'On the Metropolitan' (Paris Metro)

Many people have heard of the Paris 'Metro' -- its subway system, but

fewer know its full name is the 'Metropolitan', and it is called by

its nickname. This is one scene from the Metro one night, at a Left

Bank Paris Metro station. Your good faith 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 picture tells a story and I love the compostion of it as well as the vivid color. You captured the moment beautifully.

Composition is everything in this photo; almost sure to be a loser with the raters, as it's more 'still life' than 'street' almost, although there is a live human figure as well as a photographically immortalized one. This one also is strong in black and white, but is overall redness and reddish tints and cast in the advertising photo, compared with the chairs (such as they are) compelled me to post it in color. This is just another of my numerous Paris Metro photos, which I hope will be a lifelong project.

 

As so often in my photographs, this one contains 'contrasts' but the 'story' is less obvious -- I didn't feel, in light of the composition, necessary to 'hit anyone over the head' with a strong story.

 

The Metropolitan can make for amazing shooting, as scenes construct and deconstruct with each passing train; best shooting often is at night (who knows in the underground, anyway?)with sufficient time between trains and often on weekend evenings. (hint to those who want to try this.)

 

Thank you for you kind remark.

 

John (Crosley)

You are so right about the composition of this, but It just struck me, when looking at this, just how many millions of moments we spend in life just waiting around for ------ whatever! I'm sure it looks great in black and white as well, but I'm glad you put this out in color - the red is very eye catching -- Again, excellent capture.

This is a 'peaceful' composition and you correctly have focused on its 'subject' which is waiting and doing so in a compositionally pleasing way.

 

Sure NOT to be a winner with raters, it was just too good to pass up.

 

I don't mind putting my 'lesser work' up for rating and critique, not everyone can appreciate what it is I do and I don't always produce winners.

 

Also, street photographs notorously do NOT do well on this forum which is why many great street photographers have abandoned it.

 

I stay on, because ratings are not so important to me. I have a 'body of work' here on exhibition, and that's important.

 

Like me or hate me; these photos are 'what I do' in the art world.

 

Best,

 

John (Crosley)

Another nice photo within a photo, John, but no parallels on this one as on the other.

 

--Lannie

 

 

Thanks,

 

And I DO understand the difference.

 

Of course I take LOTs of photos within photos.

 

Some have 'meaning' and others are just there for compositional effect, as here.

 

See also my composition 'Red, Rushing' with a modern art/abstraction painting in the Metro, all red, with a man carrying a red shopping bag rushing past ina blur, for just such a photo, if you will.

 

John (Crosley)

Thanks, John. Speaking of trusting one's own judgment, it doesn't always work with me: check out my "Boring Rejects" folder.

 

--Lannie

I have one or two terabytes of rejected photos.

 

I refuse to use the 'delete' button on my camera, unless autofocus didn't work, or there was an accidental shutter trip (or I'm running out of flash card space and it's critical and I have no backup available).

 

It is meant to keep me humble, as well as provide material should I ever decide to give seminars on 'street' photography, to illustrate not only the 'process' of how a day, hour, week, etc., of a 'street' photographer develops (excuse the expression, now, it's dated), but also to show the low 'yield' of such shots for the number of attempts . . . which is legendary and the legend holds true in my case.

 

But it's not the number of failures that counts, it's only the successes. Period.

 

Just don't show your failures to anyone.

 

It's almost my first post under my portfolio, in advice to an Australian fan/critic, who asked my advice on 'street'. Take as many as you can, post the best, keep your failures but don't show them to anyone. Keep those failure and learn from them (I do).

 

You don't learn if you don't see and assimilate the lessons from your 'mistakes' or wrong judgments or even your failure properly to anticipate.

 

I love keeping my failures (even if the airlines hate my carrying around terabyte (or two) hard drives, because they look like auto batteries in x-ray machines, and auto batteries are full of corrosives, which can eat the wires out of airplanes if they seep into the fuselage, causing a future crash, and so rightly are banned.

 

So, I get inspected for 'batteries' at every x-ray checkpoint (and for the handcuffs I carry in carry-on *don't ask -- it's a shared joke with my assistant who has a truly wicked sense of humor and is truly a 'tease' about *things official* -- I'm neither kinky nor a cop.)

 

John (Crosley)