Mirroring II

'Mirroring' is the technique I call of finding repetition within a

phtograph -- here, a woman 'working' on her eyes. Taken on the Paris

Metro, above ground near Cambronne. 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 photographic knowledge to help improve my photography.

Thanks! Enjoy! John

This is a wonderful work!

I saw this photo/mural/poster and saw this woman and then wondered - 'What if she would start working on her eyes -- and she then started working on her makeup and her contact lenses?' Imagine that.

 

She did exactly that, and at length, so I got several shots before the next train took her away.

 

Thank you so much, Steve.

 

It's one of my finest, yet easiest works, with several versions -- this being the most felicitous.

 

John (Crosley)

 

Image Copyright 2007, All Rights Reserved, John Crosley

To whom this photo is dedicated: Without their help this photo might not be presented, or any subsequent foreign photo in the near future.

 

John (Crosley)

This photo is destined for my Presentation on the subject of 'Threes' in my photography -- for reasons that should be obvious on a study of the photo -- there are 'three' planes to this photo, with the three figures (one repeated) being faced three different ways, for an interesting complexity.

 

The woman, fiddling with her eyes, makeup (maquillage), right is looking down and right, the woman in the center is looking away from us and we see her only by her back which is away from us, but we know her through her front which is 'mirrored' to us, and through that we know both her back view and front view have her fiddling with her eyes -- glasses.

 

A most complex little photo, if you analyze it -- on three planes, if you will, on a par with the photo of Anya, my assistant, looking rightward at the couple behind her (in a mirror at that) kissing, while a rear-most woman also mirrors Anya, in her look at the very young kissing couple -- also three planes.

 

So, not only are their three 'planes' but three figures in this photo, all mirroring the same motion, on those three planes, to go that previous photo one better.

 

(Also dedicated to Dennis Aubrey, who has provided invaluable personal/professional advice.)

 

John (Crosley)

This photo was not sharpened -- however I did use Photoshop CS2's shadow/highlight tool on it to bring exposures within acceptable levels and to bring the shadow face of the woman -- rightmost 'up' a little and suppress the superwhite poster a little.

 

Those actually don't count as 'manipulation' according to my reading of the rules, but if they do, I have completely explained it.

 

John (Crosley)

Dear John, your street work is so good, simply amazing. this one is no exception. I only recently stumbled over your work, and I'm sure, I will spend some time there in the neyr future. thank you for sharing, fr.

A lot of 'work' goess into what may seem like 'effortless' shots, like this, but indeed when one sees a scene like this, it is as though a team of horses couldn't hold me back -- it seems almost effortless then, no matter how badly my back, neck and arms hurt, same with my feet and knees and other bodily parts.

 

The pain just seems to disappear as I 'focus' in more ways than one. I am constantly scanning when I have a camera, which is all the time.

 

I hope for comments like yours -- in fact live for them.

 

I hope to publish one day to share these beyond the Photo.net fishbowl.

 

Thanks for noticing.

 

John (Crosley)

 

Fine stuff as always, John. The kind of work that many attempt but few do successfully.

A telling comment: 'as always'

 

I never thought I'd hear those two words in a comment.

 

I figured from time to time I'd get praise for this or that photo, but 'as always' is high praise indeed.

 

It indicates to me that I've reached a certain level of skill; I'm proud of that -- it kind of snuck up on me, but when I was in Paris taking wonderful shot after wonderful shot and 'in the zone' I was aware it was there.

 

And now, for the first time, I know I can go anywhere with my cameras and have a good chance at taking wonderful photos -- literally anywhere.

 

That means a trip to the grocery store or pharmacy or a stroll down the street.

 

As well as more exotic places, especially when 'I'm in the zone' as above and in my other photos, taken in Paris as well as those taken in Las Vegas and in Ukraine or even a few miles away at Elkhorn Slough among the birds and sea otters. (With the seagulls doing 'death watch' around a grizzled and dying old sea otter).

 

What a pleasure being in this 'place' (the zone) is.

 

Thanks for noticing.

 

And the fine feedback.

 

(You made my day.)

 

(I had a terrible day -- made worse by 'The German Airlines' people, in whose hands one is hardly in good care, at least in San Francisco, where they treat their customers like dirt. They don't even acknowlege questions asked to them, let alone civilly, for one of the worst customer experiences I've ever encountered. In other stations, they can be very nice and very accommodating, but photographers beware of 'the German Airlines' in San Francisco.)

 

(Don't ask!)

 

John (Crosley)

One look at the poster photo suggests it has been expurgated.

 

This is a woman taking a photo of herself for an exhibition of self portraits, and if one looks at her image, rear, it is clothed with straps over the shoulders.

