Kickin'

"Kickin'" is the latest on my continuing series of the Paris Metro.

Here a variety of people wait for a long-delayed train on the

usually 'shaped-up' Metro at night, the girl's 'kick' signifying her

long wait. 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

The picture of this trio waiting for the metro is interesting. The lines guide us through the entire composition and the woman strikes me as a non conformist. Instead of seating down and dozing off like the other two she is standing and playing with her foot. She must hate boredom.

This photo is not just a study in people, as you are right about the woman being not so relaxed, or so relaxed she's just kicking her foot, while the others are settled in for a long wait (unusual on the Metro).

 

It's also a study in viewing a 'forced' vanishing point, which occurs as one looks to the distance. Not only that, but the photo is bisected roughly by a diagonal -- which splits the photo into two triangles, which is a very dynamic composition -- each triangle.

 

Finally, in addition to the other geometric elements -- vanishing point - diagonal -- there is the spacing between the three figures -- they're pretty much equally spaced -- for an attempt at symmetry.

 

In geometric terms, this is what attracted me to this composition, yet her kickin' is what caused me to post this photo. It's also a little 'droll' but less in the humorous sense, and more in the 'offbeat' sense.

 

She is a nonconformist or at least an individual, and used to moving, I'll bet, so if her body physically is not moving on the train, she kicks her foot. In actuality she swung it back and forth, which is more typical of what a woman does when she's thinking of her lover -- I just caught it on the outward swing (several times, but this is the best).

 

So, I would bet that she not only is impatient with the trains, but she's also thinking about a lover -- I'm a little student of body language, but anybody who knows better, pleae share your thoughts with me.

 

And my study of body language comes from observing people, waiting to photograph them. Like poker, there are 'tells' which 'tell' us what a person is thinking, doing or going to do. A swinging foot on a woman says 'I'm thinking about a lover' as far as I can tell.

 

Anybody else with any thoughts?

 

Thanks for starting the dialog, Adan.

 

John (Crosley)

Excellent composition and atmosphere. Congrats !

You caught the two things that I aimed for -- composition I always aim for, but the 'atmosphere' here I think was very important . . . a lesser photo, maybe, but a very interesting one for capturing a moment of rest.

 

I hope others will see its worth.

 

Thanks for noticing.

 

John (Crosley)

How do I start?...Well, I am intrigued and surprised by the way you see people and your patience in waiting to capture them. I generally consider your work remarkable because of the way you are able to relay what you see. I have noticed an interesting corner in a metro station before and I may even have even pulled my camera discretely and tried to capture it and then got home and realized it looks nothing like what I saw. I think humans are incredibly observable and truly interesting to watch. But you catch that so well on the camera...I am respectfully jealous on your skill.

 

I think it's funny you think she was thinking about her lover. The thing is you are probably right. Women think about their lovers a lot and they always move their bodies somehow while doing that.

 

The perfect symmetry between the subjects is so ...surprising. The foreground, the middle ground and the background subjects all seem to be at equal distances from each other. And it seems like there is a progression on boredom. While the woman was a straight leg, the second man has his bent, while the last has them even more drastically angled. There is a lot of symbolism here.

 

Absolutely charming!

 

I probably mislabeled this, not completely having understood the 'progression of boredom' myself.

 

I shoot somewhat studiously and somewhat inchoately which means that I delibately placed myself and chose a zoom distance that caused the subjects to be spaced symmetrically and roughly equidistant across the two-dimensional representation of the scene.

 

But you have added 'the progression of boredom', and I wish I had thought of that when I posted it, as it might have got better ratings.

 

And AHA, I knew that women think a lot about their lovers and always swing their legs (often at least) when doing so.

 

It's just part of the body language reading skills I have learned over time.

 

Maybe someone's swinging her leg for me right this minute . . . I have reason to believe so.

 

Thank you for your wonderful additions to this photo.

 

Notice that it was placed here from another folder despite struggling ratings -- this folder is not just for high-rated photos but for photos I think are emblematic of 'street', and this is one such.

 

Best to you and thanks.

 

John (Crosley)

She is thinking why in the world did she wear THOSE shoes. Are you looking at them. She is trying to move her feet around because her feet are cramped because they hurt. She is tired from the day. Her hands are in her pocket. If she was thinking about her lover her hand would be in her hair. Hand twists hair means thinking abot lover. Hands pocket means frustration or stressed.

 

101 about women. She is a bit miffed that something is not going right and she is ready for things to change OR she is tired of waiting.

 

BUT, I am thinking of my....

 

he he

Swinging feet does mean thinking of lover; end of story.

