd captured.

 

Beyond my imagination.

 

It makes up for all the wonderful ones in my mind that came out spoiled.

 

It's actually a study in three sets of different glances, isn't it, with the alien having the all-knowing look?

 

John (Crosley)

Thanks for the recognition. Sometimes my better photos languish, but fortunately this one will not.

 

Gracias.

 

John (Crosley)

Now imagine I just stepped onto this Metro car from the the door behind me from the last stop or the present stop, saw the possibilities, moved towards this couple, glanced down to make sure my focus was proper and immediately took a photo (camera up to my eyes, not blindly) and one or the other implores me 'did you take my photo?) with a look, to which I point, (as though that decided the issue) to the poster behind, as though I were only taking a photo of the poster behind, and not the trio of them.

 

It's just such feints, that allow a street photographer to lead his life relatively unhindered and to keep his nose unbroken. The motion was taken to mean 'I only took the photo of the alien behind, when in actuality it meant 'the alien behind was the reason I took a photo of you and the alien' but since words were not used, there was an ambiguity' which is resolved in favor of art.

 

Such things happen when one is snapping a shutter, sometimes, -- one has to have feints, like a basketball player who is caught fouling and points to himself and makes gestures that say 'who me? NOT ME! say the gestures' so the referee must be absolutely sure before he/she calls a foul the next time. The rule on the street is don't give up, and if you have to give up, show them your capture and try to engage them (or if they're irate, just turn around and focus on something new as though they don't even exist and never did).

 

They're nothing in your apparent view if they object and your attitude is 'why are these people upset and trying to make a fuss, my lens is pointed way over there, and soon they tire and to away, or I quickly turn and go away. People are too lazy to follow and make a big stink.

 

In any case, these two would be quite happy, I think, to have the fame of being part of such a wonderful composition. They'd just have to see it and consider it first -- something there's no time for on a crowded Metro.

 

Yes, that's a human hand, not a cartoon hand, it's got four finger and a thumb. Mickey Mouse et al., are missing a digit., and it's a Photoshop job (good eye).

 

You're certainly a photo sleuth.

 

John (Crosley)

Hello, John,

 

Never seen a poster like that in Paris and I used RER quite a lot.

 

Cheers,

Konstantin

 

 

This was taken two months ago, as the poster should indicate (Nov. 2006), and if you missed it, would you have noticed?

 

It's relatively innocuous, but then again when I'm hunting for a photo, I miss relatively little. Maybe it just escaped your perusal.

 

 

Also, this is the Metropolitan, not the RER, and as I understand the difference, the RER is the rapid interurban trains, which connect to the Metropolitan, though one ticket under some circumstances will interconnect, and under others, will not.

 

For instance, the RER goes to Orly and Charles de Gaulle, Roissy, but the Metro does not, and also has rubber tires (solid rubber?) which makes for quite peaceful, silent operation, unlike New York's noisy, screechy counterpart.

 

Maybe you have your trains mixed up. Or I do.

 

But then again, who cares?

 

With respect, and all in fun,

 

John (Crosley)

The one I took daily was from Saint-Germain-en-Laye down to Charles de Gaulle one stop past La Defense if memory doesn't fail me. That's RER, you are right, John.

 

Back then, I almost never took any pictures (2000-2003)and sported Oly AZ200 35 film box. For a month's duration I thought 2-3 Kodak rolls had been enough. What a joke..

 

Cheers,

Konstantin

That film is an hour's worth of digital shooting for me, with just one of my two (or three) cameras.

 

Yes, with digital shooting, opportunities seem to 'crop' up, if you'll excuse the expression.

 

I know my Parisian trains, and also the reclamen -- the advertisements -- they change periodically and they're time-related. They're up for a short time generally, then they come down, or they're seasonal. Little chance you would ever have seen this particular one, as it was for something that was very time-specific.

 

John (Crosley)

Hi!

Nice one, I remember when you shew me this one on the screen of one of your cameras ;) ( La Motte Piquet, winter )

You have really great photos, I watch your gallery often !

Btw I saw one of these ads a month ago, but i hadn't any camera with me!

Well at last i signed up here.

 

Alex

 

www.flickr.com/photos/alexbrpires

Welcome to Photo.net. You are testament to something I write about frequently; that I often show a particularly interesting shot to total strangers (obviously I gave you my name and where to find me on the Internet -- just Google it).

 

I am glad you remembered it, and even more satisfied that you took the time to say 'hello' and give me a link to your work.

 

Although photographing on the Metro officially is forbidden, nobody, even les flics, ever really objects to this old guy with his two heavy cameras as I move in and out of the often-crowded trains . . . (notice this was crowded AND also was timed to include the passing train, background -- a small touch, stemming from my obsession from 'watching one's background' to increase interest in photos.

 

I saw the original 'strip' from which these photos were taken the other day, and in all subsequent photos, this couple was smiling after they realized I'd photographed them (not realizing the alien behind them . . . which is another reason you NEVER ask a candid group 'can I take your photograph' --- because they become unnatural. Metro riders NEVER smile unless they're with a group -- they put on their blank faces to keep their own privacy while jammed against others, as here.

 

Bonne chance mon ami, et merci beaucoup

 

John (Crosley

thanks for the advice

;)

currently I am back on streets, and I love it!

E-mail me when you'll be back in Paris.

alex

 

Thanks for responding.

 

In November there is a big photo expo at the Carousel du Louvre (Louvre annex); and I may attend.

 

Look for my presence somewhere about that time if I'm not 'busy' elsewhere.

 

John (Crosley)