 

Yet, if one looks at her back, middle plane, there are no straps over her shoulders and even some sort of stripe arrangement at the front of her neck, barely visible.

 

That suggests one of two things: (1) in her self portrait, she was supporting some sort of paper or stiff clothing-like apparatus designed to look like she was dressed, but in fact she was not dressed, or (2) her self-portrait was in fact 'nude' but for purposes of exposition on the Paris Metro, and perhaps at the exhibition itself, she was 'dressed' using Photoshop or other means -- maybe even just 'cut and paste' to make her more 'presentable' -- hardly the French way at all.

 

Look at it and tell me what you think.

 

She is NOT fixing her makeup, but touching her glasses with her right hand and that's a remote shutter release in her left hand.

 

But nevertheless, it's three planes of images of women touching the corners of their eyes -- a rare find and a rare capture, anyway.

 

But is this poster photo a mystery to you as it is to me?

 

Is it in fact, expurgated?

 

John (Crosley)

Looks like 3 layers even there is only two, the real life and their miroring.... nicely done John.

1 photo does two layers, and a third layer makes 'three'.

 

I like this very much; though the raters seemed to have passed it over (as of when I first wrote this, though now it's getting quite a bit of critical acclaim.)

 

This is as good as it gets for me; I'm very proud of this one. I 'saw it coming', 'awaited it' and 'sure enough, it came' -- the woman sitting there, fiddling with her contacts/eye makeup.

 

Again, the Photo Gods have smiled on me, making up for those terabytes of failed photos.

 

Thanks for the helpful feedback, Pnina.

 

John (Crosley)

Love reading your comments as much as the photos :-)

 

Why did you leave as much space in on the right? Is it you wanted to show the border so it was clear the background is a photo? I think bringing out the benches could do that as well, it would allow a small bit more cropping on the right. Why? Can't explain, just feels right (grinning).

 

'as always' from me as well

 

Regards,

Marko

Great shot.

A shot is a world. It isn't necessary clean the world. It isn't necessary clean the shot.

I'm glad you enjoy reading about the shots; I recently was 'mocked' for doing just that, but the positive feedback overwhelms the negative feedback about 3,000 to 1 (or 2).

 

The subject of 'cropping in the camera (which is where this is cropped) is an interesting one. Sometimes it is dictated by nothing other than that my glasses are in the way, or dangling so that I can't see clearly, and I'm scanning the viewfinder from left to right, not able to see the whole G**dam* thing at once, even in a big viewfinder like a Nikon D200 or a Nikon D2X(s).

 

Other times, the wind can blow so hard my eyes tear form, and the same thing happens, or my hair will blow in my eyes, or a tag or camera strap will be in the way, all twisted (I sometimes have an airline tag on my camera strap and it occcasionally can interfere).

 

But I look for balance, and the essence of this was to show that it was a photo behind her, not to pretend she is in a real scene with a real (giant) woman's back at her side.

 

Hence showing a border of the poster photo, left, and for her, showing the border at her right.

 

I didn't want you to be able to 'read' the matters written on her right as that would be distracting, so I cropped out the greater, readable part of the text, just leaving in enough to leave a border around her so she's not jammed against the side of the photo -- and of course for balance.

 

Good question and I hope a good answer.

 

Of course, I want people to know it's a 'found' shot; not an attempt at recreating a 'real' scene. It's richer that way, I think.

 

I don't try to 'fool' people but rather impress them with the vagaries of how real life fits into fantasy or 'unreal life' when one observes carefully -- an ability I have to a practically unfathomable degree at present, and how I got it, nobody will ever know, because I don't, except I just observe very closely.

 

(Read all my comments and you'll have a pretty good idea of how to develop that skill yourself it you hanker for it, as I don't keep secrets like some photoshoppers on the service. . . . . ;~))

 

And thanks for the endorsement 'as always'. It warms my heart's cockles.

 

John (Crosley)

Thanks for the 'great shot' commentary. I treasure it, as I do this photo (and several others like it).

 

In fact, I labored a while about which photo to post. This appeared the best.

 

There was some shadow/highlight applied to the woman's face to bring out the 'shadow' of her face, and 'highlight filter to the billboard, as it was too light, for just about an even presentation, but other choices might have been made for balance.

 

The important thing is that, however unclean or imperfect, none of that interferes with the 'message' or the 'composition' of the photo.

 

With a big smile (from your comment and also from looking again at this 'wonderful' photo -- I like it a whole lot, in part because I 'anticipated' it even before she started working on her eyes, thinking 'what if . . . and then she did, and out came the mascara and the work on the eyes. . . . can you imagine the good fortune?'