 

I just KNOW it.

 

She was not delayed so very long, and the station was practically deserted on a strike/Saturday night.

 

As to the shoes, she's short and has to wear stacked shoes to get 'taller'. It's common and one reason short women wear heels a lot and/or stacked soles.

 

They're equalizers; you don't have to look down at a woman who has 'elevated herself' but if Arnold Schwarzeneggar was known to wear 'elevator shoes' (remember those), he's be severely laughed at (I'm laughing anyway).

 

But thanks for 101 woman insight; maybe I can have some more.

 

I'm getting better in my old age, though.

 

Just ask my closest friend . . . oh, you don't know her or who she is . . . and I'll keep it that way.

 

Thanks for the insight though.

 

John (Crosley)

One model's view:

 

I had a visiting model today, beautiful and age 23, (and 6'-2" with her heels -- very, very thin but well nourished) who looked through my work, which earned me some respect from her, since she is in the 'arts', and told her of my thesis that this woman is thinking of her lover.

 

First of all, it must be noted, she picked this photo as one of a few out of the whole portfolio -- somehow she identified with it.

 

She endorsed your view, Diana, that this woman is thinking of her lover (and moving a body part while doing so).

 

I instinctively knew that was what she was doing, and when she began to swing her leg, tried to catch it at the end of its arc -- it's topmost point.

 

After all, if it were midway in the arc or partway, that wouldn't have been much of a photo.

 

I think you are right; women spend a lot of time thinking of their lovers, and simultaneously while doing so, move one or more body parts. I always thought it was primarily the leg which swung to and fro, (and often just the lower leg when a woman is seated) but you or anyone else can educate me, so the next time I see a likely scene that doesn't involve a swinging leg, I can identify it.

 

;~)

 

(See, I don't forget when someone makes an interesting comment . . . especially about things one might observe, as that is what I do -- observe is a less hifalutin word than voyeur, but then that other word has sexual connotations which my work is pretty devoid of.)

 

Thanks Olga.

 

John (Crosley)

The above discussion on the subject of whether this young woman doing the kicking, brought me to review the 'view counter' on this photo, knowing the photo has not been hijacked by any web sites, which might distort the 'view' counts by bringing through 'links' any clicks on another web site where this photo has been displayed back to the Photo.net server.

 

It is very clear, since there are no other factors at play, that this photo is outdrawing its much higher rated neighbors in my portfolio, by 150% or more.

 

While it did not draw great ratings, I think some of the views are from photo aficionados, while others simply may be from women who recognize the leg gesture and are drawn into the photo because of it; clicking on it to take a better look.

 

Men seldom know about such things as 'swinging legs' indicating thoughts about a lover (and Micki Ferguson, above, disagrees, thinking it is a finger twirling hair, which also may be true). But that is something women, I think, know instinctively, from their own responses, and to see something like this in print, may provoke a 'click' where otherwise one would not 'click'.

 

I happened to wonder why raters rated it as low as they did, but acknowledge it's far more subtle than some of my other work, and to some that means it's less 'interesting' -- especially probably males, who don't understand the gesture and haven't read the remarks (they just might learn something!).

 

I have learned a thing or two, especially from my young models, who feel free to discuss many otherwise forbidden things with me; things which I reveal to no one, except in 'general' ways.

 

It helps gain the trust of the models not to be judgmental, and in return, they are free in telling me about the 'female side of things' however varied, disparate, and disjointed that sometimes might be.

 

It helps make for an interesting life, full of insights that elude many others, and those insights often show in my photos (as above).

 

(Thanks Micki F., Diana and others for helping that along)

 

John (Crosley)

Very nice portrait of the late-nite endless waiting times in the subway. This shot has some character.

You have understood this shot and what it attempts to portray very well.

 

Fortunately the Metro trains come quite frequently in Paris.

 

But this particular night was a night of the Transport Workers Union general strike throughout all of France and riders were lucky to even get any ride at all, as the trains were being operated pursuit to the beneficence of the transport workers union or maybe their supervisors who weren't on strike.

 

If you asked to buy a ticket, they would sell you one, and they'd keep the money, but you didn't have to pay to enter.

 

That was a good thing because what you got that night was very, very poor service, though everyone tried. This is at the tag end of the strike and the trains were starting or scheduled to run again and were starting to run more frequently.

 

Excluding the history, which is irrelevant to your comment, however, this truly is prototypical of what one sees on a Metro/subway platform almost anywhere in the world when it's not 'rush hour' and probably late at night when the stations are not overwhelmed and trains are less frequent.

 

Thanks for stopping by and commenting.

 

John (Crosley)