Shadows in Amerika Photo

Photographer’s Note

This is a suburb of the Capital. Functions of the Government have taken root in this locale of high rise buildings and covered malls, of avenues past lush green parks and side roads that angle around. There are buildings gracefully labeled Na.... S..... F..., and there are others that have no signs, even most locals do not know what they are--windows darkened, dark even at night, guards in black dresses, gun at their hips, lurk in the shadows of four corners, nearby a squad car waits with its engine running---I am here on matters that I love to see flourish, I come every year, often several times. But I have seen times change, from the early days when we walked the streets a few blocks away to the Moroccan restaurant or the Vietnamese, good food, some dancing, but now a darkness creeps over me, breaths of men, mid eastern faces, their wives waiting in the dark, of kangaroo courts, Albanian or Polish cells....the nights are still warm, and I walk the nearly deserted streets with my wife's Canon A75 in my pocket, set to manual, and I shoot in total silence that not even the guard in the shadows hear.

[I have a workshop with desaturation, not sure which is better if either is good at all]

djslim, designsoul, jeanfrancois has marked this note useful

Critiques | Translate

djslim (552) 2005-11-06 10:06

Too bad you didnt have a tripod or a steadier hand. It's difficult to make out any of the details. It was a good effort though.

filip54852 (0) 2005-11-06 10:17

Hi there. really like this picture. I love the long time exposition and the lines you have captured by this way
Thnkas for sharing
FILip

partha (13677) 2005-11-06 10:51

This is a good use of camera shaking.I read it in a book that shaking may be produce a good pic.
Very well take.

MKING (3050) 2005-11-06 12:15

I'm searching for intellectual respite since I'm halfway through writing a research paper therefore I casually popped onto TE to just sit and look for a bit but I couldn't pass up on this one. You've certainly captured the sense of loss and confusion over the changes to this part of the world. Shapes you once recognised have become unfamiliar.

The desaturated version is quite nice, has a filmic quality to it that the punchy colours of the original don't. It's more akin to the high-speed colour film work I've seen on crack houses but that may be too intense a sense of despair for this one :) (see Magnum Degrees).

designsoul (21394) 2005-11-06 18:12

Animesh, I am happy you didn't have a tripod. It is so much more suggestive this way. A very nice colour shot, I like it very much with the wiggly lines across. There is something very malerish about it!
Ciao,
Sarolta
PS Much prefer this one to the WS version. More alive, and as I mentioned, the colour contrasts are simply GORGEOUS!

roshnir (52) 2005-11-07 3:41

this is too abstract for my taste. what is it that you are trying to get across with this photo? a mysterious black car sucking in the life from the streets? i feel like the picture was posted as a caption to the comment rather than vice versa!!!

the workshop version has a more stark and despairing quality about it, which goes better with your caption (all except "the nights are still warm"), but i don't really like either one all that much in comparison to your other photos.

sharkattack (268) 2005-11-07 3:48

Bravo Animesh this is cool photo i like warms......:))....well done

bnallama (3755) 2005-11-07 4:16

Mmm.. nice note to remind how the world we are living is changing... More surveillance and security... every move we make is being watched.... I think I prefer the WS version as it brings out a bit more the details... Bala

sohrab (7423) 2005-11-07 12:42

taking off from where roshni left you,i think the problem is that your note is far too descriptive and you give out a little too many factual details.. which actually makes me wonder if you're trying a journalistic photograph or pure abstract..
i think agata is quite successful in his approach is because while he maintains a degree of abstraction he kind of makes sure that main subject still stands out as the main subject..

at the moment-no offence- it kind of seems more like you were playing around with your camera, than consciously creating something according to a particular line of thought...

i prefer the workshop.. this one is a little over the top.. but the other is nice and mellow.. kind of makes the abstraction more sensible for some weird reason.. i guess it's because the shadows stand out more..

i dunno what i'm really thinking actually..
i'm used to seeing 'abstract' attempts in black and white.. while most of the so called abstracts that i've been shown by my friends have mainly been purely a result of playing around with their new digital cameras..
so perhaps.. i'm being very biased and unfair in what i'm saying..

such photographs are a little difficult to comment on.. there is always a tad bit of suspicion :)
take care

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rosiegirl (2042) 2005-11-07 22:03

I used to get this feeling while walking through airbases, especially at night- 'What happens in all these buildings? Why are there so many cameras?' but it always ended up being nerves- just jets.. just security.

Its highly unlikely you'll get jumped or something...you're probably safer in places like that. So really no need for the shake, but I kind of like it. I even prefer the saturated version. Nice.

Rosie

jeanfrancois (1259) 2005-11-12 7:10

I love your note. I love your shot.

keribar (42760) 2005-11-14 1:14

Hello Animesh
I see here new trends, new colors, and very sophisticated framings. I'll be a lier if I say that I don't like it. How about me trying pictures in these styles ? I've tried almost everything and after a while I returned home.But this is not a reason for not appreciating the dynamism, and liberty of this one. Izzet

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