Relaxation (Mirrored)

This cafeteria cashier seems to mirror in her pose the pose of the

Coca Cola (Norman Rockwell) fisherman on the calendar, left.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This cafeteria cashier relaxes, and her relaxation mirrors that of

the Norman Rockwell poster/calendar on the wall, upper left (note:

the cafeteria tray line naturally goes 'down' here, so the 'horizon'

is level. 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

Life imitates art and we too often find that through our daily lives. It is moments like this that I wish I had a camera with me and the courage to be bold enough to go for it. I am slowly learning to overcome my "shyness" in that respect. I hate it when people give me that "stupid tourist" or "stalker" look. But that is their problem and not mine. There is a sense of order evident here through the neat arrangement of the details. The bottles of drinks, pile of napkins, layout of candies and what appears to be some sort of controls above the woman against the wall. The only thing that I would have done personally is to crop out that bit of a frame sticking out on the left side. It's a little past 6:45. Were you having breakfast or dinner? Might be kind of early for dinner if that is in Europe.

And this is a Turkish food cafeteria, pretty cheap but hearty food, (not highly spiced) in Kyiv, the Midwest of Europe and Central Europe. People eat any time, but few eat late. In fact, at a high class restaurant, Jewish I might add, in this town of Dnipropetrovsk, with a population of over 1.1 million, after I've eaten my pork chops (yes, pork chops are a speciality in this Jewish restaurant! -- we're Ashkenazy, they explain, and not Conservative), at about 10:00 they flick the light once and after five minutes all but the exit lights go on.

 

They literally chase you out the door, and it's a restaurant with a fine mood, but if they want to go home, no lingering, Italian style or French style over the last diners who refuse to go home, as in America. It's 'Get the Out!' damn spot or whomever you are -- we have a life too, outside this restaurant. Very nice people and very good, hearty food.

 

This cafeteria has food not too tasty, but extremely well-balanced and tending more toward large variety of not expensive foods, with not big portions, but if one wants 'double' they willingly serve it up and the bill is never very high, and it's a very big restaurant, too.

 

The cleanup people wear shirts saying 'I (heart sign) ist!ANBUL' or something to that effect.

 

And of course, the Norman Rockwell figure is art, not a calendar, but the art, originally from the Saturday Evening Post on a cover, probably was once meant to be the top of a calendar, but Coke has sent it out framed -- my small mistake.

 

And if I had cropped, I would have cropped left, but sometimes with 'street', things can't be tooo neat in as simple a photo as this or it will looked 'cleaned up' and 'worked on' which this shouldn't, or at least that's how I've chosen to present it.

 

Sometimes more stuff, even stuff that doesn't fit, can 'flesh out' a sparse photo.

 

Old time magazine greats simply went with photos in which the horizon was NOT level (Doisneau especially, and the French make a point of telling me it's Doineau, as pronounced omitting the 's' sound on the end, which is totally silent). He could hardly keep a level horizon if his life depended on it (as it did when he photographed the liberation of Paris, though not too many guns were fired.)

 

They left in all sorts of 'crap' in their photos we would have cropped out -- except Cartier-Bresson for which everything was integral -- the maitre he was.

 

In this, the horizon tends to look tilted until one looks at the wall and realizes the cafeteria tray line gradually tilts down, for unknown reasons -- perhaps to allow you to grab your tray easier at your waist as you leave the line.

 

The photo and other parts tell the story of what's level. Note the bend in the metal tray line to the left, where it goes from level to tilted. . . . . It kind of doesn't help the photo much, though, in my opinion.

 

This is another in my 'droll' photosm -- ones you have to keep your eyes open to 'catch' its meaning or drift (as it has no real meaning).

 

I'm glad you did, Adan W.

 

John (Crosley)

For the life of me, I am not certain 'why' or 'how' I saw this, as I was eating dinner (Adan W.) (I don't eat breakfast at that possible early hour noted on the clock - this was dinnertime), but somehow when I saw this I just had to photograph it, and the cashier (kassa) was most respectful. . . . she didn't move for minutes.

 

Just pick up camera, point, zoom, antofocus points in place and shoot two shots (camera on 'C' control) and one turned out a little blurry from wrong focal point placement, but this one was quite OK.

 

But for the life of me, I'm not sure why I 'saw' this scene as I did before I took this particular photo. (Model Nina was with me, and somehow she allows me to 'see' all sorts of whimsical things and doesn't ever complain when I take photos as she assisted me.)

