A Face in the Crowd Photo

Photographer’s Note

Another early attempt from my Holga, I am quite a bit more pleased with this than with my previous one. Because of the tedious nature of having to do four scans per frame, I have still only seen about half the photos from my first roll. This is my favorite so far.

The man was waiting to cross the street, but at the moment, his eye was caught by the foreigner with the toy camera. The sign behind him advertises Animal Chicken Egg Cake. Neither I, nor my Taiwanese friends are exactly sure what this delicassy is....I will have to try it out some time.

tcht, HIRAKZ, sebcz, AnimeshRay, ninaL, Josh69, yogi32 has marked this note useful

Critiques | Translate

tcht (7298) 2007-01-15 7:56

Hi Darren
Interesting experiment with the Holga. That old face is very well captured and I like how it is aligned to the woman in front. But I find the marks of film very distracting ...(wrong film??) Apart from that I like the shot a lot, full of dynamic light and a nice composition.
Regards
CheukHin

scalerman (25729) 2007-01-15 11:50

Darren: these do get th marks for experimental work. Actually I prefer your ealier post more - but still these get praise for originality and labor... regards, c

Luko (13894) 2007-01-15 11:58

Undoubtely, I prefer this one than your previous, first because of the contrast bringing true black, then because of the looseness and casualness of the scene .. like a movie panning in a single shot.

Very oddly, I thought about a chinese monochrome stamps of the 60s or 70s, during the worst of the Mao regime. Stamp collectors might maybe remember how sloppy and lustreless they were, putting a rural and autarcic life in perspective. China was like North Korea nowadays. Perhaps the 20 yuans figure might also help imagine a postage stamp.

Yet I still think the Holga would show more attractive pics on a 120 format.

s10001in (1485) 2007-01-15 19:29

Hi Darren,
This one is quite better than 1st one from Holga.
Contrast works well here, for previous one conrast was really poor. Some Randoam grain is additional benifit here.
The world is lost in sweet bokeh, but I would prefer to have less bokeh & even to see rest of the world more clear in this sort of Photos is really intresting.

Nice work with film.
Regards,

Tracker (1928) 2007-01-16 2:56

Hi Darren,
Great result of Holga's shot. Well captured the face and pose of old man on crowded street. Grain and b&w give appropriate mood to the picture. Regards.

greg (2835) 2007-01-16 3:58

I like the film holes - I like the idea of using a narrower film in the camera. I wonder if you were thinking about how the holes are placed when you were framing? Still, your complicated scanning procedure doesn't seem to be getting enough detail - there must be more than this.

AnimeshRay (8886) 2007-01-20 21:37

These last two frames with Holga are fabulous images! Real creativity here. Love the spontaneity of the images, the depth, and the antique look as produced by your unconventional techniques.
Splendid work!

m_s_s (1649) 2007-01-25 7:11

Hello Darren,
i'm interested how did you achieved result of these 'holes'. very interesting picture. nice compo and expression.
regards

Furachan (0) 2007-01-29 7:54

I like this new "perforated" series of yours, Darren. It's very cool and brave smehow. f course you still need a decent picture t make it go and ou've caught a fine moment here, in that fellows life as he looks across at you. I dare say I could tease you about overeposure but hey, you're shootin with a Holga here! All in all a fine street capture, with style...
Francis

Polonaise (5634) 2007-02-05 22:51

That's is something unique and I love it tremendeously, darren.
the scene encoded within the frame takes on a new domension, a brand new expression.
Great !!!
george

Try that Chicken Egg Cake" and report your opinion to us...(:-))

all the best, old buddy

ninaL (19452) 2007-02-06 7:06

Hi, Darren.
I like the scene, I like the mood, I like the photo, I like the frame.
A little, mervelous piece of an ordinary, daily life in the city.
Congratulations.
Best wishes. Grazyna.

tmx (1320) 2007-10-16 9:24

Darren, I really didn't know it's real scan -- but anyway, I'll try to get similar effect using any graphic application. nice street photography, tfs.