Opposites Photo | TrekEarth

Photographer’s Note

I thought the juxtaposition of traditional and modern, warm and cool colors, hurrying lady and smoking man all made this a very interesting photo. On another level, I think an awkward, almost eerily sexual moment is created here because of the brightly dressed woman descending into some dark, smoky area (even if it's really just the subway) past the man smoking the cigarette. Maybe that's a little out there though.

Brian has marked this note useful

Critiques | Translate

nerve (10210) 2007-08-19 8:40

love the compo. very good one.

kensimage (8539) 2007-08-19 8:57

Very effective framing, Chris, it does give the feeling she is descending into some kind of underworld. Ideally perhaps she would be about two steps lower, so she'd be sharper and more prominent, but the most important thing is the way you show only the cigarette and body language of the foreground guy, not his face, keeping that vague ominousness. This could also work in B/W, but then it wouldn't be so obvious that she's traditionally dressed. I'm amazed you could take this shot without the objection of the foreground guy! Regards, Ken.

foibles3 (1050) 2007-08-19 9:31

Excellent framing and cultural contrast. The top of the stairs is too milky. Try using a graduated shading tool in PS.

Brian (1) 2007-08-19 17:06

This is a serious shot, Chris. I love the position of all three people, but mostly the smoker almost posing on the stairs. The cigarette, woman's dress and overall color of the stairs all blend together to really set a mood.
I like these limited lenses man..
Regards,
Brian

happypoppeye (4060) 2007-08-21 1:29

Great shot Chris. The position of the three figures creates a very dynamic shot. The man's posture in the foreground, along with his cigarette and your compostion, cutting most of him out, leads the mind to wander and think about what he is doing? where is he looking? why is he standing there? A very good contrast between old and new. A little rough around the edges, but this isn't a studio shot.

Great work.
John

Furachan (0) 2007-10-17 5:05

Hell of a shot, Chris. Damn near knocked me off my perch. Your low POV creates such an air of menace, of mystery, VERY cinematic ;o) Thing is I looked at your other shots, some of which are quite nice but nothing comes close to the raw energy of this one. So permit me to encourage you in THIS drection - think about what was going on in your head as you took this shot, what it felt like when you saw this in the LCD later... Adn please try to recapture that feeling, because you hit the mother lode here, man, trust me. Mine it some more...
Francis