black and white: then to now Encouraging Words?

This young girl from the 'Mean Streets' of South Central Los Angeles,

looks back as she passes a 'hopeful' and 'encouraging' sign. 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

I like the irony here, looks like she has seen and running from the devil. She could crash possibly into the brick wall, of life. The hair lock and blur of motion adds to the perceived anxiety not made any better by the tattered sign of hope. Great capture on the mean streets, keep safe my friend, keep shooting people, you are very good at it. Hope to see your favourite pictures in good book as they deserve. Sad you lost some. Glad that you lovingly preserved them safely, for now, as hostages to be released in print. Best regards, Mario

Thanks for the encouraging words.

I meet with a world famous printer today who is steering me toward gallery presentations, with unknown but hopefully favorable results, since he claims to (and I have verified) he knows 'everybody in the business' and he already has followed through at least once. He's 'curating' my past work, and I'm taking him new work. He appears tremendously capable and quite willing to recommend me to the highest of his many wonderful friends -- including museums.

We'll see what becomes of that, but it's a wonderful opportunity that shan't be untapped. Plus I like the guy tremendously, and he's really asking for nothing in return except the chance to do me a good turn. What a deal! -- thanks to things set in motion by member Dennis Aubrey who made an initial referral after viewing my work. You never know what's going to happen in life, but when things do, the stupid ones just 'let it go', and I hope not to be stupid.

It would lead to gallery representation maybe or just 'being watched' by someone famous in the industry, I am told. Who knows?

In any case, I'm producing well, regularly and in abundance (I think I've posted 25 photos in October which just finished last night, and I'm producing them much faster than I have a chance even to review them, if you can believe that).

I have developed just a load of 'techniques' over the past three and a half years of shooting 'street' and they leave me with few times when I can't just go out and find something -- I sometimes start out depressed, wondering where the 'good ones' are to be found, and that sometimes last for a half hour to an hourm, but it seems that eventually there are 'good oens' . . . for reasons I can't explain.

I just 'see' 'em (and of course I'm prepared, always with two cameras -- wide to moderate or just very wide, then a moderate to long tele zoom, all with wide aperatures and professsional optics, since I shoot in chancy light situations.

A juxtaposition shot, as here, is pretty easy for me to find and see once I have lined up a proper background. This photo took all of two or three minutes of waiting, and then I just drove on. \

Her face required lightening and sharpening, but it appears to have worked pretty well. If exhibiting, I'd go in and spend hours redoing it, but this is PN, and here members use thumbnails for evaluation.)

Thanks again, Mario.

G'day to Oz.

John (Crosley)

This image is copyright 2007, John Crosley, All Rights Reserved.