Norma Desmond

When I want to. They may tell me or let me know non-verbally. From you. Telling people to stay home if they don't want their pics taken in public. If this "always" happens to you as a photographer, you're doing something mighty wrong. You're most likely acting like some kind of jerk on the street if you're "always" getting people acting rude and invasive toward you when you're out shooting. That's what I'd say to you as well. I don't. I love having my picture taken. Don't mind it at all. But, regardless, how people feel don't make them rude and invasive. How they act does. That's right. That's right. That's right. Is a stupid buzz phrase tossed around in shallowness only to provoke. I don't know what "people" do, but I don't. No. Interesting that you're the one speaking for "we." I was the one speaking for myself, how I do things. I doubt you'll ever be a famous street photographer, so I wouldn't worry too much about emulating them.

Regrettable but not unexpected attitude. I don’t base my behavior on pushing the limits of all that’s legal. I base it on a personal sense of ethics which affords people respect and dignity even when they’re in public. Just because I can do something doesn’t mean it’s a good idea for me to choose to do it. In short, I know when NOT to take a picture as well as when I’m ALLOWED to take a picture. That it’s legal is rarely a good excuse for rude or invasive behavior or for taking a picture of someone who doesn’t want their picture to be taken. I’m perfectly willing to share the streets and other public spaces with people who don’t want their picture taken without resorting to telling the to stay home!

Weddings and wedding pics are fairly intimate things. It’s likely that many guests who will be seeing this picture will already know the story of the tree and the importance of it to the bride. Wedding pics don’t necessarily need to have universal appeal, where the viewer who is a stranger may not get the import of certain elements or surroundings. But, knowing the backstory of the tree made me, even as a stranger, appreciate the photo much more and, as I said, I suspect many of the friends and relatives viewing this photo will get it and appreciate it.

Yes. In addition, study the work of other portrait and fashion photographers. Avedon and Penn are two masters you can study. Also look at painted portraits. Getting inspiration and artistic ideas from other mediums helps. I’ve always found practice and study to be a good combination. You can learn more than just technique from a good school or mentor. There’s a certain level of artistry one probably can’t achieve without the inborn talent, but you can get very far through study, learning, and practice. If you “keep shooting,” you want to make sure you’re also improving and seeing better. Some exposure to other work, some careful study of it, should open your eyes and will help see to it that your practice isn’t just a repetitive spinning of your wheels but instead a means of growth for you.

While I think we should be allowed to deny someone access to following us, I don’t think we should be able to delete comments. Too many people would delete critiques that weren’t complimentary and that would just be a way to game the system and keep one’s pages free of criticism. If there is spam or abuse, a reasonable website would have a mechanism for that to be reported and dealt with quickly. You’ve mentioned this diet guy now for months. The solution isn’t to give you delete power over all comments. It’s to improve administrative response to customer needs. Though you seem to keep being ignored, which is a shame, I still think it would only serve to further erode the status of the site if everyone were given a deletion tool for their own galleries.

Well, sure. What’s more melodramatic than the enormity of the universe? :) Only thing more melodramatic would be Dorothy Malone narrating . . .

While I’m sure Les’s (Wogears) portrait owes a nod to the lens he used, it would be a shame not to at least mention the lovely face and expression of his subject, the use of warm colors, the lighting employed and the angle he shot at, which draws the viewer to the woman shown. Some comments read a little like the old joke about the viewer who loves a photo and tells the photographer he must have a really good camera to have taken such a great photo. :rolleyes::rolleyes::rolleyes:

I'd go with "filtered memories." Whatever memories photos invoke, they also invoke my current PERSPECTIVE on the past. I look at the picture of myself below, get nostalgic, remember being out on my deck in 1975 in college the day after a graduation party at the house, remember my four roommates and a bunch of friends. But I also see a YOUNG me. I didn't think of myself as the young me at the time, just me. Now I see smoother skin, a thick head of hair, naivete, a son whose mom and dad were still alive, the guy of 21 who hadn't yet moved west. I see DIFFERENCE. I'm not seeing who I was at the time as much as I'm seeing WHAT I SEE NOW of who I was at the time. Part of me can close my eyes and feel some of what it was like. But I also look at yesterday with eyes wide open, seeing it through today.

Sometime, it pays to just step right into the crowd.

brunch?

Photos transform.

