Dead Drunk, or Drunk, then Dead?

I seldom violate the convention against 'level horizons', but sometimes when the subject and composition call for it, it seems that tilting the horizon can enhance a photo -- by calling into attention and the viewer's awareness that in some ways the world just is not 'all right' and sometimes the 'rules' about proper 'viewing' are not as perceived by one's subjects.

 

In some ways, tilting the horizon can add benefits by showing that the world is more 'upside down' or akimbo than we always would like it to be, and that's one of the reasons here it is not level (relating to your recent comment about the 'conventions' of photography and why you don't feel they always must be obeyed).

 

I feel the same way; evidence the above posting.

 

Rules have a purpose, but one must analyze why and what that purpose is, and in appropriate circumstances, when called for, one should violate those 'rules' when the result of their purpose is not desired.

 

Your highly literate and intelligent comments are taken with great seriousness here (but not without a sense of humor too).

 

John (Crosley)

The caption on this 'street' photo adequately explains the viewer's

and photographer's dilemma in evaluating this scene. Although this

is not a 'pretty' photo in what it depicts, please keep in mind that

aesthetics includes not just beauty, but also impact. 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 find the image a little difficult to decipher. Is that a figure in the top left corner? It's hard to tell and this ambiguity gives me no focal point to gain a visual perspective on what is happening. I can appreciate the message you are trying to impart but I'm afraid for me it does not work.

This is a photograph that is partly about subject and partly about composition.

 

It is meant to be a mystery; just for the reason I didn't poke that man at the top to find out if this was blood at my feet, or just spilled alcohol or other drink. (Police were nearby, behind me in fact, and they had decided not to intervene, and I was in a foreign land, where my actions may be watched closely and getting involved in 'criticism' or even as a witness to a tragic event may ultimately impair my freedom to make captures of this sort.)

 

In part, this is a photo about just the ambiguity you felt that didn't 'make it work' for you.

 

A figure in the distance, dark, and fluid running across the stonework to your feet is ultimately undecipherable and full of ambiguity.

 

Do you investigate, approach closer, look at the fluid to find if it's blood and there was a stabbing or shooting, (with the able police behind you whose job is to do just that?), or do you look at it as a photograph composition with a 'strong diagonal' -- a hidden chance to make art from another part of society . . . one that many people would keep hidden, but it's there, right in the city center, at around midnight.

 

So, if it doesn't work for you, it may be a sign of its success! Ironically!

 

If this photo mystifies you, maybe you get it; this is a photo about 'life not *working out*'.

 

I think you did get it.

 

John (Crosley)0

This is also a photo about composition, especially the value of a strong diagonal.

 

Notice that from the side of the foundtain to the fluid at my feet, this photo is bisected by one very long diagonal, composed of two different elements.

 

When one has a little time (and not much since I feared police intervention for making their city look decrepit), one can transform almost any possible image into something compositinally more worthwhile just by paying attention to little details (here the strong diagonal).

 

Or maybe I'm wrong.

 

I see that diagonal as drawing the viewers' eye both to the right corner and up to the top where the 'body' lies (and the continuation of the diagonal is not where the 'eye' goes, I think, but it does make the photo more 'dynamic'.

 

Sometimes I take as a goal, how to take a semi-interesting subject and try to present it compositinoally in its best light (or worst as the case may be.)

 

I am always seeking to improve my skills.

 

Your comment helps.

 

John (Crosley)

John, my guess is Dead Drunk, but not literally dead. It looks like he got very drunk, found this bench to sit down on, ultimately passed out and then wet himself. Looking at your other photos as well as your bio, I'm surprised to read in this posting that you were actually scared off by the police.

 

This photo is both interesting as well as disgusting. Not only is the trail of fluid bothersome, but the trash can in close proximity, the cigarette butts scattered about and the question posed gives me, the viewer, a taste of a place that I'm glad not to be a part of. I can smell the stench in the air.

 

I find real strength in this photo, and as you point out, plenty of mystery. If this were the scene of a death, the three dark silhouettes in the uppermost left corner become dark angels. They appear to be standing by, waiting for the event to be complete, as his blood trails away. A last ditch effort to escape his fate.

Many times people find more in my photos than I can see when I take them, and that's one reason I love to post them for critique, as many are loaded with clues to their understanding. Micki F. for instance, a critique and member, can see some things in my photos that I never would see, yet she seldom makes either a mistake or a wrong analysis; for instance, in a photo of a cigar(illo) smoking black man in Las Vegas, she correctly identified some of his personal characteristics by noting he was lighting a previously extinguished smoke -- that kind of analysis is most revealing and when posted adds immeasurably to my knowledge of my own photos.

