aplumpton

Beauty is often considered in photography to be a sensual or technically accomplished use of light, texture, design, tone and contrasts, some of which this photo demonstrates. But that is not a definition that is complete enough for me. What is missing is the so-called "Narrative", but what I would instead refer to as "sense" or "poetry" of the image. I have real difficulty finding the latter here, or in the stream of similar images recently chosen. However, a sincere bravo to John for attracting the elves repeatedly. I guess that in itself is an accomplishment.

Saw this one a bit late, but these comments are incited by its interesting subject matter and reaction with the previous interesting critiques.

While the ceiling tile alignment may suggest hope of an escape (given the parallel and open design) from the apparent constriction faced by the human subject within this (apparent) sculpture, the feeling of containment or "cul de sac", which seems to me to be the purpose of the photographer in making the image (although, I should add that we usually impart to another's image our own feelings or past experience), I think that the exclusion of the ceiling would convey that more strongly.

I feel it is a good image yet one that might convey more if treated more minimally, perhaps benefitting from the apparent perspective distortions of a wide angle lens or even the surgical coldness and rigid delineation and foreshortening possible with a telephoto (should that be possible, spatially), but minimising the overall physical elements that apparently confront the subject. Here he looks a bit like someone reading the telephone book like records of lost persons and heroes on a war memorial.

Just saw this POW. Reminds me of the thousand copiers of Ansel Adam images. Yes, with all respects to the curiosity of the photographer's mind, what is really being shown here?

A photograph like any work of visual art is a success if it does at least one of two things - effortlessly provide an image of great beauty, or an image with a great message. On that basis, how close does this one come to either result?
Great beauty is not decoration. That is what i see here in the form of the colour and the pose. The lady might well be taking a selfie of herself (the reason for the ghost image?), looking at some unidentified article, or holding a package of cigarettes, for all we can effectively determine. Without a very strong statement that is the only message we can assume here, and it is a sort of banal message at that. So, back to simple decoration in photographs, maybe that is the desired or achieved result?

C Jacobs, thank you for the heads-up on this fascinating Times magazine article. Both the story and photos (the latter not specifically related, but very much related to the middle east drama) are first rate. What the POW really needs is only a small bit of that relevance, to avoid it being just simply decoration.

I see no plagiarism in the similarities of the two images. The Paolo photo seems also to have more tension whereas the POW of Orhan has the woman in a sort of curious posture rather than an apparent suffering one.

Neither do much for a viewer without supporting companion images, or texts, of course.

A good photographer for me is one who has a complicity with his subject, whatever and however he or she chooses to perceive and portray it. That connection is very evident here and has resulted in a humorous and appealing image. The use of a very low angle rather than that of the more common waist high photo is commendable and brings the photographer into the world of his subjects. Well done!

I guess many of us enjoy seeing both posed and natural images. When done well, each has its qualities in terms of a visual communication. I also think that some human shots are better done by posing, others not, depending upon the subject, the particular situation and what the photographer (and sometimes subject) is trying to convey, intentionally, or in cases where the approach is simply one of positioning of the photographer, arranging his visual tools, waiting and capturing the right moment. The present case, which is not a dramatic portrayal, is I believe a good example where the natural pose is a useful approach.

Really well done in the chromatic sense, which I imagine is not easy with such lighting, despite post treatment. However, I get a real sense of it being posed, and not just happened upon, which I think might have allow it somewhat more impact. It is interesting that a subject who does not know that she or he is being photographed often provides convincing very small details of that fact.
For what it is worth I made a picture recently of a gentleman sitting on his balcony in early morning light reading his newspaper with his coffee balanced on the railing. A shot from afar, before he realised I was there and introduced myself, is similar to but different from those I made with his permission after having talked with him, explaining my interest and gaining his trust. One can discern a different muscle tension in his arm holding his paper than what is perceived in the first image. My photos wre less original than Dave's, but raised the question of achieving the most natural view of the subject. The POW is however a very fine attempt at this difficult objective.

