'The Urbane Merger of Eons'

'The 'Urbane Merger of Eons' is (in my opinion) pure street', utterly

unpredictable and unreproducable. 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 think your own words ("utterly unpredictable and unreproducable") describe this photo better than anything I can think of!

We do not, in fact, seem to have changed much in the meantime!

You must have been really quick to shoot this!

'Really quick to shoot this'.

 

Yes, I was.

 

I will wait a while, and probably after a while, tell the (rather long) story of just how this photo came into being - I really was quick, but there's much, much more to it than that.

 

'Luck favors the well prepared' - and I was indeed well prepared -- armed with much foresiight -- aided by years of instinct. I doubt if any other photographer could have got this photo -- period.

 

Thanks for the comment.

 

John (Crosley)

Bulent (or anybody else)

 

For a photo taken 'on the fly' with me literally moving quickly as I took it,, do you notice anything about composition - maybe the relationship of the two figures, or their framing?

 

John (Crosley)

Yes, of course!

The guy with the black hat just happens to be where my great great grand father was looking at!

There are also others but I think they don't play as important a role as the above one in the overall success of this.

I heartily agree with the "preparedness" point, by the way. And, that surely takes too much time, energy, dedication...

It made me smiling. Great scene: DARWIN ... . BR Joerg

Photo of the week!

As to composition -- I actually had some other points in mind - more formal points - but I'd prefer if another member made those points, rather than fill the comments with my thoughts.

 

Although the scene is 'amusing' I think, its more formal compositional aspects may play a much stronger place than you may expect in the strength of this photo.

 

I'll hold off on discussing those aspects for now, and leave that maybe for another member, but I think the composition here is very important, and deceptively so.

 

If nobody points those aspects out, then I may weigh in.

 

Same with the issue of the etiology of this photo and how it came into being. It is entirely 'accidental' in how it came into being as it is presented here 'exactly',

 

But at the same time, that something good was possible was the result of about 20 or more minutes of hard work and preparation after my spying in passing a possible good scene that I just couldn't seem to get to.

 

I may write about it in a few days. It's a story about how such photographs come into being, and how one eliminates more and more the 'chance' element.

 

I hope I'm not being too mysterious.

 

In any case, its story is a good study for budding 'street' photographers, and those who are accomplished may 'smile' when they read it.

 

Thanks for your comment.

 

John (Crosley)

This one made me smile too - still does.

 

And I even stopped the guy in black depicted after he had passed and showed him this on my screen.

 

He smiled, gave me thumbs up, and said 'good shot man', then went off quickly.

 

I told him in a quick sentence how studied it had been to get this shot, but I'm not sure it sunk in before he scattered.

 

Thanks for sharing your good feelings.

 

John (Crosley)

Photo of the Week!

 

Highest Praise.

 

Especially coming from the man who in my opinion was robbed of POW some time back for your photo of homeless man with laptop.

 

In my view, that should have been a sure-fire winner, and is a classic 'street' photo no matter what.

 

It's absolutely stunning and timeless -- and failure to choose that great photo of yours as photo of the week illustrates maybe a substantial weakness in the system.

 

I still see it reproduced in other forums -- assuredly stolen by blogs -- when I browse from time to time.

 

THANKS!

 

john

 

John (Crosley)

This is really good street image ,I like the composition . regards .

This is not the photo I expected to take, but of course, it doesn't matter. I always am willing to accept a good photo, and I was prepared to take anything from this circumstance of the man in black and the background 'cave man'.

 

In fact, I approached this scene only knowing there were 'good elements', with the man in black sitting on the pavement against the wall, but suddenly he sprung up and started to sprint away (no way in reaction to me).

 

I could not possibly have anticipated this exact photo or his actions -- this is one of those extremely fortunate moments, but one that was preceded by the better part of one-half hour's preparation in getting near this scene I had spied as 'potentially worthy', and possibly productive of a 'good' or 'great' photo.

 

Again, 'luck favors the well prepared'.

 

Thanks for the words of encouragement. I am most grateful.

 

John (Crosley)

About the composition?

 

I can see rather clearly (in my mind) two separate compositional elements, I think, that help make this photo very appealing, aside from the obvious amusing aspects.

 

I invite your further comment, or for any other member to weigh in.

 

John (Crosley)

John...Funny...Great catch...perfect title...Only perhaps we have gone backwards...The urban legend may not hold up in the future....Teriffic shot...max...Marjorie

So many superlatives, I hardly know what to say.

 

I am greatly flattered.

 

Thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you.

 

It's always nice to be well received by one's peers.

 

John (Crosley)

Although this photo is humorous and 'strikes a chord' with many viewers, I feel that there are underpinnings to why it does so, and those underpinnings are based in its composition.

 

As I approached and began to think about framing a capture of this wall art and this guy with cell (mobile) phone, I already had seen them for some time, and there were very few possibilities available to me - the two guys and the wall with the wall adornment and separators, window, and sidewalk (and L.A. Weekly tabloid).

 

So, when I first raised camera, I framed the wall, left and the window right, to about equal proportions - creating some symmetry.

 

It couldn't be exact, as the next thing I knew the seated guy with mobile phone was jumping up, and ready to bound off to some unknown rendezvous.

 

I hit the shutter release, just as he was framed almost circularly by the tray, body and legs of the 'wall art' cave man waiter, complete with 'milkshake' and -- one supposes -- 'hamburger'.

 

In a sense, this bounding guy couldn't be much better framed, if I had preplanned every part of this photo, given the circumstances of a wall, a sidewalk, wall art and a guy in black.

 

He's framed by the building paint, left which is nearly equal to the glass brick window, right - for symmetry.

