kirk d

I would certainly rather look at a Banksy on a wall as opposed to billboards and piss in the streets (that's funny!) but very valid points. I don't necessarily believe the Grey Ghost should be doing what he is doing and justifiying my position by saying it is freedom of expression - I would much rather see artful paintings/grafitti. I even wonder if this Grey Ghost who is alleged to have been a grafitti artist is threatened by art that is better than his and this is his insecure retaliatioin.

Thank you Fred, the phone is indeed on a wall.

The color one I shot from across the street with a large zoom lens. When I was driving by only two days later, I saw the coverup and was kind of shocked. I was on the same side of the street and just stopped with a wide angle and my focus was on the coverup - I wasn't thinking much about the extraneous composition like I was with the shot from across the street. I do like the rusted pole in the colored one.

I don't think this is going anywhere unless Banksy comes back and re-paints it. Next time I'm in the neighborhood, I may stop and get a shot more like the top one just to see.

Although, I kind of like the little differences, sometimes when I see or do a diptych the images are so similar, it almost makes me dizzy thinking I'm seeing double - maybe that is the purpose of diptyches though.

You're right about the rights, I was thinking the same thing - here you have an "artist", Banksy, painting a thought provoking image over the message from the property owner, then you have another individual painting over organized/artful grafitti - that is free expression, but then, what about the owner of the wall, what about what people think is de-facing (a painting or square block of grey), most are saying the Grey Ghost, as he is now known as, is infringing upon true art and defacing the painting but didn't Banksy infringe upon and deface the property - albiet the property hasn't been occupied in the three years since Katrina.

Thanks for your time and thoughtful comment.

Kirk

Interesting shot Jeff, I like the hat in the corner of the reflection and how the center part is more focused and clear compared to the sides.

Personally, I wonder if less of the bottom would make this a stronger image, I don't think it adds; granted, there are some interesting patterns/reflections but...just personal preference/thought. I hate to even suggest this as I know you have been being harder on yourself so you certainly don't need the community being hard on you to.

Great catch through the window.

Kirk

Around the 3rd Anniversary of Katrina, the artist Banksy visited New Orleans and left many thought provoking images around the city. For a little while now, someone has been painting over unprotected works - alledgedly the coverup artist is a local "grafitti artist" that believes Banksy's works are art and should not be painted on the walls of his city as grafitti (I'm not sure about the validity of that, but it could be). There are many other works Banksy did if you Google "Banksy in New Orleans" you will likely be directed to some portfolios on Flickr that were posted by some local photographers.

Kirk

Great shot. Reminds me of the walking Skeleton Krewe ( ) that meanders down the street on Mardi Gras day. I think there it is a Day of the Dead rooted thing.

Kirk

Jeff, funny you say that. Some of my fishing friends asked if I really work my popping bug that aggressively and loud but in a way they were saying, "I hope not 'cause you'll scare the fish".

Fred, thanks for your thorough review; I really appreciate it. I included the branches and their reflection as a secondary interest to the subject of the pop. While I didn't think in terms of graphics and sensuous, I did feel the branches worked and added to the composition. I'm glad you articulated so well what I probably felt.

Kirk

Beautiful! I like the recognizeable aspects yet the softness the blur creates in the fields of grass. The motion blur gives it a thing of the past feel as if we are moving past and leaving it behind.

Great stuff!

Kirk

This is good Jeff, in a way, this is like the dog's side of Norman Rockwell. As Fred said, it is iconic. As photos go, the Rockwell comes in as a typical country scene (whether this is or not, it looks like sparsely populated countryside) with dogs wandering. The black and white is a good choice, it kind of enhances the scruffiness of the dogs. The nuances and detail of roadside grasses, the road itself, the dog's fur, the house tucked under the trees are really good!

Kirk

Perfect timing for Halloween! The blur really makes you feel like you're looking at what we've been conditioned to associate as a spirit leaving her body. That wavy foreground adds a floating feel. Very good representation of the dance you described.

