Loneliness (With Hope)

This is the continuation of an earlier photo, shot on these steps

with the same woman, entitled 'Loneliness'. Here, a man has moved

within 'looking' distance to survey her and this portends 'hope' for

her loneliness, though it is not clear she knows he is there. 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

I really like this photo, and the first one 'loneliness' as well. The only thing I could say is the first photo seems brighter, maybe due to the angle or little more exposure, whereas this one is darker. Would have liked to see light breaking through more on this one instead to help show the 'hope'. Best regards.

She looks away and he looks at her. Her stance is NO and he plays with his fingers saying yes. All the right looks for a small little fight. PERFECT picture!

 

 

LOVE it! ;) ~ micki

Exactly in the rules of thirds!,perhaps would be interesting to create other serie about to give more tension to the same scenery,for example one person in a corner and leaving a big espace empty about the rest of the frame.Take a look to this image in my portfolio to do a idea about my explanation.Thanks in advance and well seen

A beautiful shot, John!

You may be right about 'brightness' but then I just found 'exposure' adjustment in Photoshop CS2, but then there always was contrast/brightness adjustment.

 

I always can accept good criticism and you may be very correct. If ever printed for an exhibition, it may be printed brighter.

 

Thanks for very constructive criticism.

 

John (Crosley)

 

This photo is copyright 2007, all rights reserved, John Crosley.

Welcome back!

 

Yes, they may have the perfect 'attitude' for confrontation, but consider this: she may be entirely unaware of his attention of presence, ergo, no 'fight' at all.

 

If we knew she knew he was there, you are right on, but you are too anticipatory, I think.

 

But your discernment otherwise is 'right on' in viewing the minutiae of this photo.

 

Don't be a stranger when you can avoid it.

 

John (Crosley)

John...I really like this shot.

I think the bleachers are such an added bonus to what seems to be

a disagreement between man and woman.....a not so uncommon thing.

I hope you know them and you have a chance to give them a copy of the shot...it could change their world.....you never know!

J

I just 'love' and well remember your three lines three walls, and understand its relationship to this photo.

 

I did not consciously 'try' for the 'rule of thirds' as I often will use the 'rule of fourths, fifths, sixths, sevenths, and so forth', but it seems I did employ it here, so thanks for the 'heads up'.

 

I like the other photo better; but this works well with it, a sort of successful duality.

 

And your photo is in a class by itself.

 

John (Crosley)

You were influenced by the critique of Micki Ferguson above. It appears that these people did not know each other, and the woman actually had no knowledge of the presence of the man, to her rear.

 

So, no fight, only the 'appearance' of fighting posture, which is speculative.

 

And those are not bleachers, they are stone steps at Paris's La Defense office building complex at the West End of Paris -- a huge complex, mostly uninteresting, except for these steps (which are famous).

 

I had no contact with these people and maybe they were entirely unaware they were the subject(s) of my photographs as these steps are photographed frequently, and sitting on them involves the possibility of being photographed.

 

Thanks for weighing in; I always appreciate a comment and mean no derogation -- feel free to comment again. (By the way, Micki Ferguson's one of the sharpest tacks in the pile, and seldom misses anything about a photo; she should have been a photo analyst for the CIA or some such, she sees so many things in a photo, and for her to 'miss' one is highly unusual, which just mislead you, I think).

 

Don't let it worry you.

 

John (Crosley)

....the crazy thing about it, is that I had not read any of the earlier comments. There are times that I do, this was one of the times that I was all on my own! Always a pleasure John!

Famous you say....would love the opportunity to see them.

J

Paris ?? LA Defense

The perception of this picture is all that matters am I not correct. If she doesn't realize he is there is her decernment not off? I think she does know he is there. On does not sit down with out knowing someone is watching them. You would think.

 

Hmmm, Besides her foot is slightly turned in. That means that she just looked (in my opinion) towards him and then turned away.

 

I wonder.

 

Sorry I have been away. We drove on a small vacation where husband prevented the computer tag along but aloud the kids to of course come. With school being let out I am not entertaining my teenagers. FUN! I am also restoring many of my old photographs so I have lots of work cut out for me. Trying to keep my mind sharp. I will try to look at your other pictures later. :) ~ micki

Yes, these steps are 'famous' in the sense that they are 'photographically' famous.

 

They have been immortalized many times in wonderful photographs, even on this service. I recall seeing them in a recent, highly-rated post, not long ago. There are special side markings from the sides of these steps that make them unforgettable; I have captures of people in relationship to the steps there, also, but why re-invent the wheel?

 

But aside from these steps, there's not much reason to be at La Defense unless you have business in a complex of large office buildings outside the periphery.

 

John (Crosley)

Paris -- La Defense?

 

or is it 'L.A. Defense'

 

Here is a quote from my response to Janis O'Kelley, above:

 

'aside from these steps, there's not much reason to be at La Defense unless you have business in a complex of large office buildings outside the periphery.'

 

It kind of looks like the buildings of downtown L.A. but without the grit and grime; it's a pleasant enough place if you like sterility -- and the opposite of what comprises most of Paris.

I think technically La Defense is within the boundaries of the City of Paris, but little about it is Parisien.

 

You can quote me on that, as far as the culture of La Defense goes, even though it is French Avant-Guard or modern/post-modern in an interesting sort of way, and definitely NOT American (Americans cannot think so clearly or plan so well).

 

And thanks for dropping by; you definitely are a 'street' photographer anyone, especially myself, can look up to with envy; a king of king, God of Gods among street photographers. (recognize those words from Handel's 'Messiah'?)

