aplumpton

Thank you Trisha and Alec. I wanted to tell a story of two chairs as two persons, and accentuate the passage of time by the tall grass. The little one on the left is a typical chair of our island (Ile d'Orléans) not built elsewhere, and the other (a rocker) is a sort of mix betwen very rustic (the seat and legs) and a US style chair. Both are used in our house, which is also a bit "long in the beard". I transported them to an apple orchard of tall grass.

Hi, Phylo,

 

Thanks for your comments and analysis of the image. The room and articles of the priest spoke to me fairly strongly, of his simple attachmet to his profession, of the simplicity of his room (his presbytery had other much larger rooms), the place where he kneeled to make his own communications, the window that represented by its burned out aspect perhaps an idea of the unknown, or of the priest's hope. I tried different exposures and thought of doing a double to get more dynamic range, but the outside didn't need adding to the image and may well have detracted from it. For someone who succeeds so well in the photography of humans and human environments I really apprecaite your comments.

Steve, Donna-

 

I appreciate your reactions. Thanks. I was attracted to the image in the way you responded to it. It just seemed right. I took a few others but this one had the right effect. It seems somewhat allegorical to me, chairs being normally anchored to the ground and the shadow images more stable than the actual chairs. Perhaps surrealistic is a better term, although it is really just fun when you come down to it.

 

I created only the angle and composition, not the idea of throwing the chairs into the pool. So I still have a way to go as an artist....

A masterpiece of communication, composition and photographic art (the bars separating the beautiful but chemically assaulted children from those outside). One of the best I have seen on Photo.Net.

Hi,

 

I like your composition, but the blueness of the light seems unnatural. Did it appear like that?

Great photo. It communicates more than most street photos and makes you curious about the subjects, each of whom probably has a rich (in the sense of varied and eventful) background. I hope you are doing more street photography as you seem to have a penchant for such reporting. I aso like your sometime mysterious colour still lifes.

Nice feeling of nostalgia. Riveting composition. I like the light side and the dark side as somehow being related to the little girl's regard, or the pasage of time.

I guess I am not a big fan of decorative clothing or this type of glamour image (excepting the Marlene Dietrich photo mentioned above and some others of well known actrices, singers or public persons - because we connect with the well known aspects of their personalities and the decoration). I really think that the well portrayed expression of the beautiful girl would be much more powerfully rendered in simple clothing (say, a simple pale colour blouse), a dark background, and little else. For me it is a bit lost and out of place with all the decorative elements, whatever the intention of a glamour image.

My personal biases for photographs of women (or men) is no doubt evident in these remarks. I prefer simplicity when attempting to convey an expression. I nonetheless applaud Dmitry for his control of lighting, tonality and pose.

 

Nice capture and technically super (tones, modelling, background). The veil is a good idea and frames the face, where the eyes really communicate to the viewer. You do this no doubt for your living?

Thank you, Trisha. I am not sure I always photograph with that objective knowingly, but mystery or intrigue is one of my sought after image characteristics, and something you also exploit particularly well in your own portfolio (e.g., Interiors).

Very successful shot. Nice tones and atmosphere with the Lake district mountains or hills in the background. More successful than your 4x5 images of the same stone circle, in my mind.

 

 

It is difficult to convey feelings in pictorial or landscape photos, but I think you have succeeded here.

Fred, I am amazed at your sensitivity in seeing the different aspects of this image, this chair and the shadows that embace it. One of our recent projects (well, not so recent, two years ago now) was to photograph, sculpt and paint two or three of the symbols of our island community. One was the island type of old chair, the other our suspension bridge (our umbilical cord) to the mainland and the third the characteristic roofs. I only got to the photography stage while the painter did several chair abstracts and the sculptor abstracted bridge elements and sculpted them in wood. The inspiration of the others, coupled with my own desire to distort the chair (a very wide angle lens and a downward angle of view does the job nicely) and to use the directional light through a small paned window to create a sort of counterpoint to the chair geometry worked quite well. Hand stripping of the paint from the chair left four different colors from different periods and perhaps a bit of warmth to entertain some desire of the viewer to actually sit in it (altough the apparent geometry is, as you say, not particularly "comfortable").

 

You have a great eye, not only for your own pictures, but for seeing into those of others.

Hi, Pnina,

 

Thanks for your appreciation. I may have lost a little tonality in the B&W conversion from color, but I had been shooting infrared B&W film elsewhere and wanted to ge a bit of that stark IR look to emphasize the simple geometrical elements. I should probably try to re-convert it with more control over the highlights and shadows, but accepting a more even tonality might take away a bit in this image.

 

I wish that my ability in my second language (that of my wife) would be as good as your command of English. It is great to read the ideas of others like yourself on Photo.Net forums. I for one have learned a lot.

Thanks, Phylo. You've introduced me to a new concept. I almost called the photo "gravitational", in view of the apparent forces acting on or between the rocks.

Thanks Bill, and Trisha. I wish I had done more than select one of several possible images of chairs in a pool (there were many chairs submerged yet floating), but I liked the play between these particular chairs and their shadows on the bottom of the pool. What I really mean by not having done more, is that I found all the poolside chairs dumped in the Georgia seaside pool one morning. Apparently, the owner periodically dumps all his chairs into the chlorinated pool as part of the cleaning exercise. It would be fun to use this interesting water media for other submerged objects, the plastic ones great as they hover between the surface and the bottom of the pool and move about giving interesting patterns. Like Bill says, this one got to me and I am not completely sure why.

Very fine composition of a subject difficult to make interesting. The forms and light are powerful, but what does it for me is the apparent figure in the upper cloud at 12 o'clock. Great, bold forms, but not threatening, to me at any rate.

Great juxtaposition, Simon. The apparently headless suited mannequin topped by the ADT security sign and the girl (?) looking out of the second story window from an image-less interior. Fine evocation of mystery and surrealism. Really nice tonality, too.

I like the impact of the expressions of the guests to the wedding, which probably makes your photo as memorable for the newlyweds as other photos of the event. Not sure if you used B&W film or tweaked the tonality in PS later, but the tonality is really fine. The strong symmetry of the view also works well in this case and the church details add to the sense of occasion. Congratulations.

Impressive effects of light and fuzziness that give the image a dreamy feeling. Can you obtain that by placing vaseline or other translucent product on the lens filter (or lens, not sure the Holga can easily accept a filter, unless it's hand-held)? Interesting portfolio. Look forward to seeing more.

Very nice portrait, especially the pose, the lighting and the triple exposure effect. I imagine it is not easy to get the exposure correct under those conditions. Looks like you also printed advantageously on a warmtone paper.

In the manner of the famous WWII portrait of Krupps (that is, equal side lighting, although the WWII image was uplit, to reveal different perceived qualities of the subject,....so maybe my comparison is not the best one), but very, very well executed.

 

 

I would love to see it done similarly but without the (IMHO extraneous, even if interesting) water, which would possibly be an equally revealling portrait of the man.

Nice landscape composition and feeling. The tones of gravel and mountains are lovely, especially as you seem to have resisted over-adjustment in Photoshop (or maybe I am wrong and this is from an unaltered slide).

You've caught the beauty of youth and friendship. Fleeting moments can be so revealing. Bravo.

Poweful lines and a certain sense of ambiguity. I wonder if the image might be even more compelling if a wider view had been taken? Maybe the whole thrust of the composition would be altered?

Déja vu, perhaps, but very successful. Congratulations.