Parisian Serenade Photo

Photographer’s Note

This one is still warm, not later than a few hours ago... I was browsing the DVD rental dispenser, located 20 meters from home, when I heard music playing in the street and saw two guys in the distance, playing horns... I swiftly got my movie and ran home to get my camera.

Here's a parisian serenade, taken in the same street from where our beloved (not...) president campaigned on this year vote. Fortunately, he's now occupied at more strategic affairs, like following the ongoing Tour de France. He then left Enghien street as it ever was : a mix of kurdistan restaurants, young parisian couples flats, exotic groceries and the occasional drug dealer...

My place is oddly some kind of a "hub" for underground musicians, I can't see any reason why, but it's the way it is. Summertime means hard times for these musicians : less customers siiting in the trains.
Hence they will sometimes surface in the open like these two horn players, probably romanian origin, and their female coin catcher, giving a serenade to the few remaining Parisians in town.

------------------------------------
You want to know about the DVD? I rented De Palma's "Black Dahlia" and didn't even watch it to the end...

gabrielpat, Clairedelune, ls7902, brevbrev14, vincent24, AnimeshRay, KevRyan, SamB, luisafonso, manub, eleparc, nicoz has marked this note useful

Critiques | Translate

gabrielpat (6557) 2007-07-28 15:13

un beau tryptique,en noir et blanc,c'est top.belle technique.

Newair (321) 2007-07-28 15:15

Luko,

Nice and original - Each shot is really good. I particularly the bottom left one. All of the shots seem very old and from a more romantic time. The B&W is perfect as is the vignetting. You have made a nice story with these photographs which gives us a much better understanding of the place and mood. TFS

Alan

Clairedelune (4885) 2007-07-28 15:21

Musique dans les rues, dans les villes, c'est là où elle me rejoint le plus souvent.
De ton collage, que je trouve pertinent, j'aime tout particulièrement la photo de droite avec le musicien le chapeau tendu, bien visible dans son "cadre" formé par la surface lignée (une porte?) et les gens à la fenêtre. J'aime presqu'autant la photo de gauche en haut où l'on voit le musicien en pleine action, les joues bien gonflés. La troisième photo a son importance car on a l'impression qu'il joue... dans le désert! Ça donne un peu plus le contexte.
Un très beau noir et blanc, avec un bon dosage de contraste.
Claire

jeanfrancois (1259) 2007-07-28 15:38

So now you can also take pictures of the future ?

Furachan (0) 2007-07-28 18:35

Superbe ca, Luko, autant dans la valeur particuliere de chauqe cliche que dans le collage, quo donne la oartie d'honneur a la sernebnad eous sles balcons.
Rafraichssant au possible.
Bravo!

ls7902 (6412) 2007-07-28 20:51

Hi Luko,
Nice mix of photos in B&W. Show us the quiet character & mood of your neighborhood broken by these interesting & well shot photos of the musicians & neighbors. Regards. Latiff.

sidstakes (770) 2007-07-28 21:11

Really fantastic story telling images Luko. This couldn't have been better presented. Every frame is definitive. Always a treat, your gallery.
S

Brian (1) 2007-07-28 21:36

It must be nice to be one of the few left in the city. It never gets like this here. It could be a nice change for once..

Your collage is an animated story, like in a comic book. Each photo alone says something of itself, but together its a complete.
The finale with the couple on the balcony is my favorite

dijjac (1569) 2007-07-29 0:25

Salut Luko
J'aime bien ce triptyque en NB, celle de droite est vraiment super!
Amicalement
Jacques

nerve (10216) 2007-07-29 0:42

love this trilogy, great story telling.. i think you should take more pictures of your own backyard in Paris! :)