 

I am generally not scared (off) by police, but in foreign countries, where I am both known and a guest, my privilege to walk around and take photos might be curtailed if I were identified solely as a 'critic' of that country's scenery, politics, people, attitudes, etc.

 

I try my best to keep it neutral.

 

Besides, this particular place is the site of some of my most wonderful photos, just at this particular night it was pretty gruesome. Most of the time it's the city's main meeting area, and when I show up, the scooter riders and drivers holler my name and there is much beer drinking and frivolity . . . while during the daytime or early to mid evening this is the place where people meet. It's depicted in many of my photos without the negative associations you get from this, but if the police, who are a known quantity to many local residents and who know me by sight particularly, take a dislike to what they see as my mission, they can make things extremely tough for me, when in fact, I am quite an advocate of their city and people.

 

So, scared off may be too strong a word -- this is not the United States and people don't instinctively dial for police if there's trouble as they view the cops differently than we do here in the United States (please do not comment on this, as I won't be elaborating).

 

And there has been a time or two when I yelled 'militia' loudly as someone seemed threatening -- and that may scare them off more than anything -- the cops in this city, with relation to crowds, generally are pretty gentle compared to how unruly people might be treated in the United States in many cities, but they are thorough and brook no dissent.

 

And I have never seen police force other than called for, but the local paper photographer did show me some photos from a demonstration/rally last Saturday night that involved some pushing and grabbing by cops, but it seemed that it may have been justified, but I could not tell . . . the newspaper people seemed to be critical of the cops, but they have never done anything more than 'casually' talk to me, asking 'why' I was taking photos, and my answer 'I'm an amateur, and I'm documenting life in your city, especially on the street, because that's where people (here) spend much of their lives'

 

That's unlike America where people are stuck inside houses, workplaces and autos nearly all the time and when they go shopping photographing is prohibited, eliminating a large segment of captures from possibility.

 

That's one reason to go abroad, but another reason (to avoid such hesitancy) is to keep changing countries, so a possible threat is not a deterrent. Remember, in some countries they shoot journalists, but I am not a journalist -- however, I might be mistaken for one . . . and the consequences might be my life.

 

Things in G.B. and the United States and other Western Societies are a little different from the rest of the world, and one is wise to know local mores before one starts taking 'critical' shots (and be sure to note that a 'critical' shot is a one-off affair, and not part of a 'mission' to make them look bad, as I'm doing here, as people in that country look at my photos with some regularity, at least by the number of requests for my 'web site' I get.

 

And, is it blood, urine, alcohol or something else. I think it's alcoholic beverage from a smashed or dropped container, personally, and when the person passed out, that it spilled and went trickling slowly across this otherwise city-center and very nice and mellow plaza.

 

(this is NOT propaganda, but merely setting this scene in perspective. You would probably feel wonderful if you visited this particular place earlier that evening . . . and the only wonder is the cops didn't pick this person up at all, as they would have in the U.S. or G.B.)

 

It's all in your perspective.

 

As to the 'dark angels' in the background, that is wonderful and interesting analysis/speculation and most welcome and enriches understanding of this photo.

 

The real wonder, rather than the grimness of this particular instance, is that I can walk in this area with two Nikon D2Xs or 2 D200s with large and expensive lenses and never feel threatened . . . try that in Oakland, California or other places in the San Francisco Bay area where the murder rate is quite high . . . and murders often can be anonymous, such as for driving in a particular neighborhood and being seen by one group (gang) as an outsider, or wearing the wrong color in another neighborhood, or simply experiencing 'drive-by' violence.

 

That doesn't happen in this particular city, so safety again, is a relative thing, and this is where I prefer to walk.

 

It's often dark and shadowy and almost all buildings have entrances that would appear to be slums to most Americans, but real, mostly honest people live in these places and if there are shadowy figures under the moonlight on a dark street, chances are they are not after you but going home after visiting their girlfriend, etc., and there just are no streetlights or they're turned off after a certain hour, and houses can't afford electricity to spotlight their outsides. For all that, these people do pretty well.

 

Alcoholism, though is an endemic problem, which I might write about more in the future, and probably this guy is a passed out alcoholic. Medications are available somewhat but expensive, and alcohol in the former Soviet Union is the 'poor man's tranquilizer and pain killer', and until modern drugs are affordable to all, one should be careful to criticize their heavy use of alcohol. (In this particular town I had to have 8 pharmacies called just to get Ibuprofen a year ago, but these days it may readily be available. Other, more sophisticated drugs are often readily available, but so high priced they cannot be bought easily, even if drug manufacturers charge less for them there than in the United States (where I am right now).

 

So, as Roseanne Roseannadanna said: 'It's Always Something', isn't it?

 

Here, that something is the mystery of the particular moment the shutter was released, captured and enshrined forever.

