They did it! Photo

Photographer’s Note

Very busy downtown, rush hour. 17th of October.

- Yes, Ma'am? Where do you wanna go?
- Corner of x street and y street.
- People are always in a hurry! They want to go fast, fast, fast! No wonder they are so stressed!
- You’re not?
- Nah! Why would I be?
- Mmm... Indeed. Why would you? I'm not either.
- Look [pointing at the newspaper he was reading when I got in the car], it's like with Obama. He won’t win.
- Why? Every poll is saying the opposite. He might win, after all. Don't you think so?
- Nah! Americans are not ready for that. Listen to me, young girl, mark my words, he will not win.
[Mmm... Nice to be called "young" again!]
- Why not?
- I've seen a lot in my life. I'm an old man. Americans won't elect a black man, as good as he is.
- Why not hope for a change?
- I've seen a lot, young girl. A lot...

Hey, Mister M, they did it after all. They did it! Now, let's hope for the best!

Mr. M. is a very nice man. I've enjoyed the ride speaking with him.

difty93, jjcordier, noborders, riclopes, kdialyna, bostankorkulugu, luisafonso, Davids, ben4321, raphaelhcm has marked this note useful

Critiques | Translate

difty93 (545) 2008-11-30 10:55

Hi Clare!
is a wonderful capture in black and white,a very artistic photo and i love the expression of this man!
very well done!

Vivi

newgirl49 (19) 2008-11-30 11:45 [Comment]

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kensimage (8539) 2008-11-30 13:41

Hmm, this has to be some kind of electronic glitch, some wandering packets of 0's and 1's that have been floating around cyberspace, homeless, for a year or two. I'm sure of that, because Claire doesn't post photos any more. Nonetheless, I will play along, as if it were really hers, because those 0's and 1's became a photo that I like, once they landed on TE and took root, the way mushroom spores do.

What I like is that even though only a small fraction of his face is lit, that face is very expressive. He just LOOKS like someone making a comment evoking pessimism or resignation. The hand gesture helps a lot, carrying the viewer's eye from his face to the outside world. The only thing that would improve this would be if that outside world were a more interesting scene, maybe some people or a more-gritty-looking urban area.

By the way, I voted for Obama, so I want credit for world peace, the end of the debt crisis, the end of global warming, and whatever else he accomplishes during his first six months.

Anyway, I hope the real Claire is doing well, and I hope to see more of her on TE. Maybe I should inform her about what those digital mushroom spores are doing. Nah, she might delete this, I'm keeping quiet.

Regards, Ken.

bantonbuju (48490) 2008-11-30 14:34

that's another chapter in photography - registering conversation...

bravo, claire!

bw, j.

ninaL (19446) 2008-11-30 14:55

Claire !
Cela fait longtemps ;).
J'aime beaucoup ce visage vivant ainsi que le geste de la main qui "parle".
Une très belle ambiance de l'ensemble.

J'aurais peut-être coupé légèrement en haut et à gauche (le toit de la voiture qui dépasse légèrement sa tête) mais ce genre de choix est souvent très personnel et ancré dans l'inconscient géometrique de chacun...

Je suis contente de ton retour, j'espère qu'il ne s'agit pas d'un simple "bonjour en passant" de ta part.

Amitiés, Grazyna.

jjcordier (24436) 2008-11-30 22:14

Claire
Toute une histoire!Lui qui a vu tant de choses, il se dit qu'une telle élection est improbable!La photo sans le texte (et inversement), ce ne serait pas complet. Bien vu!
Amicalement
JJ

coco (27754) 2008-12-01 7:52

Hi Claire.

Nice story and also a very nice and good (very good) picture.
The way you shot and the black and white are great.

Thanks for sharing.

Polonaise (5634) 2008-12-01 10:02

It can't be true !!!
Clairedelune herself !!! Posting a photo !!!
And, what a PHOTO it is !

One of the important factors, deciding about the value of a (posted on TE) photo ( if not THE most important one) - is its uniqueness…
We are flooded with myriads of practically the same photographic motives, repeated over and over again, with some only slight variations.
In the nature photo department is just about as tragic and as pathetic as can only be.
A photographer who post an unique nature photo should be declare a king of the photography right on the spot.
That genius deserves the honor solidly.
A bit easier there is on the 'people' side of the photography.
To present an unique 'people' photo - seems to be not so difficult, since EVERY human o earth possesses that incredible and extremely unique DNA own characteristics !
If there are six billion people on earth - a skillful photographer is able to produce six billion photos of them and each and every one can be potentially unique…

Potentially… ??? Skillful…? Unique…? Being able…?
Blah…Blah…Blah…

In real world the people photography can be as dumb ( if not dumber ?) than the nature one…
Unless…? Unless it's unique like yours, dear Claire !
Show me another photo of a cab driver, talking to a passenger, mimicking, gesticulating - taken from the inside of a cab, in the western society ?
And, what a PHOTO it is ! ( I know… I know… I've said that once, already..
So what ?
If I want I can repeat that extremely fitting phrase for this production - as many times as I want, right ?

