Photo Me!

Words 'street photographers' both love and dread - 'Photo Me' spoken

in rudimentary English. Taken as I trudged home last night from

shooting 'street' -- practically on my front doorstep. How could I

resist with a look like that? 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. Thansks!

Enjoy! John ;~)

I really like, even 'love' this photo.

Yet has underwhelmed raters, critics (there have been none) and viewers alike, not being at all popular.

But there's something about the 'wildness' of the expressions that to me is 'magic'.

I guess this is one case where I learned something by posting for critique, and while it does not change my personal view of my own photo, it does tell me that it is not so likeable for others as I thought it might be.

I look for expressions on people that are true, given varying situations, and these expressions, to me, are priceless.

(I keep thinking of a particular photo, from long ago, in which a boy is in a car with other teens, and the boy, right is laughing what appears to be maniacally. I had thought the title of that photo was 'Riding in Cars With Boys' and Googled it and found only to connections of a movie of the same name (which I have seen and was a pretty dreary drama about a young teen mother and her offspring . . . and her life's struggle, good but veeery long).

If anybody recognizes that famous photo, taken inside a '50s or '60s car, please let me know where to find it, its photographer and its real name. (I think the description will connect with the photo for anyone who's seen it). A link would be most helpful.

John (Crosley)

I'm surprised too that nobody commented on this picture yet...obviously you know how to catch a moment.

The photo has a very interesting dynamic, the guy at the background clutching on his beer and probably cheering at his mate (I can almost hear him), the girl passing by with her benevolent smile, amused by the scene, probably thinking silly boys and of course our protagonist pulling his "photo face" , angle of this triangle towards whom all eyes converge, and that you absorbe through your lens.

Meanwhile on the left, his mobile phone camera, remains blissfully ignored, as he's found an audience.

Sorry, I could not find the "Riding in cars with boys" photo...

I really like this photo as it catches a moment -- of course, it's quite personal to me because these people are 'in my face' first with an offer of a beer, then the request to 'photo them'.

But to me the expressions are priceless and the whole photo is exactly as you say. In critique this photo seemed to go nowhere, but nevertheless, I find it simply fascinating -- all the expressions. (That's an Aboloney [phonetic spelling] beer in the rightmost guy's arm -- he with the wild face, as the whole nation seems to drink that beer. (It's pronounced similar to the name of the mollusk, but begins, I think, with an 'O' rather than an 'A' but the Russians and Ukrainians have a funny way of not pronouncing 'O's' and 'A's; the way the texts say they should.

Somehow or other, in the dim light of the front porch of this large apartment building, late at night, I managed to capture this moving guy's expression as perfectly as I think possible, and get him in focus too, despite his movement.

That enough is hard to believe, because within a fraction of a second, I was moving rightwards, to escape his close presence and firing my camera all the time . . . so as not to miss the action. (Wonderful thing 'C' drive -- formerly motor drive when there was film).

I was using a high ISO, but not outrageously so, so capturing this scene was something of a feat, and one I am proud of.

But the raters stayed in droves and rated low, and you are the only critique so far, so I guess the message is this photo is simply unpopular . . . and I can live with that.

You and I appreciate it for what it is, but we seem to be alone; I hope you don't mind sharing my 'unpopular' tastes, as I stick with what I like (and almost never withdraw a photo for any reason).

I'll keep looking for that other photo, even if it has a different name and if I can, I'll post it, or a link to it, if it's on the web.

Thanks for taking the trouble to comment, and your research efforts.

John (Crosley)

Or do I?

The next posted photo rated a few 4s and no 5s by time it had 16 rates but with the rest 6s and 7s for a very high rate, and in my view it isn't one-tenth the photo this one is.

Perhaps I need to have the raters screw my head on tighter, or my view of my own photography is just 'upside down'.

I think this is a 'great shot' full of everything I value in photography, whereas the next shot posted in this folder, which ranked a point and a half (or more) higher, had little of that (and I requested somebody contact abuse@photo.net about those high ratings, or perhaps I will -- they're far too high in my experience and view -- but the rates for this photo are as low as those are high).

John (Crosley)

Those ratings that I felt were too high were pulled; they were placed there by a rating program called hereabouts a 'bot' for 'robot.

They artificially raised the rate of that competing photograph unnaturally high, but that still doesn't explain why this photo is so passed over and by so many who have looked at it.

What am I missing?

I like it so much.

It is 'the moment' to me.

To no one (few) else?

John (Crosley)