'No Fare'

This young boy saves the 10 cents for a streetcar fare in a major

Ukrainian metropolis and gets a thrill at the same time by riding on

the coupler of a tram. In Ukraine, this style of riding is known

as 'riding the sausage (the coupler)', a very dangerous sport, now

rarely seen. Your rating and critiques for this newly-desaturated

photo 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 was exploring old hard drives looking for forgotten treasures.

One thing I surely was looking for was the original color version of this before it was 'trimmed' so I could once again 'crop' it and do a little better Photoshop work on it (contrast -- brightness -- minor sharpening only)

This is found in one of my folders, devoted to the four seasons 'one day at a time' in color, but I think it works very well as a Black & White photo, desaturated.

I actually was surprised at how sharp it was, since I only had the PN version to view and couldn't find any version of this on my hard drive. The boy's face is pixel-perfect sharp -- tribute to my 80~200 E.D. (one of my) old Nikkor lenses -- very old, but extremely sharp.

This was a 'grab' shot -- lift, zoom and fire, with one shot before the streetcar went around the next bend, and I think I got it fairly well, though it was moving rapidly away from me.

I am thinking of moving this version into my 'Black and White from Then to Now' folder, because I've never been able to get this particular photo out of my mind. (ask my assistant Anya who's been looking for it . . . for days)

I think it was 'overlooked' when I posted it but did not ask for critique . . . several years ago.

John (Crosley)

This image, here and elsewhere is copyright 2006-2008, John Crosley, all rights reserved, color and black and white.

Wow, the expression on his face is priceless. The way he looks down in that ponder look is just perfect and makes me feel for him in such a way. I wonder if there really is enough room for him to sit on there. What happens when he doesn't have enogh room. It just seems scary. i also love the way all the people in their back have their backs towards him. Also having no other people in the picture is wonderful as he looks alone.

The B&W treatment on this picture is perfect. YEP a winner! ;) ~micki

If you had looked hard enough in my folder, in the four seasons, represented by one day each, he was on one day (I think Summer or Spring, probably Spring, as I remember being in Ukraine then, and there was rain the previous day, which is included within the 24-hour period and I was in Kiev that previous day.

It was a 'grab' shot, with little thought but the most basic given to composition, and the streetcar rushing away, so I 'grabbed' more than is shown here, but on the left there were automobiles (no people) and a little on the right was empty space -- nothing much missing there, and to the top, more buildings in the distance and more wires overhead -- all that cropped out -- about 1/8th of the photo to make it more 'concentrated' on the subject, which is the 'streetcar',the 'streetcar within its milieu' as it turns a corner (banked) and this lone streetcar 'sausage rider' 'riding the sausage (coupler).

I was taught this phrase by a man I had met and saw again a few weeks ago, and reminded him of that.

Apparently 'riding the sausage' is an age-old tradition. I bet kids in Hells Kitchen in NYC would have done that if they had streetcars or before the advent of the subway and probably in countless other American metropolises before the advent of the 'horseless carriage' when there were streetcars (trams) everywhere, this probably was common.

Couplers (the sausage) were necessary so that either end of the streetcar could be hooked up to another; in this city only two ever are hooked together, but who knows about nighttime storage?

And if you're stuck hooking them at one end and that's perpetually the 'middle' where the two coaches join, all sorts of logistical problems develop if a car goes out of service, when you have to join another car (coach) to the affair -- such as how would you maneuver such a vehicle in a way as to bring its sole 'sausage' end to the center on a single track, without a circular or semi-circular track or a 'Y' track somewhere to turn the darn thing around.

So they put two couplers on each tram -- one on each end, even though it's certain one will be 'free' for kids like this.

And such coaches weren't just build for Dnepropetrovsk, but for the whole Soviet Union, I'll bet, and 'one size fit all' under Joe Stalin's schema -- it was cheaper to catapult the peasantry out from serfdom that way.