Ps.your 'beloved' president is one of our most favourite characters in Turkey, people just adore him over there! ;))

flory (4804) 2007-07-29 1:41

bonjour Luko,
so,music in the street..sometimes,i stopped and listen them,even not all the time their music sounds good;)action in every image,my fav is in the right when "the serenade"waiting the money;))
Luko,i disapprove your words"probably romanian origin"and tell you why:first,all these gypsies who comes in all Europe is not ours,they stay where people lets to stay,mean a nomadic community...we have respectable jobs,is not fair everywhere look to see our origin dirties by their name/we have the same origin,a latin one/
nice Sunday,
flory

yanseiler (20) 2007-07-29 3:42

Salut Luko, dommage que tu ne les poste pas une par une, elle meritent... Celle du fond a gauche pour ne mentionner que celle-ci est une merveille, "le trompettiste de la rue abandonnee" ... assez d'accord avec le film, je l'ai regarde jusqu'a la fin mais vraiment pour la facon, une espece de copie de "LA Confidential" mal fagote... Tes NB sont d'une puretee absolue, mais el ton bleuatre me plait moyennement
Yan

vincent24 (9038) 2007-07-29 3:50

C'est ce qui s'appelle trouver l'inspiration au coin de la rue...sympa l'assemblage qui nous raconte une petite histoire,surtout la verticale en guise de conclusion...l'attitude du musicien est trés parlante,
bon dimanche,
vincent

Darren (6819) 2007-07-29 4:09

The one on the right is great, I like pretty much everything about it. I think you have him perfectly placed in the frame, I love the angle of his body and I like where the two people are. The one on the top left is also quite nice. I like it mostly because of the timing; you couldn't have caught it better. It might be just a little tight, but not too much so. I am less enthused about the one on the bottom left. I think the angle is kind of wrong on it and I wish there was less room on the right. I am not sure what the right angle would have been, but I think it would have been slightly different. The b&w conversions on all of them were nicely done.

AnimeshRay (8886) 2007-07-29 5:00

Luko,
What a wonderful triplet, alive with the swing of jazz as it were, and that flourish in the vertical is style incarnate. A charming little series. Bravo!
Black Dahlia...hmmm
A

KevRyan (22426) 2007-07-29 5:19

Nice work Luko - i like to see these concise little image essays - like page presentations - here on TE - great picture editing of three images which tell the story so well - the relationship across the larger picture is wonderfully caught - that gestural moment when he leans back and the delight on the young woman's face at the other end is just perfect....the two pics of the guys playing support the main image quite brilliantly!

bw Kev

Polonaise (5638) 2007-07-29 15:35

If it's good... Do it three times...

Great collage...
One of the most beautiful music scripts I've seen recently...
(Shall I say: 'heard' - rather than seen ?)

Most favorite part of the note?
Running upstairs for the camera...

Least favorite part of the note?
Political insert...!
Somewhat squeaky dissonance to this incredibly harmonious, soothing street serenade...

Favorite picture(s) ?
The two on the left and the one on the right…
The entire rest can be totally ignored…

Fervent…
g.

SamB (1948) 2007-07-29 21:06

Hello, Luko--
i like this presentation. As good as each shot is individually, i feel like keeping them together does more justice to each of them, letting them build off of each other. In one you have a man playing for a nearby spectator, in another a man playing for a long empty street, and another a man collecting money from whoever he can find, even people upstairs, each frame giving a new perspective of their actions.
Thanks!
sam

CliffW (2310) 2007-07-29 21:10

It's obviously a mix of scenes in a theme and you've done a great job of playing off the same "tone" to make sure they work well together as a group. That said, of the three, I definitely prefer the upper left shot. The woman popping out the door makes a very good projection of the viewers (us). The eyes of the horn player in that shot, and the puffed cheeks, have a lot of magic there. Most definitely a sincere street moment captured.

I do like the right hand shot too, with the outstretched hat and the visual connection with the window watchers. He's got great posture with the arched back and the trumpet "at rest" - very showmanlike. For some reason, the half door and partial window on either edge bug me a little, but not too bad. Worth a mention, but as I don't have any good logic to apply to why, I'll leave it as thus, with 99% good thoughts and appreciation.

luisafonso (858) 2007-07-30 0:55

Beautiful! How I wished that you have posted each one of them separately. The top left one is my favorite. It has an intense Jeneut feel. It would be enough to tell the whole story. The bottom left is also very good, very poetic, kind of a preacher man's portrait that uses a music score instead of a Bible. That empty street looks so good. The right one is also nice, the expression of the musician is priceless. A great finale... The b&w is lovely. Very good.

