Big Brother watching Photo

Photographer’s Note

King Cross, London. I was trying to catch a few cabs in one shot, while I noticed the portrait of Mao on the wall. The colors and the atmosphere are not very typical for London, but I found it very interesting.

jrzufferey, nwoehnl, davecall, Galeota, Jeppe, bertolucci, ChrisJ, jhonny_blue, jhm, kikvel, ale has marked this note useful

Critiques | Translate

jrzufferey (7249) 2004-05-31 13:41

Belle construction, même, surprenant portrait de Mao sur ce mur londonien./jr

Piotr (0) 2004-05-31 14:17

Many interesting places in London You discovered, well done!

cdewet (0) 2004-05-31 14:22

I remember this one too! A real TE picture you got here, Yitzhak

nwoehnl (120) 2004-05-31 15:15

Strange to see this portrait of chairman Mao on the wall in London, and ironic how the billboard below says "take another look" ... The bulky black taxi makes it a distinctively London scene though. Well seen and captured, Yitzhak.

I'm considering a short trip to a big European city later this year, and currently Barcelona or London are at the top of my list.

davecall (575) 2004-05-31 15:35

I always make a point of checking your stuff out Yitzhak, and I'm never disappointed. Today's photo is a case in point. It is not visually stunning, and it is not your best photo, yet there are so many subtle clues that a lot of trouble went into planning the composition. These are the points that make this work really well:
1> The picture of Mao, seemingly benign, but from his lofty position you can't help but feel he's Big Brother.
2> The interplay with the REAL Big Brother; those all-seeing London surveillance cameras which it has been proved don't stop or prevent crime, but which are moving us inexorably towards a globally monitored society.
3> The Kings Cross purple wall with the words ''take another look'', which is exactly what your photo forces an observer to do. Once again, the interplay between eyes, cameras, looking, watching.
4> The Amber light, a warning sign.
5> The gravity given to the composition by the heavy black border & the black taxi.
Then again, I may be LOOKING into a simple photo far too much. Good stuff!!

Galeota (10334) 2004-05-31 15:37

héhé, nice detail. Together with the Che or Fidel, Mao stays an emblematic image even in our days. Anyone ,even born after his dead, could recognize easily his profile. I like it even better knowing this was taken at King Cross.

Jeppe (18623) 2004-05-31 15:47

Oh very well spotted Yitzhak - I would say this the atmosphere of London if you walk away from the centre - The cap surely nice to give exstra life and the feeling of beeing there ;-)

bertolucci (12022) 2004-05-31 17:46

Nice cross-cultural capture here, Yithzak! A grafitti adorned chairman Mao overseeing an Americana cosmetics outlet and the traditional London cab speeding away from if, as if not completely at ease with such ambiguity. Very nicely captured scene!

manny (21378) 2004-05-31 21:57

Interesting scene Yitzhak. I am drawn to the poster on top though the colored lower part also drwas me in. It is a good street scene though.

olli (2091) 2004-06-01 1:05

I like the combination of Mao, "Americana Cosmetics" and typical London taxi. I also like those white and yellow lines on the street.
I would frame the image tighter to emphasize those three elements – perhaps vertical format could work... Still, well seen and captured, Yitzhak.

taivo (1840) 2004-06-01 3:43

Very nice composition. The car is at the right spot in the shot. There is a lot of details with quite "conflicting" colours that you would normally not want to put them together in a photo. But somehow it works well in the shot.

ChrisJ (70485) 2004-06-01 3:53

I like the juxtapositioning of international icons here: "Americana", "Mao" & "Kings X".

jhonny_blue (4954) 2004-06-01 4:32

INteresting place and car... I like the painting in the wall.
Very weel done !

sunny (3068) 2004-06-01 4:48

Yes, you noticed quite unusual detail here, Yitzhak, thus - made a fine composition out of it! :-) I never expected to see Mao on a building in London, but there we are...;-))
Fine capture of the cab without any blur. I will not comment every single detail, but I really am impressed of the way you managed to present the street with the buildings in such a lovley and colourful way - even the street light is warming it up. Very good job indeed!

Rinie_Hoff (9334) 2004-06-01 4:48

Hi Yitzhak, great picture, I like the way you managed to make a picture with so many elements. The portrait of The Great Leader, is just one of them. Great catch.

henrye (3498) 2004-06-01 5:00

It's like there are several cultures represented in this one shot. Very well done. A very interesting scene.

jhm (83742) 2004-06-01 6:03

The portrait of the Great Leader Yitzhak, middlle of London, the bulky black taxi makes it a distinctively London scene though. Very well done!

kikvel (4772) 2004-06-01 9:19

Very nice composition, full of details, and I like your awareness of all of them. Congratulations!

prlcs (63) 2004-06-02 4:08

Très belle composition, avec une foule de détails qui rendent cette photo très intéressante. Beau coup d'oeil !

ale (1819) 2004-06-02 7:59

Hi Yitzhak,
I like you have put together all these elements so different one from each other, a very original view of London, but I think it reflects the numerous aspect of this beautiful capital, from the City to the Est End...Very well seen!

joseelias (367) 2004-06-02 8:36

Nice daily life shot. Besides the colors which are well saturated I lke the blur in the cab very much because of the feeling of movement it creates.

Well I don't know if you're refering to Mao when speaking of Big Brother but in fact there's a camera in the top of that pole too...

yesterday (9787) 2004-06-05 6:21

Good capture of street life, good compoced, good light and contrast and color.

Regards Kaj Nielsen