Kirk

Your ability to see more than what is there is uncanny, this is a great abstract. It takes me to the past and forgotten and the current hard heads we meet everyday.

I like it, especially with Halloween approaching.

Kirk

Excellent B&W, the range of tones is such a flat image is great and hard to accomplish. This looks so much like a face and with the darkness like something from a halloween story but certainly I have never seen a church look like this.

Kirk

Thanks for the visit and comments Andrea.

Tero, thank you to. I would like to find more images to do this with.

Kirk

Gordon, when I try to describe why I like this, my words seem hollow because it is hard to describe beauty.

Forgive the lack of verse, here is my comment:

This is beautiful.

Kirk

Jeanne, nice to see your visit; thanks for the comment. The crossed wires do kind of play tricks on the eyes.

Jeff, thanks for the compliment, you are to kind and generous. I really like your analogy.

Pnina, thanks for confirming that analogy Jeff made. I didn't really think of it totally like that; I saw those little wires that arc from one line to another as connecting the whole bunch. This is one reason I like putting things up here to find out what others see.

Thanks again all,

Kirk

Sometimes when I remember something about my childhood or my children when they were younger, I'm not sure if I'm really remembering the experience or remembering the image I saw of me in that experience.

Sometimes I know the difference and the picture is a reminder of the experience. It helps my mind reco'llect, or is that re-collect, the scattered pieces that are in the recesses and put the scenario together into something that the still shot came out of; in effect helping my memory.

Sometimes when I see something I want to "take a picture of so I can remember it" is when I put the camera down, for some strange reason; it could be for the reason your title states. I'm afraid that if I do photograph it, I will steal its memory to me even though I know it will really help me remember?

Kirk

I caught the judges and won 1st place in a Warmwater Flyfishing themed contest - prize was a 4wt flyrod!

Thanks,

Kirk

Gordon, you achieved a great portrait of a caught trout here. Personally, I feel the wide angle and dof that you used and the angle from slightly behind the fish contribute greatly to the dead/macabre look and feel. Certainly the color treatment does not hurt and is a really good approach.

The angle from slightly behind the head that almost puts the fish upside down is not the usual position we see fish and conveys that this isn't the usual live fish I see swimming or being held by an angler belly down.

The wide angle bends the blades of grass as though I was walking and looked down from above to see this dead fish. The dof with the background and tail fading to blurriness adds to the fading of the fish's life.

Of course, the lack of color helps the lack of markings on the fish to be emphasized as a steely grey dead fish.

Being a fisherman, I've got to ask what kind of trout this is? Being a cook, I've got to ask how you cooked it? While us southerners release many of our fish, we often practice Catch'n'Eat.

Kirk

Maybe it is my monitor, the beach looks to be greyscale.

Freedom is indeed a state of mind - fear is the chain that binds.

Kirk

The wispy light spots on the beach remind me of clouds and I also like your use of black and white beach. It is like our dream world without color (at least most of us) with the dreamer resting almost floating on his/her dream.

Very nice.

Kirk

Great street capture Pnina. You framed her well inside the scaffolding and it is a funny scene to me; drinking coffee, smoking a cigarette, and talking on the phone with a cylinder of lipstick on the ground ready to be applied before returning to work. Its funny to me also that she is sitting under the scaffolding - I hope there are no workers above with materials they could drop.

Nice b&w conversion.

Kirk

Thanks Andrea, the light was really beautiful, wish it would have lasted longer.

Kirk

Thank you Pnina, yes, we were spared in New Orleans with only power outages for a week in some cases a few days longer. South central Louisiana took some damage but most residents were safe due to evacuating.

Kirk

Thank you Roger, I am just checking my e-mail here before I unplug and pack up. Will be evacuating in the am.

Thanks for your thoughts.

Kirk

The stone or plastic - inanimate animal really drives home the point of your title. The repetitive diamond fence is bold and I'm left thinking about animals behind bars in zoos being alive and animate on the outside but inanimate and void on the inside.

Very thought provoking image.

Kirk