By the way, Brezhnev, (or was it Khrushchev?) made an allotment of money to build a Metro for Dnepropetrovsk, and there are mysterious 'works' in the middle of giant Karl Marks Street' but nary a light nor a sound emanating from its two locations -- sort of a giant mystery that I'll bet leads to some mammoth tunnels that are not being (or hardly being) worked.

Kiev has a first class Metro, a knockoff of the Moscow Metro, which is the world's most efficient and 'glorious' if you happen to like 'Stalinist architecture', which I don't, with its giant ornamentation, but it's still pretty impressive in Moscow (and likewise in Kiev), with spacious underground stations and trains that race along on a regular schedule, much faster and more frequently than New York's subways, with a clock at the end of each station's track indicating how long it's been since the last train departed, so one can be prepared for the next, soon to follow.

(In Moscow, it's seldom more than 2 or 3 minutes on any line between trains at almost any hour, unless there's been a mishap along the way, and then the trains will come all bunched up and everybody will jam onto the first train, forgetting that the next trains immediately behind (by no more than two to six minutes for several) will be increasingly empty.

But Dnepropetrovsk is where Brezhnev was born, a fact he sought to keep secret, and he purposely ridiculed the Ukrainian people as yokels, as though he were a patrician Russian-born Soviet, though he was Ukrainian and knew the Ukrainian language as well as its Slavic cousin, Russian, because, to head the Soviet Union, one really had to be Russian, he reasoned, even if that meant putting down one's own Ukrainian heritage.

So, to get around in Dnepropetrovsk, there are three main methods of transit: (1) the tram which goes only a few places, is slow, but is plenty cheap -- however stopping points are often several blocks (quartos) apart -- which can mean a trudge home from where you got off, even if the tram passes in front of your home: (2) taxis, which are plentiful and negotiable, and will charge an American 50% more if hailed on the street, and most Americans cannot speak the Russian necessary to dial a radio taxi up, which charges a very low charge by the kilometer -- often one-half to one-third what a 'hailed' taxi will charge; and (3) one of the most efficient of all methods of transportation which is common in Russia as well as Ukraine, but very common in Dnepropetrovsk -- the mashootka -- generally a 12-passenger or 15-passenger van which has a freelance driver who has a route number which he follows in his windshield, and the driver cruises alone near the curb, stopping for anyone who hails the mashootka, and letting people off block by block as they request along the route -- real service, but for a surcharge that to an American seems like chicken feed -- less than the cost of a a daily US newspaper for a mashootka ride -- sometimes both ways for that price, depending on the newspaper (but no transfers).

Oh, and I forgot, there is also a 'bus' system, apparently privately owned, infrequent, generally yellow, and sort of 'abbreviated' buses, called 'bagdans' meaning literally 'from God' which on a rainy day you'll be thanking if one stops to pick you up. Less expensive than the cheap mashootkas, the bagdans travel almost the same routes, or sometimes the same routes, but at lower cost.

Fare collecting in bagdans and mashootkas is informal. You'll be sitting up front, and someone will say something in Russian or Ukrainian to you and hand you some bills. If you think you dropped something, you'll do like I absentmindedly did recently and put the money in your pocket thinking you dropped it (Ukrainians often return dropped money).

I was very red-faced because I KNEW I was supposed to hand the money forward to the driver of the mashootka through the next passenger forward. Some mashootkas are from Germany or Holland and haven't even been repainted, and still bear the business names of the owners from those countries -- it's strange to see Dutch or German names and writing in a Slavic city like Dnepropetrovsk.

Almsot all mashootkas are Mercedes, because they are expected to work nonstop seemingly forever and Mercedes vehicles are ideal for the pot-holed streets of Dnepropetrovsk as they seldom break, and their diesel engines are easy to work on overnight.

But no matter how cheap things are, money is very scarce in Dnepropetrovsk, and a little kid on a tram has to contend with a conductor who is very efficient at getting fares paid . . . so this kid just decided to have an adventure.

