Girl Watching Photo

Photographer’s Note

Merida, Mexico. In the flat, brilliant sunlight of a hot mid-afternoon, a man relaxes in the shade, watching women go by.

"Girl watching," as it used to be called once upon a time, is not the preserve of the young, and this watcher is no juvenile. He also has catholic tastes, including amongst the objects of his gaze the young and the not-so-young, the beautiful and the ordinary, the lithe and the portly.

In a way, after the relentless youth-and-beauty cult of Anglo America, it's refreshing. Admittedly, though, "refreshing" might not be the first word that springs to mind for the women.

***

MUSIC TO WATCH GIRLS BY
(Yeah, you definitely want to click the link)
Andy Williams

The boys watch the girls while the girls watch the boys who watch the girls go by
Eye to eye, they solemnly convene to make the scene
Which is the name of the game, watch a guy watch a dame on any street in town
Up and down and over and across, romance is boss

Guys talk "girl talk", it happens everywhere
Eyes watch girls walk with tender lovin' care

It's keepin' track of the fact watching them watching back
That makes the world go 'round
"What's that sound?" each time you hear a loud collective sigh
They're making music to watch girls by

Guys talk "girl talk", it happens everywhere
Eyes watch girls walk with tender lovin' care

It's keepin' track of the fact watching them watching back
That makes the world go 'round
"What's that sound?" each time you hear a loud collective sigh
They're making music to watch girls by

The boys watch the girls while the girls watch the boys who watch the girls go by
Eye to eye, they solemnly convene to make the scene

La la la la la la la la la

Mingfang, Isabelle, Bien, kajspice has marked this note useful

Critiques | Translate

Mingfang (1415) 2006-01-21 20:37

Hi Lee,

the look or the watching is good. good captured in Merida. but maybe you could catch more look from the left side. of course that would bother the man and is not very natural.
you note is very interesting, add to the shot. i like the colors here.
cheers.

rosiegirl (2042) 2006-01-22 0:06

Its a great capture, Lee. Quite funny to see how the old man likes to spend his days. If only the woman knew she was being watched.. I wonder what she'd do. The lighting and colors are excellent. I really like the way the crumbling wall looks. Good catch.

Rosie

zig (2450) 2006-01-22 7:25

Hi Lee. Interesting point...is he watching girls? haha I thought he was in his deep thought. Maybe he was, thinking deeply about women... I like the tones here. Very south american colour, if it really exists. But colours are defenitely different than the ones in Japan.

Isabelle (9014) 2006-01-22 9:59

hahaha what a lovely comment in your note! it depicts so well the tastes of men in latin countries (although i also think it´s not only a matter of latin men)
excellent contribution to TE in terms of culture. besides, the photo has a funny touch, that authorized (glance) distributor ;)
reminds me of Kike´s vice

Furachan (0) 2006-01-22 17:35

How the heck did I miss this wondrous shot, Lee? Fabulous, quintessentially Latin behavior (with taht added Mexicano machismo that sometimes veers on the threatening...)
Great, perceptive note by the way.
Fantastic stuff!
Francis

vapours (7913) 2006-01-22 20:13

Great shot, I think the perfect thing in street photography is shooting somebody in an act where somebody is trying to be secretive. Love the angle and the great colour you have in this shot.

The scene is very similar to an image I caught:

http://www.trekearth.com/gallery/Oceania/Australia/photo275697.htm

Bien (4727) 2006-01-23 3:28

Hi Lee, I like this shot with a flavor of (Mexican) machismo. The tight crop works well here as it makes the thought of the man very clear - he only has eye for this woman and the surrounding doesn't exist at that very moment. A shot that works very well, good job! Sabine

AnimeshRay (8886) 2006-01-23 13:24

Wow! Terrific capture, with a perfect timing! Love your note!

tongapup (1574) 2006-01-24 23:31

Very nice. I love the composition of this one, that blue line bisecting the photo on the diagonal, her walking out of the frame, and I also love how real the place looks, with the chipped paint. You had good lighting here.

Who doesn't like to watch girls, anyway?

arindam_thokder (3946) 2006-01-26 17:35

Hello Lee,

Excellent Daily life. The timing and the framing is the key here, very well done.

Arindam

kajspice (4534) 2006-04-15 18:08

Hi Lee...

what fun it would be to hang out with you my friend...

Another raw and trueto-life capture, accompanied by a consistently intersting note. Great colours in a style which I am beginning to recognise here on TE as yours. Slightly darker to the left hand side, but this is visually appealling, despite the small flaw that you didn;t get the full body of the woman...who cares anyhow...this is very endearing.

kaj

alina (395) 2006-04-17 8:24

I think this is a beautiful composition. Lighting is also very nice. The only thing i could say is this:
I wish you hadnt cut off the woman`s arm. Thanks for sharing.