Where were you on September 10th 2001 ?, a photo from New York, Northeast

Photographer's Note

The question “Where were you on September 11th 2001 at 8 am?” is probably a question that you’ve been asked or will be asked one day. But what about “Where were you on September 10th 2001 at 2pm?”. I guess there is far less chance you get to be asked this question and this is precisely why I dedicate this photo to this moronic question…
I’ll answer first if it’s ok with you because I like to talk about myself a lot… or not. Anyway, I was in Central Park NY city, killing the last hours of my 3 weeks stay in the US. Everything was fine as I was looking back at how these 3 wonderful weeks had unfolded: the Mets won the 3 games I went to see at Shea Stadium, I didn’t break-up with my girlfriend on the contrary to what I anticipated… All fine. As I was lying down in the grass, I could hear a guy singing a song “Cat Stevens’ style”, trying to get “Jesus” and “Join hands” rime for 12 minutes… So actually not everything was so fine and I left the place after the 2nd verse. It's when I left the weird singer that I passed below an arch and spotted that guy, playing the saxo… Now at that moment I could say “everything was really fine”…

Mondaychild, worldcitizen, euryan, marknunnerley, KevRyan, kryger, m_s_s has marked this note useful

Critiques | Translate

khafes (303) 2006-11-05 7:19

Foto muito interessante, gosto bastante deste contra-luz, mas penso que uma foto mais proxima da face da pessoa ficaria mais interessante.
Boas Fotos

SAGAPO (1739) 2006-11-05 7:28

Hi Vincent,Nice silhouette.Very nice capture.I like the BW silhouette, and the framing.
Congratulationis...
Ahmet

zig (2456) 2006-11-05 8:01

I was in my apartment, sleeping.

The light framing his body is one excellent element here. The stairs also helps to make a good composition. Solitude, isolated,.. did he survive the incident, or was he killed as well...who knows but he was fine then as well as everybody else then. Nice meaningful photo.

Lynette (1615) 2006-11-05 8:31

I was just returning from afternoon marketing classes.
A wonderful silhoutte frame in b&w against the stairway. Good note as well... TFS.
warm regards to you
Lynette

Yuanclarkson (38) 2006-11-05 9:04

Good capture and good question, Vincent!

I do not have an answer, but just questions to you:
- How to plan a week visiting Afghanistan?
- Overland from Pakistan or Turkey is better?
- Will the US military treat us like we are trepassing their father's ranch?
Any tips & advice are sincerely welcome, Vincent.
Yuan

Mondaychild (378) 2006-11-05 9:35

Hi Vincent,

a really wonderful black/white photo - and a note that makes me thinking ... we shouldn´t forget the bad things that are happening in the world; but neither should we forget the good moments - when great things happened to us!
(I must confess, I have no idea what I did on September 10th ...)

zips (1958) 2006-11-05 11:59

Nice catch here. Looks like the guy was at the bottom of a flight of subway stairs....good acoustics down there. Nice B/W format.

Great Job.
Aloha, JB

euryan (8442) 2006-11-05 13:36

I was at school. Being only a couple weeks into my first semester of college. Unfortunately, two more years would pass before I could start my second semester, but I digress.

I think this is a very good photo Vincent, with an interesting question attached. I really like how you silhouetted this man against those stairs. The BW is very nice and fits the subject matter well.
Take care my friend,
Ryan

worldcitizen (14454) 2006-11-05 13:40

Hello Vincent,
I was in my office in midtown Manhattan...

I like this simple capture. It shows a typical moment in NYC life, but it does so in a very quiet way. Very nice having steps as the background, and the B/W fits the mood perfectly.

jinju (14265) 2006-11-06 3:34

I was in Korea.

The good thing here is how the man is totally framed by light. even on his back, where theres almost total darkness theres a sliver of light gently outlining his form.

marknunnerley (2780) 2006-11-06 11:58

Hi Vincent, I was hanging a door. Nice question though when linked like this. Very clever. Hope I didn't offend with my last critique, if I did I apologise. Anyway, good this, very moody and nice framing. As usual great notes.
Regards
Mark

KevRyan (22956) 2006-11-06 14:01

A really nice piece of writing Vincent...such a poignant image created by lone saxophonists in urban environments the world over - especially back lit and silhouetted....I saw a band in Canada earlier this year...The Coup from the States who the day before the WTC published new music with the WTC blowing up on the cover......it survived on the open market about as long as those towers did after they were hit....everything was so fine they could even joke about it the day before.....

You can still find the cover on the Net somewhere of course .......

Nice work

take care Kev

brevbrev14 (140) 2006-11-07 3:34

hi VIncent, i like a lot this shot!
has a great mood, a great atmosphere in it!
i like a lot your compo and how you menaged the lights!
very good work!!
ciao!
Valeria

MikiM (1924) 2006-11-08 11:06

Hi Vincent,

I like your low key image - you captured perfectly the musician. The BW was a good choice.
The note tells many thing from you - thanks for sharing!

Miklós - from Budapest

(From my side taht time I spent a hate-Monday in my previous job in the office.)

ben4321 (9875) 2006-11-09 6:02

This is a great shot, Vincent.
I like how you controlled the difficult light here; the rim-lighting on the sax player is very effective. It gives his silhouette added definition.
The composition is very good, but it's the great light that really gives this atmosphere.
A classic.
Cheers,
Ben

peter1892 (1681) 2006-11-10 18:09

Fine shot - good compostion, great contrast in this B&W image & I like the way the sax player is silhouetted against the light coming in from those stairs.

katwalker63 (0) 2007-01-03 19:37

Incredible photo....I can almost hear the notes echoing off the concrete stairs. You have really captured an essecence of NY. As for where I was on Sept 10, 2001, I went to the airport in Orlando to pick up a friend (both of us exiled New Yorkers) who was flying home from Washington DC with a broken heart.....that we remedied with a disgusting amount of alcohol at our favorite watering hole, never knowing that the world as we knew it would be forever changed in a few short hours.

m_s_s (1691) 2007-02-18 5:01

Hello Vincent,
cool photo, well composed, perfect silhouette, good b&w. nice work.
regards