 

John (Crosley)

I have been posting some very good (in my opinion) work in this folder, lately, but this is 'particularly well seen' in my view and immediately attracts me as unusual and unlikely to have been seen by another photographer . . . but not only did I see it, but I anticipated it. . . . I actually 'felt' it coming. . . . if one can imagine that.

 

I am getting a 'sixth' or 'seventh' sense about such things . . . . a certain knowledge about human behavior -- sometimes, which often fails me, but when it strikes, it is being 'in the groove' and is an amazing feeling.

 

And since fixing her 'eyes' took a while, there are several variations on this before the next metro train came along, some with others present, some not.

 

John (Crosley)

This photo has 17 comments (including mine) as of today, but only nine ratings, despite being one of my finer and better 'seen' photos.

 

Although a fair number of comments are mine in reply, this number of comments usually indicates a photo that will show up on my highest-rated list with 11 ratings minimum, but not this one . . . so far.

 

Perhaps that's because this was a 'midnight posting' or posted at some other inconvenient time when there just weren't many viewers, and probably on a weekend (as I seem to recall, but then my memory is imperfect -- in any case, there were few members 'signed on' when I posted it, and I am regretting posting it at that time . . . just for lack of ratings . . . not for size of ratings, but just for their sheer number, as more people click on 'highest-rated' photos than others, just for convenience, thinking they'll see better 'stuff' -- a reasonable assumption that can be sometimes very misleading.

 

If anyone feels strongly enough to 'rate' this photo, and not just to satisfy me, but because the photo genuinely is rate-worthy and deserves to be seen by others, then an honest rating, high or low, is welcome.

 

It will result in higher viewership if the ratings numbers break 11, which I hope . . . regardless of the 'size' of the rating number.

 

I am proud of this photo and want it to be 'seen' by the greatest number of viewers, of course, and its being on the highest-rated pages helps viewership.

 

(I often post at very inconvenient times, sometimes in the early hours of Sunday, before anyone has awakened, and usually just say nothing about ratings size or number of ratings, but I feel this photo is 'special' -- a personal feeling perhaps -- and the low number of ratings is payback for posting at inconvenient times, I think, and also may represent the lower esteem in which 'street' and 'black and white' photos are held on this service in general, or perhaps this photo is harder to understand than I believe (I can be myopic about my own photography and welcome good faith critiques.)

 

John (Crosley)

I liked it because you took the picture of the girl doing her contact and the mural behind her and I absolutely love the picture of the girl taking a picture of herself and studied in tremendously.

 

I read the comments and I can't remember if I rated it or not without making a comment as sometimes I do that when I don't have time to comment or feel that a picture is good but I don't think I can comment on it given the nudity of the picture (my rule for the sake of internet search and such).

 

The picture of the mural in itself is amazing and I absolutely love her hand as you can tell that she sat there for a LONG time holding that silly clicker to "pretend" she was taking a picture of herself. Her wrist is so thin it makes me almost concerned but that is another story.

 

Why did I not comment? Partly because at this time I was sick. I had a seizure that day as I recall and my head was not all there. It is the way my life works. It is funny because I remember that week very vividly by the pictures I looked at as I posted a picture for IVANA that I was working on yet I do not remember doing it. It is the one I am smiling at. I did a whole picture and do not remember doing it. HAD a seizure and woke up the next day and it was done (almost) and it was on my computer.

 

So, I remember this picture yet don't remember if I commented on it or not.

 

Funny how that works.

 

Maybe that is why I like reflectios so much is I am searching so hard to look and see what is making me tick inside!

 

The GREAT thing is my last really bad seizure was the one back in March. YEAH!

 

As always, I enjoy all your pictures and I could sit here forever but nobody else is going to sweep the dog hair off the floors. ~ micki

 

It doesn't get much better than this, John.

 

--Lannie

I agree completely.

 

I'm the photographer, and despite few ratings (and about 20 comments), I feel this is one of my best works (surreptitious as it is).

 

I also know how to take a compliment from one of Photo.net's guiding lights.

 

Thanks.

 

I learned how to take a compliment almost or over 10 years ago from my first meeting with Russian women, who, because of bank failures, hyperinflation, change of governments, etc., were searching for American husbands, and I was then looking for a wife/companion. (I found several of remarkable beauty).

 

Me to Russian woman, then in Moscow: 'You are fabulously beautiful'

 

A. 'Yes, I know, thank you.'

 

No false modesty.

 

Compliment acknowledged in three words, and accepted, graciously in another two words.