So, here it is, once more:

And, what a PHOTO it is !

Morgan Freeman rules …errr…I mean: Barak Obama !

Love it… Immensely !

……………………………………………………..

noborders (14199) 2008-12-02 14:49

Hello Claire ! Formidable que tu nous reviennes avec cette photo peu commune, j'aime ce regard dirigé vers le miroir avec les sourcils qu'on devine en accents circonflexes qui montrent l'intense expression, amusante l'idée de nous le montrer te regardant toi dans le miroir, on peut vraiment deviner ce qu'il a dans les yeux et ton dialogue est vraiment amusant à lire.

Ainsi que la photo WS que je viens de découvrir et la série de portraits de ton site, toutes ces photos se complètent, c'est une chouette série !

Bravo et rebienvenue : si contente de te revoir ici !
Amitiés,
Cath.

riclopes (32951) 2008-12-03 2:03

Now that the weather must be unbearable in Montreal, you decided to came out of the hybernation...
Very nice surprise to find you around here, Claire.
A pleasure to watch this conversation of a young hopefull girl with an old hopeless man. You should give us more.
ric

prezntime (3945) 2008-12-03 19:19

Dear, this is enough for me...I, now, know it is OK. We stick our heads out from under the covers, grumble and get up with the day...again, one more time, if only to have some coffee and grumble some more. Once in a while though, we come upon the unexpected beauty that hides from us most days. It could be a conversation, a smile, a quick turn of phrase from a passing stranger. This suprise could come from the discovery of a book, a picture, a thought or whisper...it could come from walking into a room and realizing that there are others in that room with you...even if you can't see them, because, when you are loved, even at your lonliest, there is always someone thinking of you.

kdialyna (3068) 2008-12-06 9:10

Opsi!!
A dear person came back with a remarkable photograph from an old taxi driver, to who's expression, and of course the very appropriate words, give to us the absolute picture of certain thoughts which the most of the people made some days ago.
Well comeback Claire.
Your return was a pleasant surprise.
Kostas

bostankorkulugu (33508) 2008-12-06 16:36

loved the whole scenario, and loved this frozen moment of it... makes me feel like i was in that taxi also, i can even hear him speak out loud...

simply beautiful claire... glad to see you back around here:)...

korkut

faubry (32265) 2008-12-10 1:22

bonjour Claire, ce qui me plait le plus ici, c'est sa main, elle suffit à elle même, l'expression de l'homme aussi est bien saisié, une photo interessante et de plus la note l'est également, les américains ont mis leur espoir dans leur choix de vote, et en Europe, tous, nous sommes heureux de leur choix, attendons;

je viens de regarder ta galerie, une belle histoire en images, bravo à toi;
je te souhaite une bonne semaine
amitiés
francien

luisafonso (858) 2008-12-24 7:42

Thanks for sharing this story Claire. More than the picture, the story really touches me. But I really like how the light carves his portrait. You could well be a sculptress instead of a photographer. ;) Anyway, as usual, what I really like is the touch of your soul.

I hope you have a really nice Christmas surrounded by the ones you love and a 2009 filled with the greatest light. Stay safe, always, l.

cam (8880) 2008-12-27 13:40

They did it, yes for sue and a good thing also.

Belle prise Claire, une photo qui parle beaucoup et pas seulement avec le language des mains, une photo, qui me rappelle une autre chauffeur de taxi, au New Jersey, celui-ci, il y a de celà quelques années, agée, d'une gentillesse énorme et qui nous a fait visité notre trajet, donnant une âme à tous ces bâtiments et ces rues désertes en pleine nuit.
Trop proche de toi pour le flash évidemment.
Une correction positive aurait ouvert le diaphragme et donné plus de lumière sur le visage.Aurait-il perdu de son mystère?
Une prise qui accroche.
Bien jouée Claire.
Charles

ben4321 (9781) 2009-01-05 14:29

Even though we can only see the side of his face, this is such an expressive photo - that hand gesture, the furrowed forehead, the open mouth and wide open eye. The photo (and the man!) speaks to me. Not sure if that makes sense...
Simple and expressive - I like this one a lot Claire.

Cheers,
Ben

ed_galagan (370) 2009-01-14 6:26

Hi Claire!

Absolutely pleasure shot! I like natural atmosphere and very understandable for the people moment! Photo really gves possibility to feel the situaton! Great work!

Regards from Netherland,
Edward

nbj (1871) 2009-05-20 6:16

what i love (apart from the beauty of the light, tones, the hand, eyes etc.)is that by looking at the picture i can hear his voice and intonation. this picture is very much alive.