 

John (Crosley)

How relieved I am to find your absence was from vacation and not some 'other' reason.

 

She might just be pigeon-toed. I didn't look at the other photo for comparison. Did she or didn't she; I'll never know until I look at prior captures for comparison, but they don't show her looking, not by any means, or I'd have converted it also to B&W.

 

Did you know, by the way, if you shoot sRGB in Nikon and shoot NEFs and JPEGs simultaneously and choose B&W as your chosen mode for shooting, you do get JPEGs in B&W but the original NEFs are in color?

 

Good point for all B&W photographer out there who want to shoot and 'see' in B&W but might want to use 'channel mixer' instead of a straight desaturation -- because a red, blue or green needs to be filtered (or added). Good advice for anyone reading this if they are in that situation (not the case in this photo) Applies for certain to D200 and D2X(s).

 

John (Crosley)

Great shot and perfect title.

 

 

bryan

Thanks so much.

 

John (Crosley)

I like both of your shots (Loneliness and Loneliness With Hope).

There is another PN member who has this shot which I find excellent as well.

See http://photo.net/photodb/photo?photo_id=2946094.

BTW, I will come again often and take more time to look at your stunning portfolio. All the best.

Well, I have to say that La Defense shot is similar, very similar, but also very different.

 

That is an example of 'mirroring' and maybe a study in man's regimentation -- both guys dressed similarly looking pretty much alike and in the same direction.

 

Mine does what people tell me I do pretty naturally -- it tells a story.

 

While my figures are seated in pretty much the same position(s) as those in the other photo, mine seem to 'interrelate' which tells a completely different story than that other photo.

 

I do thank you for the reference; it was very good to see another able photographers's good treatment of these not so large but quite famous steps.

 

Not only are they central to a great many able photographers, but they are very clearly symmetrical.

 

I'd also venture the other photographer was farther back and used a longer lens; perspective distortion is more evident in my photo, and I wonder where he was situated, since I was pretty much backed up to a barrier beyond which I had no way to stand or a view of these steps, as I recall.

 

I guess when I go back, I'll find out, but I don't desire too much to go through La Defense region of West Paris much again; it's pretty sterile and far too much like an office park in America, even though it has a few, nice Gallic touches.

 

But these steps are wonderful; they're my first 'step' photos since I was a youth (look earlier in my portfolio for my first - an overhead in what was once the San Francisco Public Library main building -- and the blob is a guy walking down the steps for pretty much an 'abstract'.

 

I had previsualized that photo or something like it for a long time before I took it, and when I found steps with an overhead floor for a viewing point, I leaned over the reail and waited for passersby and got it on the first try, I think, with my trust little Leica IIIc, an extremely hard camera to use.

 

I think one should give Cartier-Bresson extra points for having used a III or IIIc with its minuature viewfinder and its separate focusing window. I am sure he used a 'frame' viewfinder and just stopped down -- one sees very few Cartier-Bresson photos in which 'depth of field' is not pretty deep, indicating a small aperture, plus he often used a 'normal' or slightly side angle lense -- probably a 50 mm and a 35 mm. My Leica had what might have been the world's smallest 35 mm lens -- just a bubble almost but razor sharp. I still have it somewhere I think.

 

Loic, thanks for the compliment; and you are welcome to spend much time browsing here. If you are French you might look for a few photos taken of Paris a few days ago which will appear soon.

 

My best regards.

 

John (Crosley)

A thought provoking image that is cleverly titled. It seems that we as humans are always in search for the other half to make our lives complete. The man's stare feels like a predator stalking at his prey. It might be a split second capture but to me there is an element of aggressiveness here. Maybe these two will interact later on. It would be unexpectedly from her part and purposely from his. By the way, is that a squirrel down below?

The man never approached the woman.

 

We sometimes are isolated even when we are near others, and in our own loneliness, I think is part of what that circumstance means to me.

 

Some people have too much 'consideration' for others -- they are 'shy' by nature, and the aggressive ones are to be found in 'bars' with 'pickup' lines which they troll past inebriated young women.

 

Others just sit at the side and wonder at such people; I probably fit in the latter, but one-on-one, few will leave me. As a 'street photographer' with cameras, I become somewhat of a curiosity and all sorts of people will approach me; an unexpected side effect and a welcome one (usually, although sometimes it's the drunks who come to offer unwanted opinions, etc. as one can imagine.)

 

All-in-all, carrying heavy cameras has a drawback (worn down back and neck for a partially paralyzed guy) (minus) to attracting welcome inquires from all sorts of interesting people who wonder what I'm up to and are curious (plus) (And I often show them my captures and some of them comment later on Photo.net indicating their seeming 'interest' was not feigned).

 

But that's NOT a squirrel below and beside her.

 

See please the related photo which shows it clearly as discarded trash (rubbish).

 

My best to you tonight.

 

John (Crosley)

 

The two make a good line. Maybe it could be lightened to see more detail? Just a thought.

I've actually thought about that, but lightening reveals that the guy is NOT looking at her; he's looking at me.

 

Surprised me, too.

 

Thanks for what would have been a very helpful solution for an issue, but this photo must stay as it is until the 'eye' issue can be resolved -- and I won't 'paint' the eyes a different direction, either.

 

Best.

 

John (Crosley)

John,

Your pic is a story. Every viewer will fill the before and after with their own tale. Aesthetically, the horizontal steps emphasize the distance, like if the subjects were pushed apart, it works perfectly. Great shot.