Two men - Balakot, Pakistan Photo

Photographer’s Note

Two men in a small alley. This market was one of a very few buildings that have remained 'relatively not damaged' after the earthquake in Oct 2005.

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Critiques | Translate

Furachan (0) 2006-05-26 5:32

I am absolutely, 100% sold on this one, Maciej. Love the Alex Webbish handling of deep shadows, and the placement of the two figures so wide apart against that blue, blue sky too. Compositionally it makes up new rules in my book, with a neat three-part divider and that script on the upper right. balanced, smart, sophisticated.
A real "hit"!
Francis

jinju (14265) 2006-05-26 5:34

This is a good one Maciek, do you get the Magnum feel here? I like the way the photo flows, from the top to your camera. The crop is strong on the man at the bottom. If I was to criticize anything is that the man is a bit dark, and it would be great to see his face more clearly.

nygus (8077) 2006-05-26 5:49

ostatnio duzo strzelasz chyba w bardzo ostrym swietle dnia, kompozycja fajna, ale za ciemno...

rowanb (864) 2006-05-26 5:56

great composition maciek, deep shadows and strong contrasts. good journalistic image.
rowan

Luko (13896) 2006-05-26 6:14

I think you went a little bit over attempting to be really original with this one.
for me the obvious inbalance is really distracting, I have a hard time connecting the upper left corner with the bootm right croner, there's nothing that leads us from one point to another : you should have looked for something that gives a direction to try this one.
Also on my screen the distance between the two people is physically too large my eyes cannot connct in a single glance : strangely I find it works better when I look it from a 2m distance although there's still too much of darkness, vignetting and distorsion.

yanseiler (20) 2006-05-26 6:31

Hi Maciej, good composition but not the quality you used us to see, too bad that the lower man's face is so dark...
Kindly
Yan

wanderlust (171) 2006-05-26 9:42

I dont see the point of this picture.

What is the subject?? Is it the closed shutter of the shops? I guess not.

The men in the corners dont interest me.

Sorry but that's just me...

Could you please explain Maciej?

markoci (3917) 2006-05-26 9:59

i like the compo a lot... don't agree with luko as to a connection between the two.. not even sure there needs to be one, but if one insists, the way their heads turn and the shadow of the phone line on the door are there... love the blue writing on top right... however the distortion bottom right is borderline disturbing, and i do agree with others that the faces are just too dark.. especially puzzled by yout choice of vignetting this one...

AnimeshRay (8886) 2006-05-26 10:52

Wow! I love this one for its apparent simplicity, for I understand how complex it was to shoot this! Webbian indeed! I agree with Francis.

aravind_phd (237) 2006-05-26 13:17

Doesn't work for me too..

i don't see you saying that there was earthquakes here.. and the distortion on the parapat walls is very distracting..

Aravind

kdien (9261) 2006-05-26 15:27

Witaj Maæku,
Ciekawie skomponowany kadr, zasada kontrastów lub jak kto woli góry z do³em.
Pozdrawiam, Krzysztof

MKING (3050) 2006-05-27 9:12

Hi Maciek,

The cool, bluish colours and the stark composition of contrasts, glare and shadows make for a vivid and engaging photograph. The bleak mood offers a sense of unnatural and untimely closure (which your note then explains).

kensimage (8543) 2006-05-27 10:39

It's a very attractive, though very unconventional, composition, Maciej, so I'm voting in favor of it. You found an odd but effective way to achieve balance. I like how the two men interrupt the powerful horizontal flow of lines. I do wish that the faces were slightly more visible, and that the barrel distortion(?) was absent. Regards, Ken.

Bruno40 (6442) 2007-05-08 1:23

To all and to Maciej,
I am relatively new in TE, only one month and just 24 pictures, but I have reached one conclusion about the community in TE:
After reaching a considerable amount of points and/or photos in their galleries, some (not all) members can actually post ANYTHING and they will get a considerable amount of praise. I think that there is a kind of captive audience or a reputation attached that tells you: “if he/she posted this photo it must be good!!”
Maciej, this is nothing personal against you. It just happens that a Featured Critique was in the opening page of TE, and I followed the discussion, and also checked almost all of your latest 90 pictures or so. There are many great shots, but many others that if a newcomer would post it would definitely get 0 (zero) comments or views.
This picture is an example of that situation.
Sorry for the harsh comment, especially if we do not know each other, but I think that at your level (good photographer) you are ready to handle well this bad critique.
Cheers
Jorge