More New Orleans "Fixtures"

(This story is continued from the previous photo........)

 

So, after I took some more shots of the cathedral, walked through the park (which you can see on the other side of the fence here) and shot some more in the area, I came back up this street. The man with the cane from the previous photo was no where to be seen. As I was walking, the man you see here with the drum approached me. No joke - he apologized for the other guy. Said that he is NOT a friend of theirs, that they've never seen him before, and that he was really rather obnoxious. He really seemed to feel badly.

 

Anyway - he asked if he could play his drum for me, I said yes and could I take a photo of him, and he basically said (not in these exact words), "Not for free." :-) So I gave him a few dollars, listened to him play the drum for awhile, and then wandered off. Very interesting experience.

 

By the way, you can't tell from this B&W version of this image, but the third guy on the bench (with the baseball cap ... he's looking away) is painted gold from head to toe. The bucket in front of him is full of his gold paint. He does one of those living-street-statue things. I saw him earlier ... same guy, but more still than he was sitting on this bench here. :-)

 

Well, since street photography isn't usually my thing, please be really brutally honest with me about what I could do differently with this. Thank you!!

Second image in a series of two (same folder). Any comments or

ratings are appreciated! :-)

Muy bien visto.

Saludos

Brutally honest.....I think you've found a whole new Genre that you have a good eye for. The composition it's self is perfect, everything looks spontaneous and definitely tells an interesting story. Good range of tones although on my monitor it looks a little dark, of course I want to see all the possible detail that your camera captured. It's fun to keep finding all the little details, like the one shoe off the guy in the middle, and the beer can in the last guys hand, and what's in the mouth of the drummer....

Dang, Susan - you saw stuff that I didn't even see!! I didn't notice the shoe, the cigarette, or the beer. Amazing eye you have!!! Maybe when I get back to DC, you ought to come visit me THERE so that I can take you to do street shooting with me. :-) Thanks for the visit!

A piece of life lou Ann, what caught my eye is the alienation of the scene, each in his own world. The light and shadows are very significant to the scene as they are the lights and shadows in life's reality. very well composed ! B/W are very compatible.

You may have discovered that you have a good knack for street scenes.

 

Susan, before reading your comment I too had noticed those items you made reference too. I also noticed that the guy with the crutch is wearing a t-shirt with the word FISH printed on it. That made me wonder just what the rest of the message was.

This is a great street shot, Lou Ann - and the shadows make for more interest. The last guy looks like he's eating lunch from a trashcan, and I guess the drummer carries his own gallon of water. You should enter this in a contest somewhere.

 

You said something about "back to DC." Are you moving back down that way? Had to ask. Curiosity got the best of me. One of these days, you'll have to settle down.

 

Cheers

Hi Lou Ann, What a great photo. You had a lot of courage wandering around in the French Quarter. We were there about five years ago and I think we saw the man with the paint and a few other street people. It's a great place to visit but, definetly, not solo...especially since the hurricanes. Good luck!