I often wonder whether the selection of a POW is accompanied by an email note to the photographer to make him or her aware of it. The number of hits per week in most forums seems to be quite low at present and the chance of the artist seeing her work here may be quite small.

"The hand may be a shout." I like that. Fred and Julie, the expressive image and the frustration of being contained I totally missed. Thanks.

JDM, you are right about understanding what the artist may be intending. What do you think that might be? How does the image affect you?

I admire her attempt at portraying something different and possibly intriguing, but as I mentioned I have trouble relating the girl to her environment. Why are her hands placed flat against the window panes? What does that express, is that maybe a reticence, hesitation, fear? Is that consistent with what we see beyond her gaze or what she sees outside? The somewhat awkward hand positions, might they also be telling us something? Are the washed out highlights of her forehead or right hand intended, possibly even symbolic or poetic, or are they just ordinary B&W rendition? My reactions to the image are mainly those of questions, as it doesn't yet provide me with enough answers. I would like to hear your reading of the image, and of course that of others, including its author, as that might help me to progress beyond the initial level of questions.

Julie expresses well my own first thoughts (wow, I am actually agreeing with Julie....) about the B&W rendition. In looking at the blow up of the original image in Sevetlana's portfolio, the extent of blown out highlights is even more apparent. Perhaps the author wished a very contrasty image here to reinforce the intended or happened-upon effect or feeling of the scene, but I don't think that is well achieved. Use of high contrast is often better achieved in images with lesser details, whereas this photo has a lot of detail that is not rendered very well in a tonal sense. I don't see very much connection between the girl's expression and her found environment, but Julie's observation of the more intriging nature of the individual window frames is really good, as there are some more concentrated and interesting images within the whole.

I see no problem with this image. It is not really a portrait to my mind. It is a statement and a somewhat unique one at that. All good art for me is a statement, even those I cannot put into words to appease my more logical evaluation. It may be unusual (and hardly anything like "manipulative") to say that a negative reaction is positive, but I believe that strong opposing opinions are more interesting (and ultimately valuable) than meak middle of the road critiques. In this case it is fun I think to hear how the image strikes different persons differently. I couldn't care less about having support for my own reaction from others, I can live happily with it, and I would simply congratulate the photographer and hope that he uses this approach as a sprinboard for the series of images (using some of his other very fine B&W images of people) I first alluded to.

Nice work!

I think this raises the question about what is art to each of us. The two dimensional and somewhat lifeless quality of the person's old hands is perhaps what the photographer intended or perceived and that is what he may be part of what he is trying to emphasize through image treatment. It is an image that may shock or incite a viewer to find an analogy like dessicated old fish (which is perfectly OK, and a good strong reaction which in itself is positive) but the communication may in fact go beyond that for some.

I find the photograph preferable to many orthodox or oft seen images of POW and the critique forum. My contemporary art gallery (Imagisle art contemporain, near Quebec City) is in recess this year due to an insurability issue, but I would be content to present this one. Not because it might sell to a client (it probably would be hard to sell to many) but simply because I feel that it attempts something different and perhaps is a meaningful communication to some, especially if part of a series. The photographer seems to have a conceived approach and it will be interesting to see how it relates to his other work in his portfolio.

I have since looked briefly at his portfolio which demonstrates a diverse range of approaches, but Ibelieve there are at least a half dozen B&W images that could effectively be brought together to make an effective mini-series on existentialism or the human condition. Perhaps by separating a portfolio according to themes or mini-themes would be a plus value over photograph that are regrouped according to place names or designations like "abstract"? Often, however, a theme is set as a starting point for a series.

Understood, Fred.

Intentional processing to render a subject unnatural or of unusual or not often seen appearance is of course a great photographic pursuit. It can also be done of course without a heavy hand on the PS sliders, more by an unusual way to approach or render a subject, such as by using light, angle, atmosphere, interaction with other matter, and so on. Elsewhere, I have little patience with anyone who says that they have done everything there is to do in photography (as stated by some former camera club associates, amongst others). Nonsense. They likely have only come to confront another limit, which is that of their own imagination.

