zeitguy

The guys were headed downstairs and paused to wait for me. I had my

camera in hand, and the light and poses seemed right. 1/30th sec. f4 on

Tmax 400, Leica M3 w/ Elmar 50mm f2.8.

Thanks in advance for your comments.

The tableau at the top of the photo resembles ancient friezes, with a studied casualness of pose which still has a strong geometric tension: not quite symmetrical, but very vibrant.  That group balances the forward dimension of the parcour action in the foreground.  The timing is exquisite, with the fingertip of the right hand perfectly positioned amidst the serrated shadows to focus and hold the entire composition.

I am particularly fond of this photo because it succeeds in integrating an interesting background and an active foreground in a dynamic, unique moment...which is my personal goal in street and "decisive moment" photography. 

The shadows, wood, clouds and cloth tones are rendered very well and complement each other.

Some of the edge incident on the right seems a little arbitrary, but it doesn't detract from the photo as a whole.  Just prevents it from being totally perfect, and who needs that?

I like what you are trying to do in your portfolio in general.  

I could see this looking pretty good as a silver print.  I would pay special attention to the area within the ring and immediately above it, as the tones seem to sag a bit there and would need to keep their separation.  But I like the image a lot.  The focus seems to fall off toward the bottom of the image, but I can't really tell much at this resolution.  I hope you post more of your work.

This seems to evoke a whole gamut of responses which reflect, in turn the responder's sense of identity.  Without a background story, reviewers will of course project their personal content onto the forms in the image, both photographic and social.

So here is my Rorshach.  The Muslim woman in the lead might very well be talking on a cell phone. At first glance it is tempting to think they are responding to the bikini'd figure, but closer observation brings that into question. The apparent focal length of the lens is short telephoto, say in the 85 mm range.  This is only "apparent" because there are no solid size clues from the background, and you can't infer, as you could with known tree species, for example, the amount of flattening occurring in the picture space..  With an 85 mm lens, the bikin'd woman could be as much as 15 to 20 feet further from the camera than the Muslim women, taking her out of their natural line of sight. If the venue is in fact a place where it is common to see western and Muslim dress conventions mixed at random, there is no reason the Muslim women "must" be reacting to the bikini.

 Despite that, the photographer seems to be putting such significance on the photo anyway.  Fair enough, but equivocal.  That doesn't weaken it for me, but changes the semiotics.

Doisneau and Cartier-Bresson to mention just two exemplars, did not hit people over the head with their juxtapositions...they often left room for irony and ambiguity in playing against expectations.  Stark contrasts in photos push the image into the proselytizing and propagandizing end of the communication spectrum.  Ambiguity keeps a human dimension.

Would most people study the photo, or glance, smile, and click/flip past it?  That is my question as a photo editor.  The impact would be stronger if the lead Muslim expression/gesture was more dramatic, such as "wide eyed" or "condemnatory" or etc...but that is from the standpoint of a photo editor who chooses photos for their specific communication content, not their entire existential gamut of attributes. As a photographer, and as someone who likes to look at pictures, I am fine with the subtlety.

Someone has mentioned the photo would be improved if the photographer were closer, echoing Robert Capa's dictum to get closer, then closer yet. I think it is an interesting suggestion, but the very nature of the photo is predicated on a distance and framing prerogative of this particular photographer.  How would a woman, a police forensics technician, a psychologist have taken this photo?

 It doesn't matter, at that point you are up against an obdurate given...a certain aloofness, a certain sense of privilege and distance is communicated by the photographer's entire gesture starting with the noticing of the encounter and continuing with the framing, shutter release, and subsequent posting for public review.

 I happen to have read the photographer's interpretation of "different cultures peacefully coexisting" which is acceptable as an artist's statement of intent.  But it makes me want to bring out my magnifying glass and ask him how his wife or sister react to the photo...do they see the same thing he does?  If not, what do they see?  How would a person who could not afford a trip to the beach or a camera react to the photo?  How would Hillary Clinton react to the photo?  Would she use it for or against her campaign for peace in the Mid East?  It is naive, and perhaps wilfully and generously so, to assume that people not casting rocks at each other do not wish harm toward each other.

As to the technical quality, I think it is better than just good.  It is very good. The D-Lighting compression of the Nikon is used to good advantage in bringing the texture of the white stone and some sense of the pattern on the second woman's shirt into the value map of the photo, while preserving excellent skin tone where it counts.  The image could be moved more to the right in the frame, allowing the bikini'd figure a disproportionate amount of space which then creates a more interesting dynamic between the solitary figure and the group.

So to render judgment according to Goethe's three criteria of criticism:

1. What was the photographer trying to accomplish? He was trying to deeply humanize the abstraction of cultural conflict, by finding and seizing an incident that accomplished that through the juxtaposition of both idealized and remarkably specific femininity in two contrasting cultures.