 

John (Crosley)

Those 'things on the wall' are remote controls for air conditioners and heat. These are common in Ukraine, which gets pretty hot in summer. From the number of them, there must be four units subject to control from this place, probably scattered throughout the restaurant.

 

Such air conditioners, unlike window ones in the United States, most often are placed above windows, or the units are actually in walls, usually high, so that physically turning controls becomes impossible. Thus the need for remote controls. (Addressing a minor issue raised previously.)

 

John (Crosley)

John, I appreciate that thorough background explanation. Your stories are just as fascinating as your pictures. I have several photo books about the early French photographers and my favorite has always been Cartier Bresson. I'm a nocturnal creature so I always look foward to doing some late night reading. It beats a glass of milk anytime. When I travel I prefer to do it alone. That way I can become a flaneur and just explore my surroundings with camera in hand. Paris is my muse and I love to explore every hidden corner of that fabulous city. I like taking walks early in the morning waking up along with the city denizens and witness their daily rituals. I find this way of exploring Paris rewarding and intimate. It's my own personal rendezvous with my lover.

Photography is my muse.

 

And I have another, but I won't name her.

 

Google translation doesn't have a good translation of 'flaneur'.

 

I am too lazy to go to other translation services. Looks like they have taken over Bablefish anyway.

 

Paris is easily the most easy city, even just the Metro, in which to spend a day or so and get priceless 'street' captures.

 

I suppose, now that I've got considerable experience under my belt, having now taken photographs anew for 3.5 years, that I can go anywhere and get something good from time to time or even consistently.

 

Some skills, like bike riding, never truly go away, though after 35 years, I thought I had lost the love and knack for photography.

 

I am headed to Paris at the end of the week but with a nonchangeable reservation and no money for a hotel or food. My money's in the US an untouchable while I'm abroad. This is going to be interessting.

 

Wish me luck.

 

John (Crosley)

As the world traveler that you are, I'm sure that you will manage to survive. Paris could be the most expensive or affordable city in the world depending on where you look.

 

My definition of flaneur is best described here:

 

http://www.flaneur.org/flanifesto.html

 

Enjoy your trip

 

 

 

 

I once got out of Viet Nam with a plane ticket to the US and $28 in Vietnamese piasters, which only could be exchanged in Hong Kong, but as I changed planes in Hong Kong, food poisoning set in, stranding me there for 8-10 days. I had a shipping company responsible for minimal care, and they put me up in a sailor's house for $3 a night, their expense, and when I got to Japan and wanted to go outside the airport, they asked for proof of finances, and I was refused entrance for several hours into Japan.

 

When I arrived in the US, the airline had not served its meal over the Pacific because of severe turbulance and I had to go to Pan Am and beg for a meal chit, which they gave me. I arrived in Oregon with absolutely NO money at all, but I got there.

 

I can be resourceful -- it's part of my stock in trade.

 

Thank you for the 'bonne chance'.

 

John (Crosley)

 

(oh, by the way, I spent that $28 for a lens, which is the lens that caught (1) the Nixon photo and (2) the Berkeley 'Fixed Bayonet' photo.)

 

JC

A wise investment my friend. ;)

The Coke poster guy, probably drawn by Norman Rockwell or an imitator, mirrors in his languid attitude the cashier . . . and that easily is seen as the main theme of this photo.

 

There is one little element that is hard to recognize that is pure synchronicity: the large hand of the clock, upper center, is in near perfect parallel to the fishing pole (one of two straight lines that make up the lines of this photo -- and thus it is a minor element of 'mirroring').

 

(It is noted that the bottom 'tray line' naturally lowers from left to right, so that patrons can more easily pick up their trays as they continue to pay and behond. This restaurant, one of Kyiv's best values for eating -- which featured Turkish food and wonderful baklava of several sorts, suddenly was closed, its building possibly scheduled for demolition or remodeling -- a sad day for me and many others in Kyiv. It as one place where one could get a completely well-balanced meal with vegetables, vitamins, minerals, adequate fiber - they served Kasha and other native grains instead of just rice, -- and still walk out with change from $7.00 U.S and with a full stomach.

 

John (Crosley)

The woman's arm, supporting her head, is exactly parallel to the second, shorter, arm of the clock.

 

That makes two major parellels mirrored from the lines of the clock. A most happy coincidence, and maybe one reason (unnoticed by me at first) that I chose to post this.

 

John (Crosley)