 

John (Crosley)

 

 

Of course you know the first thing I did was to hold my computer up and correct the horizon to see if that would make the slope of the liquid any different. It did but that I will get to later. So, the question is DEAD DRUNK, and the then DEAD. HmmmmOh, DEAD DRUNK. I also think he peed himself. Ever thought of that? See, the liquid is very thin and I know BLOOD would be much thicker so it is NOT blood (unless you hit some major vein and it was flowing really fast. It would also have to have a lot bigger slope. WELL, after tipping my computer I noticed it is not that big of slope and so the item that was spilled would have to be fairly thin and like water. Alcohol would also be considered but I don't see a container next to that major area that is spilled but then he could have moved it. This really looks like the consistency of either very thin alcohol or urine. Just my guess.

I think it was a good idea that you didn't get to close and a great picture. It reminds me of a time when I was 22 and went to Mexico and saw a injured bleeding man and nobody would help him. I wanted to but everyone said NO don't touch him and I felt helpless. Even the police walked by this poor man who was obviously a beggar on the street who was bleeding and possibly could have had AIDS. It was a very hard lesson for me.

Wonderful capture as always, and no you really don't need to see his body or face as the trail of liquid is the focus. ~ micki

The train of liquid is the focus -- always was meant to be, and the 'subject' was the mystery that surrounds its origins.

 

However, there was a smashed bottle somewhere near the guy, but then, for fun, youths sometimes smash bottles. The services that clean -- little old ladies with broom corns, are pretty good about cleaning up each night, so the place is pretty spick and span, each new day.

 

So, it's anybody's guess, alcohol or urine, (maybe blood, since it glistened, but the police probably would then have moved in, since they were observing (me as well as him).

 

And I do have good relations because I am seen as pretty neutral and fair, and many of the townpeople have very good relations with me, so moving against me in particular would be very unpopular (and I tell the truth -- the same story, to all who inquire -- I'm an amateur photographer who is documenting this town and using its people, who live on the street, as my subjects, as well as in other cities and countries around the world. It works well for me, so far, and I am not harrassed, though sometimes I am a 'fixture' and the police are not highly regarded by the citizens. But I have absolutely no problem with them/nor they me.

 

You are spot on as always with your superb observational powers.

 

John (Crosley)

I do not watch TV. We do not have cable nor have any way of getting channels on or TV only DVD's. I think it is a waste of time. I think that because of this I am able to look at a picture like this and really see it for what it is.

 

I think that we are in a society now where everything is to fast paced and not soaked up like it should be.

 

I do find it funny the contrast between your folder and mine. Except for the pictures I do of myself I am so full of color, humor and life. LOTS of color and yours are serious and full of wonder and intrigue. I am drawn to them. It was something I was just pondering about while sorting out my folders. Strange, isn't it. The only time I see where my serious side coming out is in the pictures I take of myself. Someday if I get a "real" camera I might be able to capture something like this. For now I put them all in the back of my mind and save them and remember how and what you did.

 

It is not all about color as blood does not always need to be red to have an impact. ~ micki

You'll find plenty of humour in my photos too; you just have to search a little bit.

 

Have a browse, and you'll find plenty, I think.

 

I can be VERY serious, but I have a very puckish sense of humour, also, and sometimes it can almost get out of hand.

 

I'll be uploading something with some humor in the near future, and remind you to look in the past for two photos: one with a man and child being followed by a school of salmon ('don't look back, I think we're being followed') and that of a woman with a walker in front of a McDonald's drive-through sign, one signaling the woman's ultimate dilemma.

 

And more are to come.

 

And remember the photo of the 'Alien' behind the couple on the Paris metro . . .

 

Just a little puckish.

 

Even the tumbling woman on the Paris metro recently . . . struck me as being pretty humorous . . . far from serious and very entertaining.

 

A little blood balances it all out, I think.

 

John (Crosley)

I like the composition of this, the tilted horizon and the leading line that the liquid forms. It has a very "noir" kind of feel to it, a little mysterious, a little dark (in terms of mood). Right place, right time, well done.

Noir - all intentional, of course -- a Philip Marlowe kind of look, or Raymond Chandler -- anything '40s noir.

 

All that's needed is a private detective telling about how 'this broad kicked me in the groin, then that guy hit me over the head with a sap, and the lights went out. . . . and I awakened in an alley and the sun was beating down on me . . . . the setting sun . . . my mouth was dry . . . and I didn't even know what day it was . . . . my tongue was swollen from thirst . . . while my head was throbbing at the base where that sap hit me . . . . I groaned lowly as I slowly arose on wobbly legs, my knees almost giving out on me, and bracing myself with my aching right hand, the one I defended myself with . . . . .(fill in the rest yourself and win an Oscar)(or a Razzie)'

 

Noir.

 

Right on.

 

John (Crosley)