The Artists of 501 Photo

Photographer’s Note

China is experiencing a world shaking boom in the contemporary arts - Chinese artists have taken art markets across the world by storm and there is no end in sight to this creative expansion. This candid shot was taken during a visit to the 501 Artspace, an independent collective of artists who have taken over a massive building close to the Sichuan Institute of Fine Arts - I have become a friend of Yan Yan the director and hope to create projects with them in the future. The colours were an obvious draw for me in this shot and catching him in mid-conversation.

delnaja, Housegaijin, ricochet, kloppenborg, Dpbours, Manolo has marked this note useful

Critiques | Translate

delnaja (7871) 2009-02-17 1:53

superb portrait and composition ! Just love the colors ... A great one Kev.

Housegaijin (346) 2009-02-17 2:05

Cool, Kev - I love the happenstance of that wild background - gives the whole thing a studio look. Very "pro" and yet the man is no model, that's for sure... You made a lot of choices regarding colour I reckon - emphasizing the ORANGE T-shirt and the MAUVE wall and taking back a little from the face, no? All inteligent, intriguing choices from my intelligent pal ;o)

ps. Keep the week of March 20 (from 21 thru to 26) in mind PLEASE!

ricochet (4818) 2009-02-17 2:10

Bonjour Kev
Superbe portrait avec de très jolis tons en arrière plan et qui mettent bien en valeur le viage, un cadrage très soigné et une excellente expression, bravo à toi j'aime beaucoup!
Amicalement
Eric

kschanna (6) 2009-02-17 3:30

Hi Kev

Cinematic shot which has a an appeal to it because of its deeply saturated colors.

Thanks for sharing
Kamran

BennyV (4905) 2009-02-17 4:16

Hello Kev,

I think this is a very strong portrait, with a strong expression and appropriately strong colours. Great capture in mid conversation.

Benny

kloppenborg (855) 2009-02-17 5:20

Hi Kev, you're right about the explosion of Chinese comtemporary art. Its one of the very interesting things happening here now. Whether the art is counter-hegemonic in relation to the political regime, or just supporting China's emerging capitalism, is another discussion...
It's interesting to read and see something from the Chongqing scene, and I hope you will keep posting more images from there!!
The photo is really great; the background colour is very interesting and you caught your subject perfectly in his conversation. Thanks for showing me / us how well that can be done.
- Henrik.

stevev1 (1009) 2009-02-17 5:28

As if painted...fab colors and nice to have this portrait in profile. The good stuff!

Steve

ninaL (19590) 2009-02-17 8:29

Great charismatic and strong profil.
I don't like the pink but here, it works very well.
Great work.
Best regards. Grazyna.

bantonbuju (48796) 2009-02-17 8:57

i find just one word describing such portraiture:

"sterile"...

every single detail works!...

bw, j.

fkostas (444) 2009-02-17 13:30

Hi Kevin,

Hm. I really don't know if I like this. It's perfectly done down to his blemished face, but I find his skin tone too cool. I suppose it was the lighting, or to offset the warm colours. Whatever it is, it's good, but something nags me. Don't pay that any attention, though.

Farah

Polonaise (5638) 2009-02-17 15:44

Everything in there Kev, is either against the logic, or in contradiction with the rules of a good photography, and it is there for no reason whatsoever...

'Stolen' portrait of the men who turned his head 'somewhere' talking to someone and we don't see to whom (?), we don't know what about (?)...

The colors: The blue hue converted the face of this dude into a face of a man who is resting comfortably in the loco infirmary for at least two days !!!
That mentally sick and diabolically succulent magenta background will wake me up tonight at 2:00 in the morning...That's for sure !!!

His leather cap ( pure breed Mao Chinese !) is for sure a black leather cup and NOT a cyan madness, and finally... The monk orange !!!

The most beautiful monk orange color you can imagine...
True...There is only a square inch of it, but...
That miniature scrap of orange in there saved your picture, Kev.
Because of that tiny monk orange stain in there - I LOVE THIS ( otherwise - total, hopeless crap) PHOTO !!!!

Yippie !!!

g.

..................

Dpbours (220) 2009-02-18 4:40

Hi Kev,

The background here just creates a wonderful contrast!! And the totally off-center compo in mid-speech is just wonderful!!
Very nice.

Greetings,
Dennis

vapours (7913) 2009-04-19 18:44

Very cool shot Kev. Very fitting for an arts shot as well to be what I consider one of your most artistic & hip looking, from recent times anyway.

lamentforicarus (387) 2009-08-04 20:37

Kev,

Lovely color saturation and framing here. The bright orange shirt and magenta background colors contrasting with the coal black cap and his pallid skin tone really make this image "pop". The vignette effect is also a nice touch.