"Man Sex" Photo | TrekEarth

Photographer’s Note

This grafitti first caught my interest beause it is ( no pun intended) so stripped.

First: visually it has no adornments, none of the usual fancy paintwork of experienced taggers.

Second: it's message is so stark and so bare of detail that it's hard to know exactly what it means. Is it offering something? Seeking it? Announcing it for the sake of a juvenile giggle? Although grafitti tends to be a man's game, we can't even be sure of that; perhaps it was painted by a woman. I love its utter opacity and inpenetrability. It cannot really be decoded.

This photo is another one taken in Parkdale, a neighbourhood in Toronto that was once rich, then fell into povery and disrepair, and is now being gentrified with mixed results. There are detailed notes about it with my photo Modern Ruins, and Surreal Print Shop in a Dodgy Spot and Be Cool were also taken there.

The grafitti is directly outside the Gladstone Hotel. One of the positive examples of change in the neighbourhood, the Gladstone houses several bars and an art gallery (it's worth checking out their excellent website, linked above). The negative signs of change are everywhere, mostly in the form of condos.

Apart from the grafitti, I really liked the many squares and rectangles that make up this image, and the layers of reflection (it's taken through a bus shelter, so there is at least one, and in some parts there are two, intervening layers of reflective plastic). And yes, I lay in wait for someone to pass by, managing to catch this guy on his bike (or at least parts of him).

Rinie_Hoff, MiguelP, KevRyan, Homerhomer, Elise_d has marked this note useful

Critiques | Translate

Rinie_Hoff (9332) 2005-07-09 19:44

Hi Lee, veru good catch. I can see that you were attracted by the whole scene, and wanted to wait for a passer by. The different elements in the picture are really nice and the longer you look, the more you see. I just discovered the stone wall on the left.
I would have liked to see a bit of blur on the bicyclist, even the spokes are not blurred ;-)

Furachan (0) 2005-07-10 8:46

Rich scene here, superbly caught. this deserves broader appreciation, that's for sure. Well worth waiting for this lobe biker to humanze this collage of messages and textures. Very well seen. Cheers, Francis

MiguelP (14324) 2005-07-10 10:47

As I see, you like places in its decadences, you talk a lot about it. I like it too, but I posted places like this very rarely although I ve some. Man sex and this this man. I like the composition although I dont know if there is a definition for Man sex, probably this is the best part nevertheless I´m not a big fan of definintions. Take care, I like this one.

Homerhomer (4005) 2005-07-10 12:36

Lee, such a silly question;-) ofcourse a guy made this sign, you know men are very simple animals, our thinking is very straight forward....
food......cold beer.....sports.....
.... hey sex after first period would be ok too.......
food.......cold beer.......recap of the scores......

I know this place very well, which adds another point of interest for me, I agree with other critiques that blurred motion would be better, ohh well, very good image regardless.
I myself like sings, grafittis, posters and all that crap, when seeing images I try to link them together and make some sense of them, this one has quite a bit going for this way, how about the girlesque poster in the middle, connects to man-sex-sweaty cyclists, right away, entrance to the hotel on the wall like this is perhaps indication that they rent by the hour........I better stop now.
Love the reflections, green-yellowish character of the image is very good again.
Peter

zapady (282) 2005-07-15 18:39

Lee , It is super composition

Elise_d (1943) 2005-07-29 13:28

I'm always shy to critic your pictures Lee. You write so well, your comments are so interesting that I feel pretty stupid with my grade-8 english ! Maybe I should just comment in French and let you find a translation. Anyways, this is one of your best shots. I like all those layers of reading; this mix of colors and contrasts. Blurred motion ? Who cares.

AnimeshRay (8886) 2005-08-28 19:27

Hi Lee,
Looks like this is an old photo of yours that I had missed. I love the interesting and ambiguous juxtaposition you have made here, and the graphic reflection and shadows...

PSYOPS (0) 2005-09-09 20:46

Lee:
You shot it right, and accurate.
Are you currently working with the media?

George

plamn (561) 2005-09-15 16:52

I can not (or I can - because of the absence of effort in the man's body and especially his legs)explain why the image is more static than ordinary snap - for a bit advanced photographer it is easy to achieve some degree of movement in the still shot, but to achieve more static than every other (or average) artist can achieve - that is amazing surprise for me and pure art. It's a time vivisection.

jcandeli (40) 2005-09-21 16:39

wow. this is really cool. Forgive me for not having the time to read your lengthy notes but this photo doesn't need a note for me to think it is great. Very graphic with all the panes and colors and tints. Very cool! JP

mafan (290) 2005-10-13 5:44

so many layers and levels to the photo, but as you say, the grafiti is so one dimensional. there's almost too much going on in the photo...too busy, too much for the eye to try to cope with, then the reassuring words take hold: man. sex. ... 'bas' as they say in india (meaning something like 'enough', 'that's all')! wonderful!

jenny

ps. i wonder what the cyclist's take on it would be if he ever sees this shot!

lollie (0) 2005-10-19 8:14

Hi Lee,
Very good catch, did you wait a long time to make that shot? Nice shot well done.