brevbrev14 (372) 2007-07-30 1:01

ciao Luko!
i like a lot these 3 images!
great composition and moment captured!
every frame is a story..
great idea!
ciao!
Valeria

vts_ch (2624) 2007-07-30 4:35

De la grande classe, ton montage, dans un style reportage à la tati, du tout bon

Vince

ALSOM (6616) 2007-07-30 4:46

Sympa ce triptyque, belle scène de rue saisie en 2 épisodes. Tu aurais inversée celle d'en bas (pour avoir la trompette dans l'autre sens) tu aurais un triptyque circulaire (euh un tricyle?) ?

C'est l'ambiance qui s'est réchaufée au la 3ème photo est plus chaude que les autres ? Dommage pour la camionnette qui bouche un peu la perspective dans la première photo.

Wouais tu devrais faire plus de photo de Paris ... accompagné d'un jeune comme moi ;o) !

Note: j'espère que tu lui as filé une pièce ?

designsoul (21394) 2007-07-30 6:12

What strikes me is the quality of this montage, first and foremost, but then again, the expression of the musicians, the superb crops are dazzling. Each of these shots can stand on their own and still have the same if not more strength. A real HCB feel here, in the best sense of the word. Your bw treatment is absolutely magical. You don't need to go to South-East Asia or underwater to send shivers down the spine, Luko!
sasa

prantik (1134) 2007-07-30 17:58

man, I would LOVE to see the bottom left on its own. They are all good, but that one is mesmerizing.

coco (28328) 2007-07-30 23:59

Hi Luko.
Two days ago I saw this photo and I think that you had a great idea with this format and with the black and white. In some way the photo is telling us a story and the three photos are wonderful.
Nice idea and good work.

PD: yesterday I was in Paris... but only a few minutes (it is due to my new job)

eleparc (24059) 2007-07-31 9:47

je trouve celle ci d'un cyber café pres de la gare de strasbourg! c'est tout simplement superbe! à priori surpris que tu nous offres un cliché en trois volets, je trouve au final que l'idée s'imposait ici car c'est un véritable tryptique que tu nous permets de regarder et une mini histoire de sérénade estivale parisienne..

Bravo!
je serai de retour le 14 aout
Eric

bwiti (402) 2007-08-01 2:43

Il est plein de vie cet assemblage ! Et ce noir et blanc est de circonstance comme souvent avec les photo urbaines, je trouve... Ne s'agirait il pas la d'une des dernieres publications avant ce periple africain ? En tout cas felicitations d'avoir si bien reussi ce mariage de melodies...

vapours (7957) 2007-08-01 5:02

These type of composite images are always hard to get right and easy to get wrong, but you've done it perfectly here. Each one telling such a great story with class...I find myself staring at this image a lot longer than I normally would.

nicoz (1963) 2007-08-06 2:33

Salut Luko,
Je suis fan de ce triptyque. La trompette qui sonne dans un rue vide comme un coyotte dans grand canyon, le gars qui s'essouffle dans son cor et cette serenade avec les femmes amusees au balcon. (qu'est ce qu'il fait avec sa trompette d'ailleurs???) Noir et blanc tip-top, un peu de vignetage comme je l'aime, c'est doux, c'est beau.
Super.
Nicolas

John_F_Kennedy (32340) 2007-08-09 3:29

Fantastic shot of a daily local life. Well done, excellent.
Best wishes,
Achim

jwillie44 (1177) 2007-08-13 22:21

True to all that- ring around the black and tan, until you hit the shiny trumpet ;) Then the music's flow will always glow, while the moment is forever true and seemlessly conducted
bravo
thanks for the musical tones of your B & W
michael

walkmania (315) 2007-11-21 1:35

I really like the darkened corners and the contrast between light and shadow.If anything, I reckon adding some grains would accentuate the B&W feel.
Regards

horatiuTT (4566) 2007-11-28 5:18

Hi Luko,
Unbeliveble street scene.The photos work very well togheter
and are all great.Very good choice for b&w.
Great job!
Kind regards,Horatiu

AlbGirl (0) 2008-01-31 12:17