Old Mother 2 Photo

Photographer’s Note

This is from a scan done a few years ago and I'd suggest a good viewing distance of at least a couple of feet. It may look awful on a really good monitor - let me know.

I've just been getting involved in the Sabyasachi PP non-debate and whilst I can't bring myself to sharpen and darken to that degree I thought I would subject this recent image to some of the devices he uses to change images for TE - perhaps it's more fitting to give this image back its original title from the colour version - 'Old Mother'

It's particlarly interesting to see what happens to the person with such dramatisation of an image - really worth thinking about how we can 'exploit' a person's look for our own ends..........not just the heavily re-touched magazne model.

I'm afraid Kaj's realism still gets the bigger vote from me.

......and this lady is not as distressed as she looks here.......there's a much mre gentle thing going on.....go back to the original and take a breath.

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Words from first b&w post

A black and white conversion from a scan of an old print - something I posted in colour in my early days here - just coming across it reminded me of Kaj's excellent work from Gujarat over the last six/seven months. So I dedicate it to her and the people she came to know.

I'd also just done a couple of workshops on this image just now so I guess that influenced my post

This lady and her family welcomed us very generously to their homes in a very poor village near Bhavnagar. I was travelling with Frances my wife and three year old and seven year old sons and we'd just encountered a cobra on the path.......I held my kids back and one of the village guys grabbed the hand of one of his and a big stick and went after it.

When we left their house they insisted on us taking all sorts of gifts but the Patels in the upper village who we visited next took them all off us and gave us new ones. There was a real politic going on in this village and our Bhavnagar hosts were really concerned about us getting involved and seemed somehow concerned for our safety ......but we experienced nothing but generosity and kindness ......and i can make up my own mind about politics.

isabela_sor, bantonbuju, gelor, rigoletto has marked this note useful

Critiques | Translate

Burberry1 (6041) 2007-07-09 1:14

Unbelievable, strong, eyecatching!
These are words that describe your succesful photo.

Thanks, Agnieszka

isabela_sor (42727) 2007-07-09 1:18

My God,I love this version!!!The PP work here made wonders and this portrait is perfect ,strong and ....simply unbelievableeeeeeeee!!!
A nice week

Luko (13902) 2007-07-09 1:20

I didn't know you could get a print from a mobile phone... didn't know either that the OM2 was integrated to a mobile phone.

Very frankly, I'd either advise to buy a better scan or to slow down on processing. Looks like you've blown out a 1/100th of a print. It hurts my eyes.Subject might be good but at this stage of processing distorsion, it's like using the mosaic filter in photoshop.

partha (13677) 2007-07-09 1:21

Hi Kev,
Very strong composition. B&W enhances the spirit of it.
Regards.
partha

bantonbuju (48844) 2007-07-09 1:21

not sure about this one, kev,
i cas see that Sabyasachi's strong influance but i think this image (scaned) would benefit from some soft focus rather than this heavily-used sabyasachi thing...
the old woman lost her natural beauty and started to become a monster rather than an old, wise, gentle woman...even if she looked so in reality (which i'm not so sure about) i find it hard to accept to present her in this way...
bw, j.

Furachan (0) 2007-07-09 1:34

I think the sad truth here is that this more extreme scan emphasizes the "skull and bones" aspect of the thing and well... I doubt this is your intention. You were on far safer ground with the last version...

everlasting (10942) 2007-07-09 2:02

Hi Kev, I have not been around here recently and have not followed the Sabyasachi debate at all, but I have to say I dont like this! I assume this is the point you are tryign to make as i know you of all people can brign out the gentleness and tenderness of a person in a portrait. While I am also not so keen on the original, (just a matter of taste) I think this PP turns her into a frightening experience.

Dpbours (220) 2007-07-09 3:15

Hi Kev,

It is a very interesting shot, but I'm afraid the qwuality isn't getting that much better between the original and the repost - though the background is getting less attention now which makes me focus on the woman more.

Greetings,
Dennis

nerve (10216) 2007-07-09 4:26

its not good enough for me good sir, see my WS, i think it is more arty-*arty, howzat?? ;)

good point Kev, cheers.

[workshop] [compare] +

conneally (105) 2007-07-09 4:33

here is the picture in its original (or near original) form when it became the start of a ren arts peice (a linked collaborative hypertext piece) some years ago now kev

http://www.cddc.vt.edu/host/haikumania/oldmother1.html

the version shown here at TE in black and white gives a really different feel to the original where she is with the younger woman

paul

ALSOM (6616) 2007-07-09 5:23 [Comment]

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gelor (3224) 2007-07-09 5:43

Bonjour,
Une image qui ne peut laisser indifférent ! J'ai eu un mouvement de recul face à cette image moi qui ne suis pas amateur de film d'épouvante. C'est trop fort, trop violent et presque insoutenable... Bravo au photographe...
Gérard

capthaddock (28640) 2007-07-09 12:49 [Comment]

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Polonaise (5638) 2007-07-09 16:29 [Comment]

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kajspice (4534) 2007-07-13 17:08

oh!!!! This is the dedication?!? I did see this, but clearly, I am far too stupid to understand what you were getting at... I see what you were getting at now.

I feel guilty though, as I cannot help seeing her as the subject in all of this. Sorry to spoil the fun.

I do love your last few honest critiques though. This is a new Kev, whom I didn't know and like very much :)

rigoletto (27060) 2007-07-14 6:51 [Comment]

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tabora (13642) 2007-07-22 14:15

bonsoir Kev,
Je viens de regarder les trois photos,mais je trouve que post traitement sur celle-ci fait se dégager un sentment de désespoir et de tristesse,accentué par les plus fort contrastes de la peau qui semble encore plus flétrie par le temp.
Un beau travail.
A+
Joseph

kinginexile (2440) 2007-07-30 10:56 [Comment]

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thaprem (2500) 2007-07-31 6:40

Kev,
It is not the quality of the PP I am touched about...
It is simply the subject & connection to your notes which sweeps...
Ofcourse I would have loved to see this in perfect sharpness & detail, but the mood is evident here & that is what counts in a photo-journalistic context isn`t it? So my vote goes for this.
Thanks,
Prem.

abanibi (747) 2007-08-11 7:18

This is a very dramatic take, indeed. And the subject is just formidable. I'm not sure about the effects... Maybe something between this and the original post would be more of my taste, as I find it a bit too sharpened on face and hair. Anyway, it's an impressive portrait, and the rest is just opinion :-)
Thanks for the shot and the experience.
Take care