This is how it works Photo

Photographer’s Note

A follow up from my previous post, (also some info on the story of Tréguier), where we got the demonstration of this device for threading. I wish I had noted down some of his savoury expressions, he certainly knew how to make people laugh and buy:))

With a pinch of salt, he reminds me of the Tarot card 1, the Magician: "The Magician is a very important ‘character’ in the Tarot as it is he who portrays the creative intelligence that rules the Universe. When we have a thought, an idea or when we are inspired to introduce new projects into our life, we must then gather up all of our resources in order to be able to manifest our will, thus creating our own reality.

In many Tarot decks the image of The Magician is shown where he stands over a table which displays an object that represents each one of the four elements. The Wand of inspiration, the Cup of emotion, the Sword of intellect and the Coin of practicality are the objects that represent the four elements Fire, Water, Air and Earth."

Well, he had less elements on his tiny table, but his actor's skill made up for that:)

For some reason (distraction!) I had a rather low shutter speed here, so he is less sharp than I would have wanted. I went for a very simple composition, wanting to show it the way it looked to me, while standing there.

jorgi, delkoo, thea0211, zmey, Vasa, JorgeCK, scroller has marked this note useful

Critiques | Translate

faubry (32347) 2008-10-12 9:56

Bonsoir Michèle, un visage expressif et tu réussi à bien le mettre en valeur, ton noir et blanc est très bien géré, à bientôt
amicalement
francine

CLODO (4334) 2008-10-12 9:56

I like the portrait of this man who cooperates with the photographer, he has a nice smiling face; but I don't like the woman on the left. Kill her by !
regards
CLODO

ninaL (19548) 2008-10-12 10:16

Bonjour, Michèle.
Une photo très sympathique sur ce "street worker".
Un sourire adorable.
La femme qui passe, bien vu.
Amitiés, Grazyna.

Burberry1 (6041) 2008-10-12 10:43

Fine and expresive portrait, fantastic expression of this man and very good moment.
I like it Michele:)

A.

gabrielpat (6551) 2008-10-12 11:51

salut,
bonne tête et surtout belle"pogne" rondelette,un manuel.

noborders (14199) 2008-10-12 15:30

Personnellement je préfère cette photo-ci bien que l'expression de ce monsieur soit vraiment sensasionelle sur la précédente aussi (mais il y avait quelque chose dans le cadrage qui ne me plaisait pas tellement, je devrais revoir) - j'aime son air malicieux et son sourire vraiment charmant, il a l'air de s'amuser tellement, irrésistible !
(et quelles grosses pattes sympa...)
Bien vu,
Bises,
Cath.

jorgi (3798) 2008-10-13 0:44

Hi Michèle,

i completely agree that this fascinating character deserves some more attention. I love sparkles in his slightly open eyes. Not often we encounter such strong and carismatic people. I do not mind that there isn't that oh so perfect sharpness...Let's be honest, world never is perfectly sharp anyway. The whole composition feels like a frozen moment from the street activity, but i would leave out the woman. Well she gives a feeling of street happening...but on the other it is a little bit distrative for me. Can help but noticiing her tongue trying to break free :)

Kind regards,
Jeri

delkoo (34442) 2008-10-13 3:37

bonjuor michele
avec ses grosses pattes , on se demande comment il peut enfiler un fil sur une aiguille, heureusement qu'il y a la machine magique !!!
tres bon portrait de cet homme au sourire charmeur, il a vraiment une tête sympathique.

didier

thea0211 (1355) 2008-10-13 7:28

hi michele,
so here's "my" smile - thank you, i've been looking forward to it! ;o)
a bit different then i imagined it would be but still nice and lively and of course photogenic.
also love the 3d (sort of) sensation of 17mm (ok, on cropped sensor, but still) given by the visually bigger (actually closer) hand in motion.
don't know if you intended it but it brings an 'extra' dimmension to the frame ... nice!
dora

ps: interesting association with the Magician ... he does look like he knows something else, something more, like he's someone/something in 'camouflage' among us humans

ps': better (gift) then flowers ... yeah, right

zmey (7280) 2008-10-13 8:19

hello michelle
i like the feeling of presence; his hand protruding almost out of your frame to SHOW US; the detail of his craft. light is well managed too in my opinion, but... do we really need that 'passer by'? the way I see it: you could have just cropped her out. :)

warm regards,
kristaps

[2] +

archimatica (13290) 2008-10-13 13:15

Ciao Michele.
Sembra una persona molto serena. E questa è una bella cosa, è un messaggio positivo. Al di là della foto, perfetta, apprezzo ciò che traggo personalmente dal tuo racconto.

Un saluto grande
Renzo

UnTrained (0) 2008-10-14 8:30

Salut Michèle,
I like his bright smile and the black&white idea here. The reduced sharpness helps to focus on him, the off-centred view is right in my eyes. A bit more above his head might not be wrong.
Lieben Gruss, Ulf

Vasa (5754) 2008-10-14 14:51

Bonsoir Michele, chere amie,

tu te debrouilles tres bien dans les rues avec ton Canon. La concentration ne te manque pas et le reste aussi pour faire des photos intrigunates et qui inspirent aussi la concentration des visiteurs. J'ai deja complimente ton travail et je le refais ce soir avec grand plaisir.

Il est sympathique ton heros et la dame qui passait n'etait pas consciente que Michele etait tout pres...

Amicalement a toi

Branko

chris04stop (2399) 2008-10-15 17:42

Oh, SO a serene face, with a lot of serenity inside, I think. Brava. A very good shot, Life is this too( for all us): made from little, great things. Or not? Take care,
Anna Paola

JorgeCK (2596) 2008-10-16 4:42

Hi Michele,
Excellent portrait.Very good contrast and
nice work with the overall lighting.
Congratulations
joRge

paololg (13787) 2008-10-16 14:40

Ciao dolce Michèle,
questa mi piace di più della precedente, anche perchè questo uomo ha una bella espressione, quasi emblematica, con un bel sorriso. I tuoi b&w sono sempre belli e interessanti. Bravissima!
Ciao e fai una carezza a Merline.
Paolo

scroller (2883) 2008-10-18 6:14

Hej Michele!
Much to do irl theese days. Nice to see your postings (as always). You have caught the glimse in his eye and thats makes the whole photo in my opinion. I dont know how you manage it but yor b/w portrait is often of this high quality!
Have a nice weekend my friend!
/Stefan

wolf38 (12873) 2008-10-23 9:51

Hello Michele. As I see, the black-and-white photography fascinates you. The photo is very alive, informative and descriptive. All nuances are to be seen from black to white. Very beautifully and worth seeing. Best regards, Wolfgang.

SebastianSeng (346) 2008-10-26 7:08