SECURITY

Testing the 3/3 network to make sure it is up and running.

This is a strangely moving shot, Dave. Terrific.

Thanks. I have a lot of trouble taking images of people. I'm practicing. Thanks for your support on this one.

A stark shot. Well done. Was this a guerilla street shot ("I am the Viet Cong. Die Amerikan swine!) or did you ask his permission?

Just yesterday Fred Goldsmith chastised me for lack of involvement with my humanoid subjects, and now you are going to force me to confess I took this while driving and stopped at a light. Couldn't help it. I had just been sitting there observing his movements, and the light didn't change, so I picked up the old camera and one snap later the light changes and our interaction was terminated, probably forever. Such are the vagaries of life, no?

Blame the victim. It's his own fault for providing you with a photo-worthy scene. The trouble with asking is that everyone tries to look attractive and all you get are forced grins and tense shoulders. You and Jack share a skill in operating in a photographic underground that is stealthy and seeks reality.

 

This chap shows a complicated biography on his face. It is entirely possible that no one has taken his picture in awhile and now you've given him permanence.

 

I like this photo. Too bad the 3/3's aren't awake to enjoy it. Perhaps they're getting treatment for repetitive stress injuries to their index fingers.

Thanks for putting such a good spin on it. And I'm shocked to find the 3/3 s did not overwhelm the ratings. I really hadn't looked, but fully expected that it would not rise above four on average. Either those guys were asleep or I'm a damn poor judge of ratings. (Most likely both) I know at some point I'll get pissed off and hold off putting pics up for rates, but at least for now, I put them up and I don't bitch about the rates. Doesn't mean I don't look, and don't hurt, but I'm trying to move on from that being a major concern.

this one is brilliant David! i love all of the grids here. the layers of chain link, the mesh bench, the concrete, the plaid shirt. even his face is marked with a grid of worry lines. 7/7

Thanks so much. I think you overrate it, but I'm pleased to receive such praise. Incidentally, my favorite part to the image is the hands bathed in the light.

the image is real nice David...one of these BW with lots of feeling...the guy is in the shadow and light behind provide depth...his expression evokes hard time so really suited for BW....

 

about the network up and running...I amost put all my coffe down....:-)...let's be serious for a moment Dave...

The sign says "security" I see lonely. And then again maybe that is what he was after....some time alone. Nice b/w work and I too like his hands.

Might even be nice with a close crop and focused on his hands.

J

Thanks to both of you for looking and commenting. I've been pleasantly surprised at the approval ratings. It really was unexpected.

As you do with your shots of old buildings, you captured a story here, in that moment you were stopped at the light. Its a story we have clues about, but will likely never truly know. What you see in those old buildings is a little piece of human history. You find interest and wonder in the lives of those who inhabited those spaces. Here there is that same interest and wonder in the life of the man who inhabits this body. The picture is different, but the photographer is the same.

Nice work.

I really appreciate what you are saying, but I know I need to find a way to try and get more involved with these subjects. Not everyone of course, but I need to get to where I am comfortable enough with some that I can take those nice portraits like you do, with folks that seem relaxed and pleased that you are taking their image. You've done many like that. Having said that, I still have an image in my mind of your photo of that old guy walking down the street after having collected the mail. It is to this day one of my all time favorites. And that was just a candid shot without him knowing it. So I guess that proves there is room for both techniques.

You sure are a quick study. This is swell progress, in my opinion, over your previous two recent people shots. What works so well? This is clearly a David Meyer in that your composition seems like the only way to have shot it. Simply put, it just feels so right. You seem to have such a great and spontaneous gut instinct for what to capture in your frame and for what elements will tell a story that you want to tell. The man, himself, is a compelling figure. The fence, the sign, the vacant lot behind him, the grid of the bench he sits on, the angled dark shape that leads out from under his feet. I think you've got an image here that relates the man as subject to his background and it is effective at locating him and has the potential to give him an environment in which his mood and countenance can thrive. If I were going to offer you a challenge, it would be to consider whether you could take this photo further. I wonder if there still couldn't be more of a connection between you and this man and, therefore, between me and this man. I was thinking of you when viewing Jeff Long's recent submission of the couple lounging by the water, backs to the photographer, enjoying the scenery of a decaying building before them. I am struck by what a good connection Jeff accomplished there, even though he was clandestine as the photographer and we weren't even seeing their faces. I think that was done by providing a feeling of sympathetic connection. He allowed us to put ourselves in their places and experience what they were experiencing. We all had an instinctual sense of what that situation felt like to them. In your photograph, the man's hands seem to be catching light in such a way that they become quite meaningful and a focus of attention. Yet they still struggle to reach me. How important is the man, himself, in this photo? What exactly do you want his role to be in relationship to all the other elements? Is he there as the sign is there, as the bench is there? Is he more?

When I was in grade school I was chosen to wear a badge strapped to my arm that read "Safety Patrol". My tasks were to watch the playground during recess and to issue citations to any of the other schoolchildren who were in violation of the school's playground rules. In the two years that I held that job I probably only issued two citations. "Security and Safety are only as good as those who are tasked with its enforcement." I was the wrong person for that job.

 

Based on the tools I see this person has available I'd be willing to bet that the trespassers, mother-rapers and father-stabbers are having free reign of this corner of the yard. You got a very good drive-by-shooting of the situation and I'm glad that you did not get caught in the act of doing so. Otherwise I'd be forced to issue you a citation...

Remember that Walker Evans took those haunting portraits in Alabama, and a bunch of hidden camera shots on the NY subway. There is room for both.

 

Also keep in mind that I live in a small town and most of my portraits are of people who know me, at least superficially. That does make it easier.

Amazing portrait. Love the composition, the DOF and the BW tones...Hands posture is the icing on the cake. Great work!

 

Thanks again. I'm much indebted for your efforts.