Attributing human appearance to the natural object may be interesting and that may be what Rod Hill intended. In such explorations there are probably equally if not more adaptable subjects such as the overall forms of natural matter, such as curiously formed trees, rocks and even vegetable forms, such as the pepper once anthropomorphised by the elder Weston. Craggy wood surfaces are but a portion of that subject matter, and I feel as kind of déjà vu in most cases.

Very fine observation, but technically capable of a better result; the image is not natural enough, fuzzy (maybe due to the scanning or download?), and not at all requiring vignetting.
Happily, the author has lots of possibilities to redo this image and make it something (if initial resolution and other camera produced information permits) that can be turned into a large image that would be interesting. But subtlety is more valuable here than the present exaggeration.

Ah, summer, bring it on! Here in Quebec, we have been waiting long for it, notwithstanding a July of a month of May. I agree with Peter and your son, the sunbathers are excellent, but more space around the feet might be good. If I were to photograph the beach huts alone, a less collapsed angle of view would I think be good and perhaps trying a shot either close to the ground or on a stepladder (of course we carry these in our pocket) to see the effect. Must have been a weekday at Brighton....

Very fine original concept and creation. My regard keeps going between the tulip and its decomposed (graphically I mean) reflected forms. I hope you have a high resolution negative or file, as it would make a lovely large print. The subject has a transcendental quality to it and works on more than one plane, at least in a viewer's mind. 

Unless I am missing something, the title is unimportant.

What he does, here and elsewhere, is to strip the scene of many of its details except what he considers to be the essential (maybe that is his secret?). He has a good ability to transcend the reality of an ordinary scene (yes, this is an often seen photographic subject) and make it something else. His fine use of colour, not used garrishly, is part of that, coupled with a simplicity of subject matter that is refreshing. While I enjoy this one without being completely taken by it, many of his other photos are really worth a portfolio visit.

The sense of movement of the procession of women is suggested to me by three things, the first being the perspective, the second the appearance that the gold motifs of the columns are positioned above the heads and associated with each person and they conduct the eye into the distance, and thirdly, the highly polished marble floor that seems to reject the notion that the ladies are static and fixed to it. I also like the delicate drawings on the right which seem to contrast with the formal architecture and provide a sense of now, compared to an ostensibly centuries old edifice (deceiving, of course, as the building was started in 1996!). The lens focal length was well chosen.

Not sure why a big (minimalist) space occurs in my post above. Maybe the ghost of a surrealistic photoshop saturator is at play.

Michael, Perhaps these two of Hadley's represent more my preferred aesthetic: If they don't show up when you copy them into your browser, they can be found in his initial "sample portfiolio" ("Deep into spatial lillia II" and "Fall maple and rays")

file:///Users/arthurplumpton/Desktop/Deep%20into%20Spatial%20Lilia%20II%20-...:%20Photo%20by%20Photographer%20Tony%20Hadley%20-%20photo.net.webarchive

file:///Users/arthurplumpton/Desktop/Fall%20Maple%20and%20rays:%20Photo%20by%20Photographer%20Tony%20Hadley%20-%20photo.net.webarchive

Tony does more color saturation photoshop modification than I like, so most of his images with the exception of those like these (which are very good) leave me a bit "distant". That includes most in the Caribbean folder you showed. If you wish to see more minamilist type images you could do worse than browse some of the earlier work of Michael Kenna. He was influenced I think by oriental paintings and probably also by his artist wife. Anyway, the lillies image of Tony is close to that.

Hi, Michael. Yes, I cettainly did and I appreciate your view, as I did Supriyo's, but my feeling is quite different from them. It remains for me that the image, at least seen at this small scale, is too busy. I think that would probably also apply at larger sizes, due to the multitude of subject matter therein presented. But, as I have said before, and which reflects my own tastes, the advantage of coming across this POW is that we can be incited to visit Tony's portfolio and see there some very good much more minimalist compositions. If you haven't taken that opportunity, I really recommend it.

Supriyo,

Thank you for your critique of Tony Hadley's photo. We have a quite different appreciation of the photo, which is fine, as that is really what the POW is all about, n'est ce pas?