He might have fallen off, and probably no one but mom and pop would have cared much -- life's precious for relatives but for others -- well that's their problem.

There is insurance for some things, such as stolen cars, but rumor has it that it's like other insurances elsewhere--the same company the 'No Pay, Stick It In Your Ear' insurance company, only more immune from suits in its Ukrainian incarnation -- or so a former interpreter told me (complete with illustrating stories).

So, there you have it, soup to nuts, and why this particular thrill seeker was avoiding a 10-cent fare.

I have only one other time or twice seen such hangers on as this -- one time I photographed TWO boys sharing a 'sausage' such as this, but the power went down, and streetcars stopped as there was a collision with an auto ahead, shutting down the line and the boys were 'one foot off and one foot on' (Diddle Diddle Dumpling . . . and all that), and I couldn't get a good enough shot (or hope to get a new one) because of shrubbery/trees that interfered.

And I already had this shot, which was always a winner in my book.

I like that this boy's body, arms and legs are twisted into an 'S' curve, don't you?

(There: more than you ever wanted to know about transportation in this Ukrainian city, but it has lessons for the rest of Ukraine, and even Russia, also, since some things are 'universal', such as mashootkas.)

Ain't that a great name: 'mashootka'?

Thanks for giving me a diving board from which to plunge in

John (Crosley)

There was a time when I wanted to show my disdain for the tyranny of the rating system and had plenty of (scads of) good enough photos, with some really good ones, and I didn't want to separate them, so I posted them in groups of color photos. This photo, saturated (colored) was one of them.

I have desaturated it because I always wanted to, and thought it belonged in this particular folder, with my best black and white work. I always have loved this particular shot. Some photos I feel 'so-so' or even less about, but not this one -- this one's a keeper.

And in the last two years, I haven't seen a kid on a 'sausage' in Dnepropetrovsk, despite many trips and even living there, since that particular year. . . . so it may be a photo of a now bygone era.

Best wishes and thanks.

John (Crosley)

You could get lost...

I'm sure even you have missed many of them yourself while posting them without getting them rated.

I am pretty much aware of where all the photos in my portfolio are and what are the good ones and which are just 'so-so'.

That 'eye' and 'sense' have been helped greatly by my many selfless and helpful critiques who often see more in my photography than I see myself - symmetries, figures, human emotions, forms, etc., and you're one of the better at some of that.

I have a pretty good eye and sense for recognizing the good ones now especially that people like you have trained me, but I have a newfound appreciation of black and white, and that comes from desaturating some of my more recent color shots that would not make it as color or that were just as good or better as color as black and white, and had such good composition as 'street' photos that they simply could not be overlooked.

Now I've posted about 25 or so such photos in a row that have been very strong, and that I'm proud of in my 'B&W From Then to Now', folder, and there are a couple of older ones I'd delete, if I did that sort of thing, but I don't 'trim' portfolios -- it keeps me humble®.

I'm tending more toward straight 'street' shooting these days, but I just posted a 'scenic' shot and have some more that are too good not to post, so who's to know what I'll post next.

If I had to post 'the best of the best' it would include also the woman in the yellow rain slicker holding the bowling ball in driving rain -- which has an inordinate number of views, simply because it may be puzzling to viewers, and I don't think it's ever been rated, but the views are 20,000 or so greater than its neighbor photos, as well as one or two from my Eiffel Tower series, a photo or two from my Nevada series, and several from my Travelin' Man and Seasons series as well as my Tatttoo Guy panel of four (I'd choose just one, a hard choice).

Yes, I could trim a lot, but then people would not get a true flavor of ALL that goes in to my photography or appreciate how rare the good ones are.

I just started copying downloads and the copy program told me it was copying 166,000 photos, so if those were all the photos I took in three years (not true), and I have posted 1,000 photos, that would mean I post one in 166 photos, although now I post much more than that per 100 (sometimes) and occasionally, when shooting birds or sea otter, I'll shoot 1,000 and not post one (so I guess it evens out).