2. How well did he do it?  Very very well, actually.  With a combination of formal and informal qualities that create an object lesson for those who care about such things, he has offered the viewer a rich study of symbol and reality intersecting in a vivid visual context.

3. Was it worth doing?  Ah, here is the hard part.  I personally believe we are at the threshold of a new era in communication.  Many cliches and symbols have been created and exploited in the last century of photographic endeavor.  Do we really need another formalism of the difference between Muslim and Western attitudes, however well done?  Or should we, as photographers and editors, be looking a little harder for the fresh, the cliche-breaker, the new glimpse that contains new possibilities for integrating disparate beliefs?  

If I were to rate this on how much this is worth capturing and showing I would say it makes a nice prize for a young photographer's portfolio, it is dubious as even a "miscellany" style humor photo, and should serve as a goad to a truly ambitious social observer to look a bit harder, think a bit more, interact a bit more, search one's soul a bit more before settling for the tempting easy trope.  Go further.  You are on the right track, and have the merit and talent.  Push your own assumptions, now, and give us something that really speaks to a world of change and possibility.

I won't apologize for the length of this post.  I believe the photo and photographer are worth the detailed attention.

This is a quality of medium format cameras that has me completely captivated at the moment.  Subtle depth of field effects if used wisely, as you have, wonderful tones enhanced by the detail in the textures, so there really seems to be a light within the image.  The sense of motion in the texture and mushroom outlines plays against the sense of repose in the natural setting to give a lively, but timeless, quality I strive for in my own work.

I am looking at this on a computer screen but feel I am seeing silver.

I guess I tend to "hear" your photos, and this is like a Brian Eno "Music for Airports"  composition, exploring a kind of rondo form, with parallel and perpendicular motives running just out of phase with themselves to create an arresting composition.

An exemplar of the idea of pattern, it really is about rhythm and canonical variation, such as you find in modal music, as opposed to music in a specific key.  It has what I call an aboriginal energy, which means it speaks directly to the organism, bypassing a lot of learned interpretation.  Which is to say, it is damn fun to look at.

It's a knockout, and I really like it.

You could title it "The moire, the merrier." Or not.  

Sheer poetry. 

From a classification standpoint, this photo contains the cliche of conflict, but the low viewpoint, dramatic contrasts, and momentary poise of the bodies elevates it beyond the signifying symbol.  Symbols point to something else in a shorthand manner, and stand for the thing symbolized.  Expressive art transcends its means and creates a new experience in the viewer that is beyond classification as sign/signified.  You have not only achieved that here, but created an outstanding example of the whole idea.

You can discard the idea completely, and the image remains in full force, haunting, eternal, dream-like, but potent to attract other ideas and inspirations, which will radiate out from the center, without displacing it.

You have depicted the moment of great force being cancelled out by great force.  It is a defining moment, that cannot persist, because there is an outcome, a winner and a loser, a shift in the tide of fate for both actors.  The clouds in the background, and grass in the forground, are removed from the outcome, a chorus of tone and texture silenced by the clash of force.  But the clash itself is curiously silent, rendered almost serene in the balance of forms -- something only a still image can achieve.

I imagine I am sitting on a canvas camp stool near the camera, and with the click of the shutter, I applaud.

You have avoided the overwrought drama of a stag fight, the cartoonish classic version in the Disney film, a similar gestalt in the familiar image of the rampaging bull bucking off a rider, or charging through the dust clouds of a corrida.  

Instead you have framed the symmetry of two bulls in the middle ground, as silhouette, which evokes the power of the beasts with a minimal flick of image, like a haiku or calligraphy.  It is force without effort, expressing its full nature, captured with economy and perfect timing.  Wu-Wei. 

The next frame is empty.

Interesting photo.  The relaxation of the upper body and brilliant smile is contradicted by the tension of the lower body...which creates a sense of dissonance in the subject of the photo.  The skewed internal frame supports this, while the harmonious tones work against it.  It is like a minor study by Erik Satie, with wry and intelligent playing against what you might call the folk motif of the graduate photo.  If you did all this on purpose, and it sounds like you are certainly conscious enough to have done so.

The tones are luxurious indeed.

If I were to recommend anything, it would be to present this as part of a series wherein the development of the model's pose and gesture constitutes the theme and variation of the motif.  It is musical, and very modern music at that.  If you don't mind the analogy.

Not incidentally, the physical and emotional skews here break through the imprisoning picture plane and project the subject into the viewer's space as a very real person, not just an icon or feminine rorshach on which to project the viewer's fantasies or speculation.

 I really like it.