Occupy DC - a man from Massachusetts C/C welcome

[The_Traveler]

slightly edited version a la Blacksheep

[TPF Sponsor]

[The_Traveler]

OK, I'm one of the few hard nosed critics that post here, this is your chance to say something.

I don't want you to edit and re-post it but feel free to be as critical as you wish.


Lew

[PhotoTish]

Very nice - it looks sharp and the man has an interesting face. My only quibble would be that I would have liked to have seen more of that "the day is rapidly approaching ..." poster.


Ooops! we posted at the same time!

[The_Traveler]

Tish,

We have an artistic difference here. I purposefully cropped off parts of the words for two reasons. First I wanted him to be as big as possible in the frame and still have the slogans be semi-readable. Second, I didn't want the viewer to actually be able to read and make much sense out of the slogans, I just wanted them there to sort of set the stage not engage the viewer intellectually.

(If it is sharp, thank Nikon D700 and the Nikon 24-70)

Thanks for looking and for the comment.

Lew

[BlackSheep]

I personally like the cut off words, it adds a bit of intrigue.
What is bothering me though about the image is the stuff on the far right side - the 9 and that bit of brown near the lower right side, as they drag my eye away from the subject. Regardless, I like the image due to the expression on his face, I see a story there.

[The_Traveler]

I personally like the cut off words, it adds a bit of intrigue.
What is bothering me though about the image is the stuff on the far right side - the 9 and that bit of brown near the lower right side, as they drag my eye away from the subject. Regardless, I like the image due to the expression on his face, I see a story there.

Thanks for the comment and for what you said specifically about the stuff on the right.
I can see taking out that little wedge but I don't want to remove the 9 and leave that space empty.
I guess it will have to be just a bit more 'intrigue'.

Lew

[BlackSheep]

I agree about not removing the 9, as it is big. It's just too bad that it's white (aka bright). Still a solid photo, regardless, I like the story it tells.

[oldmacman]

Is the image well exposed and sharp? Yes

You could get a bunch of little compositional quibbles like the white 9 on the right, the white text in the bottom left and the folded corner in the top left. They all demand attention and with the warm background, distract from your subject. These elements are largely out of your control, so it comes down to framing the subject in an interesting way. Your rationalization is that you framed the text out to add intrigue, but not every viewer will be aware of the issues that surround the "Occupy" campaigns. So, asking rhetorically, is this a portrait or photo-journalism? As a straight up portrait, it is technically good, but doesn't have any visual drama to hold my attention for any length of time (aside from my slow typing to offer feedback ).

As a photo-jourmalist piece, it could be really good, but needs more in the frame to tell a story. It would be interesting to know what attracts you to this image. Is it a sense of capturing some history? Kind of being able to say, "Hey, I was there." If that was your goal, I'd think more about ways to tell the story.

Just my two cents. Goodness knows, I have been only shooting studio stuff lately, so my perspective for thinking out and about is warped.

[The_Traveler]

OldMacman,

Thanks for the comments.
The compositional quibbles for you are interesting backstory for me so I guess we differ there.
This picture is part of a set I took at the Park Police clean-up/raid of the MacPherson Square Occupy-DC encampment and will have better context there.
I don't think I have many shots that tell an entire story in one exposure; that may be my failure.
I'd like to think that this picture has enough cues and clues to allow anyone in the Western world who reads the paper or hears the news to infer the situation.

[GeorgieGirl]

Clean, really crisp and clear and clean.

[shootermcgavin]

At least the 99% slogan has died out, 99% of hobos perhaps but certainly not main stream america.

[The_Traveler]

At least the 99% slogan has died out, 99% of hobos perhaps but certainly not main stream america.

I try really hard to be neutral in shooting any event.
This man was a machinist in a town not to far from where I grew up. He ran a turret lathe until he lost his job, his car and whatever life he had. He camped out here to try to bring some attention to the plight of people whose way of making a living had disappeared.
I guess that you are lucky, he is not.

[tirediron]

Lew, from one critic to another: What I see when I look at this image? A magazine cover on [pick one] homelessness, poverty, the occupy movement, etc. It's not a photo I would hang on my wall, but as a PJ shot/coverage of the event? Top drawer.

[The_Traveler]

Thanks.

I realize that some readers might think I am being hypocritical by 'arguing' about C/C.
I don't think that is what I am doing. We all have purposes and beliefs about what we do and, as I've gotten older (much), I tend to want to do things in a certain way.
If I don't agree with what someone says, I am grateful that they took the time to look and respond, but if I think I like it my way better, it will stay my way.
There can be different and correct opinions about any work of art - once we get past the technical issues - and those are never stronger than in composition.
Again, thanks to PhotoTish, oldmacman and blacksheep for critical points.

Lew

[c.cloudwalker]

As an ex-PJ, I see no story that I can recognize here. How many people would have recognize the Occupy movement if it wasn't mentioned in the title? And so, what story does the image tell?

As an ex-PJ, I also know this photo could have gotten picked for publication. Because words are always added to the photos and therefore make up for the photo lacking story-telling power.

I actually don't mind your cutting off the words on the left so long as they still make sense with the picture, ie tell the story. But there is not enough left to know what the story is.

Read what is left of the words objectively and you will notice they could be religious. For all I know, this is a religious nuts' demonstration. Or maybe a single nut...

Anyway I look at it I can't help and think this is a fail.