 

He's bounded in circular fashion by the body, extended arms and tray of the cave man waiter.

 

Who could ask for more?

 

In essence, he's 'been framed'.

 

Everything in this photo says 'look at this man' but the cave man waiter is so riveting in his disdainful glance downward at the bounding man, it appears there's some sort of story there . . . . if one could just figure out what that story was.

 

It's for each of us to make one up that pleases ourself.

 

It's one thing to put these two figures together -- the guy in black and the cave man waiter.

 

Frankly, with that and nothing mroe --- it's probably a 'dud' or a 'mighta been' photo -- a good idea unrealized.

 

The elements I point out above, I think, are what make this a 'better than average' 'street' photo'.

 

Your thoughts?

 

John (Crosley)

Unusual and very good! Regards, Valentyn

'Unusual and very good'.

 

Those are my goals.

 

Somehow, 'unusual' just seems to come naturally. I often see things 'differently' because I often approach things differently. 'Very good' to 'excellent' always is my goal.

 

'Unusual' is just a function of how I 'see' things.

 

I often have no idea of what it is my photo will look like when I pick up a camera, although on many occasions I do have the precise photo I'll take predefined in my 'vision' -- or something akin to it.

 

It's called 'previsualizing'.

 

But I not only sometimes 'previsualize' on many occasions, I also take whatever photo may present itself regardless of whether or not I've had a chance to think it through -- and if I've had a chance to think it through beforehand (even for seconds), I will keep on shooting, often long after I've taken the envisioned photo -- and often to great success as I see and find new and different photos.

 

I often can wander around, without subjects in mind, camera around neck, and find wonderful captures - things I never could have envisioned, nor, probably, any photographer. The human condition is just too diverse, and I take a large number of 'people' photos, so 'diversity' in my shooting is something that can be expected.

 

While a lot of my photos may have a 'signature' style -- at least my B&W 'street' photos -- it is not because of any grand attempt to create a style -- I have other 'styles' in other 'genres' as well, from landscape, to abstract, to portrait, to 'street portrait', to 'fine art,' to . . . (well, you name it).

 

Some genres I've never posted in -- and possibly never will - for a large variety of reasons.

 

I'm just a very diverse shooter.

 

'Street' in B&W and color was a genre or style I first started shooting in, though even long ago I shot other, diverse things.

 

'Variety is the spice of life'.

 

I have a friend who is tremendously talented - a standout artist -- who exhibits in galleries and who someday may be a household name and a future photography luminary.

 

I think he's somewhat envious of my ability to 'see' and 'take' a large variety of photographs in such a short time; I'm long disabled and often only able to get out to shoot a little bit at time, and only intermittently -- so I must make the most of those times I do shoot, and sometimes so much I see inspires me.

 

I have just learned to make the most with what limited resources I have.

 

I'm glad you like my output.

 

Thanks for the recognition.

 

John (Crosley)

well done.

Thank you so much.

 

It's always a pleasure to please my viewers,

 

John (Crosley)

I am removing a comment I made here a while ago.

[it is almost unheard of me to remove a comment, but here the circumstances justify it]

 

It turns out the previous poster had made a failed attempt at humor and has withdrawn the offending comment.

 

I always assume that those who post here do so in good faith, and that was true in this case, though it could have been taken otherwise.

 

John (Crosley)

Have read all of the forgoing with interest. Of course I've studied this marvelous photograph with much greater interest. Both had much to offer. Some of what I deduced from my reading will have to be held back. Would be quite impolite. Much safer to stick to the photograph.

 

The imperious erect stance of the ape man impresses more than the shifty reality

of this much tattooed fellow. Something crooked about him. He seems to be peeking at me from behind his dark shades. That sling bag is quite tightly secured to his body. What does he have inside it! And those scruffy shoes... people who wear scruffy shoes outside of their own four walls can never be clean. He's as lithe as the ape man but perhaps that's due to under nourishment. To be fair there's one mitigating element to him. Noughts and Crosses. Either he, or someone else, has used his body to play that fun game. Makes him almost human.

 

The ape man seems inclined to bash him over the head with that bone.

It's fun to have games and speculation about the subjects of photos like these, but we must remember not only that they are real people, but they read these comments often too, and they must realize that prose like you wrote is just an exercise in fantasy and has no relation to the intrinsics of the individual depicted, for if scuffed shoes disqualified a person from being legitimate, then his photographer must be disqualified first.

 

Of course your comment is quite fun, but I want the subject, and his friends, should they ever come across your comment, to realize that is is purely subjective and meant in good fun, agreed?

 

And in quite good fun at that, right?

 

John (Crosley)

Absolutely! My inspiration was Jerry Springer...

Unless he's meant to out-camp those who coined the term 'camp' -- he's not to my mind an individual who deserves any merit at all.

 

He's the P.T. Barnum of human relations, but those who watch him for 'camp' may have a point, just as the Romans did, watching the Christians vs. the Lions; it's all entertainment,and he's just a highly-paid cog in the entertainment wheel.

 

Once, in the Los Angeles Airport in the United Airlines Lounge for business class or first class flayers where i was, I overheard one attendant whisper to the other 'Guess who's in he clubroom?' 'Who? 'Jerry Springer?" spoken with awe.

 

I never truly understood that awe. I did understand that he had taken something (very little of something and turned it into eyeballs glued to the tube and that had worth, but aside from that, I felt the man was just a whore.

 

But then again, maybe we all are.

 

Myself included.

 

I don't pretend to be any better than anybody else (and certainly poorer than Mr. Springer, and not followed around by bodyguards at any 'work' I do.)

 

John (Crosley)