And if you look at my best work, it's maybe 300 or 400 photos, so that maybe means that I think my best work is one of every 300 photos, just based on raw statistics, although I have many I haven't posted, (and many, many more to take -- even three good ones in my camera I'll download tonight I took today).

Raw statistics do give a pretty good idea, however, of the 'averages' but I'm not sure if the raw (nef) plus JPEGs are getting counted twice -- two times for each 'capture' as I take both 'raw' (NEFs -- Nikon Electronic Format) + jpegs simultaneously. I work with jpegs generally if they don't require much 'work' -- and the 'raw' files if they have severe problems with exposure/color/brightness, etc., and need severe adjustments although it eats up much disk storage space (and compact flash space too, but I'm shooting 16 very high speed 8-gig cards right now) plus other, smaller compact flash cards, also high speed, but I'm unsure if my software is counting them twice, or not.

I'm not about to conduct a test, either. . . . I'd rather shoot photos.

About 'hidden' photos -- there are many 'hidden' on hard drives that may be worthy that I haven't looked at or edited whose worth surely makes them worthy of being posted, as I often will take from a download only a photo I'm looking for, and not even view the others, some of which may be simply 'great', but I may also ignore them. I've posted a few of the 'forgotten wonders' recently to good reception. I'm pretty happy (and amazed) when I find 'em, thinking 'what was I doing, passing 'that one' over at the time.

Life is like that sometimes . . .

I now know why Gary Winogrand took thousands and thousands of rolls of film but didn't even like to look at them for years afterward and died with tens of thousands of rolls unreviewed and thousands of rolls even undeveloped -- not out of laziness, but out of wanting to see his captures afresh. It took his ex-wife and John Szarkowski of N.Y.'s Museum of Modern Art to curate Winogrand's collection of photos, so they could be published posthumously -- Swarkowski having been taken by Winogand's apparently 'offhand' but visually 'tight' vision of 'his world' on film and Winogrand has been named 'the photographer of the second half of the 20th century', at least for street by many.

I was practicing law and doing other things while he started while I was in grammar school and worked up until I was in the middle of my law practice or later.

I've only been taking photos for 3-1/3 years this iteration, so I hope God grants me plenty of time to record life and establish myself -- and possibly to get published, and not only once.

I always miss your comments when I don't see one for a while.

Szarkowski has been retired for 15 years and is taking photos actively at 80 and exhibiting them, also, as well as having authored a recent book of his photography - is there anybody out there 'discovering' photographers -- let alone on PN of all places (the last place one would look, I presume.)?

How big is 166,000 photos -- well with a high-speed microprocessor - dual-core, and two 7,200 rpm hard drives, copying one to another -- just those files and not another terabyte I have to copy, will take, the computer tells me 'one day and four hours' and it's almost always right.

I'll be copying photos to back them up until he*l freezes over . . . I think and in the scorching west (I'm in California now) that looks like a long time acoming. (but back to Ukraine by mid-week, new passport in hand - my main reason for returning -- what a hellish experience with telephones that don't answer at passport service, no service unless traveling within 14 days, no one who will answer phones to make appointments despite days and days of calling, an 'automated appointment system that says 'there are no appointments available' for those traveling within 14 days, and finally a passport office staff who said 'we don't really think you're a citizen for sure -- prove it at a cost of $600, ruining my Third, Fourth and Fifth of July, only to have them find my Photo.net photos and pronounce how wonderful a photographer I was and reverse their rudeness and sullenness present at my first trip to their window (minus the $600 I spent) -- (and only after I got the aid of a willing Congressman who opened all the right doors -- thanks Sam Farr, M.C. and staff, who 'made a phone call' on my behalf, and whose staff was surprised 'surprised at that request and observation, since I had prior passports, identification, etc., that I had to go to Oregon to get a birth certificate. . . . only to be told that the Congressman's office was assured one was not necessary. (I think they reminded the passsport office of that, which is why the jolliness when I returned the fifth of July, birth certificate in hand and was escorted first in line, my 'application' and 'approved' on the spot with wide smiles, my photography complimented [they viewed it there on their computer(s)], and told to come back in 3 hours for my new passport -- which was 2-1/2 hours late -- at 8:30 p.m. after 3 days of no sleep just to get birth certificate(s).