 

None of this stuff that an American woman of similar beauty might have given you:

 

'Oh, well, I'm attractive, I suppose, but my nose is (insert choice: too big, too little, looks bad from the left, right, center) is badly complected, is too wide, or thousands of other derogatory remarks intended to show humility but in fact which derogate the compliment and make a 'liar' or poor judge out of the man giving the compliment. Such conduct is endemic among many American women of great beauty, and the ones who don't make such comments often are the very ones who should promptly deny they have any aspirations at all to beauty, as the only reason one would give 'those women' a compliment is to (1) get a salary increase, (2) get an easement across their land (if they're a neighbor holding land rights, (3) get into bed with them (among other things) -- in other words, the very unattractive ones who have a completely wrong view of their supposed 'beauty'.

 

A Russian/Ukrainian woman is quite objective about her beauty and beauty abounds.

 

In fact, it is common currency and inflated at that -- there is so much, it does not 'spend' well -- everybody has a little and very many have a 'lot'.

 

Women who are young grow 'old' quickly, so they spend the attributes of their beauty at an early age when it still is spendable, and then when they have their man (and the children society here expects them to have in their early '20s after an early '20s marriage, -- no later), they fend off the other pretty young women who would steal their man (if he's worth anything at all and doesn't drink himself into a stupor and is a good provider, which is pretty rare), for such women of great beauty and greater youth abound and many aren't above targeting a man of much greater age and 'stealing' him from his wife/girlfriend, etc., after seeing he can 'provide' -e.g., has a 'machine' (car), good quartiers (apartment, flat or house), a good job (basic salary is often enough).

 

I'm well past my prime and overweight and I date a model who pronounces she 'loves' me quite unabashedly -- she's 26 and I'm probably older than you, Lannie, and certainly old enough to 'know better' but then she gets very many advantages from the relationship and I judge her 'love' is quite real for reasons that I think I could explain to anyone, but not on this site.

 

(and not for reasons of greed or intended green card -- I haven't bought her one present and won't ever marry her - so she won't get a green card from me, and knows it, and she's head over heels in love with me. I could almost be her grandfather).

 

That's accepted here.

 

And women here not only know how to take a compliment, they know how to treat a man, mostly.

 

I've had nearly or more than 30 models, many of them nude models in my flat this past three weeks.

 

Not once have I gone into the toilet to find the toilet seat 'down'. Anyone, including my model friend, my Russian assistant, and each of my guests (unbidden), quietly lifts the seat when they're done with 'business' so I can have a slightly easier 'experience' next time I go to the restroom . . . .

 

I hardly even realized it until I wrote this.

 

American women write tracts about 'cold seats at night'.

 

They are divorcing at a record rate.

 

Russian/Ukrainian women also divorce at a record rate, but mostly because their man is ill-equipped to provide, often is a bad husband, and many succumb to drink -- beer is so common the cops just kick the empties across the police barriers at events. Smashing of beer bottles on a summer night is a common sound, and vodka appears too expense except for the really hard core alcoholics while 'recreational drinking' is what almost everybody else does.

 

If you refuse a ceremonial drink or five here or in Russia in a home where as a guest you'll be offered vodka, they think you're 'crazy'. There are nursery rhymes about drunks.

 

I'm not quite but nearly a teetotaler, and have high currency with women who've had bad experience with drunks . . . who realize my status.

 

And I can be clever . . . which also brings me high status.

 

In fact, just being from the USA brings me high status. Ukrainians and Russians despite the Russian leaders' leanings currently) are in love with the USA and everything about it, especially its perceived (wealth).

 

For me, they see my expensive cameras, which I carry everywhere. I'm never bothered by thieves (where, they know, would a fence unload such cameras . . . and the militia would know exactly where they came from . . . . it's bad bet all around, as I'm held in high regard wherever I go in Ukraine as I make friends easily with my photos and my digital back as my ambassador.

 

So, why this discourse.

 

I know how to take a compliment.

 

I learned it.

 

I once was of the school of 'well, I would have earned that compliment but for . . . ' the false modesty school.

 

I have earned my lesson well.

 

And, also learning from Russian/Ukrainian women who age quickly, I have learned that this photo is the best of that day, but what about my next photo, or the other photographer's best of another day?

 

Somebody else better will sneak up on me and I'll be history.

 

I gotta keep moving and posting or somebody will turn out to be so much better than I at 'street'.

 

It drives me.

 

Also, I have a lot of fun at it and make tons of friends doing it.

 

Which is the real reason for it all.

 

I truly love what I'm doing.

 

It's the best recreation in my world.

 

It keeps me up all hours and gets me out of my sickbed when sick.

 

It drives my thoughts and even my dreams.

 

(taking the next perfect photo).

 

This is one of them.

 

(Now I'll go look to see if you've rated this).

 

Thanks for your extended stay in my portfolio; you have greatly honored me.

 

John (Crosley)