LA Cityscape

This is one view of an LA Cityscape -- as it presented itself for a very

brief moment in passing the other day. 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

photographed in a 'Robert Frank' style which suits well on this kind of American landscape. I said that as a complement.

6/6a

Warm regards,

--MAA

From time to time, somebody will tell me I photographed something in the 'style of this or that photographer.

Some I have heard of and others are a complete mystery to me, but when I look at their work, sure enough, my work does compare in some way to their work, but I just do one off versions while their style pervades all their work.

I long ago said I am the 'chameleon of Photo.net' for the various styles and genres in which I photograph.

If I see something I think is worthy, like this, I take it.

Image this for example. I was around the corner when I saw the top sign above the second sign and went around the corner for a better look. I saw the auto shop in the foreground and readied my camera.

Then the bicycliist came across the scene and I fired twice as fast as I could on 'C' (continuous servo) drive, to include him and the scene was complete.

Total time spent framing and taking the photo -- about three or four seconds.

And now I'm told it's in the Robert Frank style.

Hmmmmm!

I hardly knew much about his style until the other day when someone told me his style was better or equal to Cartier-Bresson's (a thought I reject -- no one's as good as C-B).

But the bicyclist and the auto shop gave some depth and 'feel' to the scene -- it's almost too bad it happened so fast; I had no chance to appreciate it until it came up on download and I said to myself 'hey, that's pretty darn interesting, I wonder how the membership will feel about it, then dismissed the idea, feeling the membership would reject it, but it pleased me, so I posted it anyway, as I post what I will.

I'd like to 'see' many such scenes,as I take what I 'see' but my vision is somewhat clouded, so I see little of such things in such layered complexity in LA. I would like to see more with such layering and depth, because i would take the shots.

Best to you and thank you for the compliment this morning.

John (Crosley)

I often have commented on the ability of the 'S' curve or the modified 'C' curve in landscape to draw in the viewer's eye and engage the viewer to the photograph.

This photograph of an urban landscape uses a different device -- layering from front to back.

Depending on how one view it, this photo has four to six 'layers' or 'planes' in it in which the eye can rest, as it moves from front to back (or vice versa) or as the eye moves around the photo.

The better or more 'interesting' photos are often those which engage the viewer, and technically and compositionally those which are designed to engage the viewers' eyes seem to succeed better than others -- to appear more 'rich' if you will.

I think the 'layering' (as I coin the term here, unaware if anyone elsewhere ever has used the term), helps draw the viewers' eye to and into the photo and thus engages the eye and the viewer - making this a rich photo in my view.

Raters other than Mr. Acevedo above may have a different view.

Other than on download, I have looked very little at this photo, so this is almost my first impression, and I have not taken similar photos before; my writing about this is to help teach myself the compositional devices why it might be successful (in my view) so that I might more consciously use those devices in the future.

John (Crosley)

Go to google.com and look up the web site of John Humble, LA Photographer.

His work is full of wit, and to my way of thinking is quite sardonic yet full of love for an amazing and surreal city.

It's worth a look.

Nothing I do can compare, and he has his own style which is inimitable -- I met him briefly, and he told me the Getty Museum, which is acquiring a major amount of fine art photography, bought a substantial amount of his work -- however for all artists, showings are scarce -- even iconic ones such as him. He is represented by a gallery, however.

My friend,member Giuseppe Pasquali has definite feelings of long standing that Humble is a major photographic artist of great standing; just ask him.

John (Crosley)