But no passport, no travel and for the most part I live in Ukraine.

And what is strange is how all of a sudden, everything was 'sweetness and light after very rude treatment at first -- and how my photography was complimented so much. . . . .

(A while ago I pissed off a guy at Homeland Security -- a West Coast Chief Honcho, by filing a complaint that almost cost him his job (at a former agency that now has been abolished (along with his personel file no doubt and then folded into Homeland Security), and I wonder if he's put the 'hex' on me and my files - making sure that I get 'bad treatment' because I made waves with the Justice Department Inspector General for his actions which I viewed as grossly improper and interfering with my marriage. . . . . (yes, it's true -- this guy, from out of the area was calling my house for my wife, and later I met him personally and the first thing he did was call the FBI in my presence and make it very, very conspicuous that was what he was doing . . . . and very intimidating. She said she 'had an affair' with him . . . and she had 'immigration business before him . . . an immigration chief . . . and when I met him, she just tap, tap, tapped on his door and he said 'Maria, is that you' and she said yes, he said 'wait a minute' and then he came in. Would anyone else in the world be able to go to an immigratin regional chief's office and tap on their door and gain entrance, especially when that person lives outside of that immigration chief's district? I daresay no and that's what the complaint was about. Was there an 'affair'? Who knows? She had brain cancer and was sometimes fanciful and trying to 'punish' me for 'causing' her brain cancer, but he had no business in California -- he was in the Northwest and out of his jurisdiction.)

I wish I had a phone in my desk to the FBI to request files on people.

(Well, what kind of dirt do we have on Micki Ferguson? . . . or her husband . . . maybe from all those extensive security clearances -- my wife had suffered from frontal-parietal brain cancer, and was spewing all sorts of misinformation 'blaming me' and 'trying to punish me' through the government for 'causing' her brain cancer (which sounds foolish I know, but she still clings to that idea, but won't articulate it to anyone but me because she knows it's unpopular and medically they say it's imposssible to her and lecture her about

Another outstanding capture. You are becoming one my favorites on this site...maybe alltime. I enjoy your photos and passion for your work. Your is camera is great. Thanks for sharing your world and sites with all of us.

bryan

When I first started posting -- even now -- I was not wildly popular.

However for a certain subset I seem to capture the imagination with my never ending, varied captures.

You have paid me the ultimate compliment, and that means I must work all the harder to ensure I live up to it (and still have a ball doing so.).

Thanks for making my day.

John (Crosley)

"even now -- I was not wildly popular."

Popular doesn't equal great.

I will show "some" people some photos I took, they fire thru them so fast. They say good shots, etc. They didn't look, study or care(really). Some do look, study and care. Those, are real.

"You have paid me the ultimate compliment, and that means I must work all the harder to ensure I live up to it (and still have a ball doing so.).

Thanks for making my day."

You are welcome, and thanks for your hard work.

bR

I've got more to upload, but haven't got a computer tied to the Internet with my files on it.

When I do, I have at least one outrageous photo to post.

One that has people saying 'it that really a real photo?' and of course it is.

Thanks for letting me know.

John (Crosley)

(and ain't it the truth)

..might be better, John, but by feeling of content(s)..

yes.

This was a crop of a scene I have seen twice in my life.

It was both far away and getting farther away when I spied it.

I took up my zoom tele and took the photo, then cropped a bit.

I just love it, because of the punctuation shape of the boy's body, if you get my meaning.

Thanks for the affirmation.

John (Crosley)