Discomfort is not necessarily a bad place to be. Some great photography and art have been born of uncomfortable situations and the tension that discomfort can produce in someone who’s taking a picture or making a painting. Try photographing your discomfort on the street. Discomfort and tension can actually be inspiring. I think of Hitchcock when I think of visual tension, anxiety, discomfort. Note the angles he uses, the shadows, what he homes in on in terms of content, what elements stand out in certain scenes, the gestures people adopt. What does discomfort look like to you? In terms of people getting angry or giving you the finger on the street, it may sometimes not be something you’re doing. There are some jerks in the world. Don’t necessarily blame yourself or your lack of experience (though it’s good to be in touch with your own behavior) when someone goes off. It could be them, not you. Sometimes, all you can do is walk on.

It’s a shame.

Douglas, it’s a quirk of PN2.0. You seem not be logged in, which I can tell because your name and avatar are not appearing in the upper right hand corner of the page. I have the same experience. When not logged in, I can view forums on my iPhone and iPad but NOT on my MacBook. When logged in, of course, I can view forums on all three. Believe it or not, even that is inconsistent. Sometimes, but rarely, I get to the forums on my laptop.

I think it’s both, what’s in the image and what the viewer brings to it. Norman’s take on the jump and my own are really not that different, and that’s owing to what was there, what Bresson presents, and how he presents it.

No. There is no reason. Or, I should say, there’s every reason. It’s an iconic jump. It’s every man jumping.

Mythic proportionality.

Andrew, Bresson’s puddle photo always strikes me as more gestural and abstract than narrative. What I get is an association of time, which looks down on the scene, and movement. Abstracted, that leads me to music. The man, almost in full silhouette, is a musical note leaping off the ladder, which is the musical staff. The ladder and other trash in the water act, for me, like abstract elements would, say, in the Russian avant-grade paintings of Malevich. They are a geometry, not a meaning. The fences, wall, and posters in the background are background rhythms and the still figure of the background man is a lone, moody bassoon contrasting the energy of the flight of the melody figure in the foreground. On a more literal day, I might see something different here. But I thought a metaphorical foray might just be worthwhile.

Regardless of the specific instance and content, I think it would be good practice for Glenn to follow through on his promises to membership in a timely fashion. If Glenn, for whatever reason, determines his promise to get to the bottom of this situation and let us know about it needs to be withdrawn or modified or can’t or shouldn’t be fulfilled, he should let membership know that in a timely fashion.

I think a possible way to turn over the stone and uncover some fertile ground is to a) read some books by and/or about some of the street photographers named in this thread and b) go to some museum exhibitions of the street photographers named here, reading the intros and labels provided by the museum. I tend to combine my “feelings” and my “understanding” in varying amounts at different points in time. Understanding is not limited to critique. It goes into making and viewing/appreciating photos as well, even if it isn’t necessarily predominant when you’re actually shooting or viewing. You may do, as I do, some of your best understanding when thinking about things as you’re falling asleep or taking a shower. That can certainly affect your viewing and shooting. Though you’ve been offered some good points here, I think an extended good text about or by individual photographers might provide you with both some deeper understanding and some new feelings to experience. Sometimes, deeper understanding can inspire richer feelings. Especially since the “understanding” part is important to you, I think a couple of well-written and insightful books could help immensely.

For me, it’s not an either/or question. Sometimes I incorporate photography into other things I’m doing and sometimes photography is the thing I’m doing and sometimes I can’t even tell the difference. For example, when I make a portrait of someone, I often go out with them around town scouting interesting locations. They’re often people I’m meeting for the first time. So, I’m also getting to know them a bit. Am I photographing someone or getting to know someone or both? When taking a walk around the city, I may take pictures as I go along. I don’t think too much about which is the dominant activity. Then again, I’ve gone for a drive to go to a specific place I’ve been wanting to photograph. I like to mix it up.

At a certain point, if you genuinely feel you’ve tried and been open and willing, you’re not defeated. You’re being true to your own vision and taste. It’s worth sometimes expanding your taste and vision, but it’s not something you have to do in all cases or with all genres. Go out and do your own street work if the genre intrigues you enough, and then return to some of these photographers some time later. Your view of their work may or may not change. You’re not admitting defeat. You looked and asked and still don’t understand or like something. So what? If you liked everything a bunch of other people like, you’d probably be somewhat boring. It’s ok to embrace a difference in understanding and taste. To me, doing that after sincere attempts to accept something is a sign of a winner, not a loser.

Click on their name under their avatar. A pop-up menu will give a choice to start a conversation. If that choice doesn’t come up, it can mean one of three things: 1) they’ve disabled the conversation function on their end, 2) they’re ignoring you, in which case you wont get the choice to contact them, 3) the PN system is glitchy or PN is not interacting properly with a certain browser.

This might be a good start. Why should you have to see what others do? Just go out and show us that YOU see what YOU do and, preferably, do it with conviction.