A man intently reading his book.

Ahrk

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Why isn't anyone commenting on this?
I for one thing really like the interplay of reflections here. You can almost hear the noisy street and the busy cafe. Good stuff.
 
I can't speak for anyone else but I can tell you why I didn't.I see this as the kind of picture that might be liked for the surface notes.
It's in B&W so it's seriousSomeone is doing something meaningful - reading intentlyThere is a dichotomy of scene - possible reflections of a busy outside and we just know the inside must be quiet and calm.

Therefore, it must be meaningful and, even though it doesn't have any coherent meaning or message - we need to find something to enjoy - in your case, the reflections.

Unfortunately, in my opinion, the composition is chaotic, the viewer can't tell if he is reading or just has a headache, there is no real contact or view of the inside to know if there is a dichotomy between calm and the possible bustle outside.I have nothing against clichés but, IMO, this is an attempt at a cliché that didn't work.
 
I love the concept and execution. The reflection of the truck is too overpowering IMO.
 
Unfortunately, in my opinion, the composition is chaotic, the viewer can't tell if he is reading or just has a headache, there is no real contact or view of the inside to know if there is a dichotomy between calm and the possible bustle outside.I have nothing against clichés but, IMO, this is an attempt at a cliché that didn't work.
As far as street photography goes, I think if you're going to wait to get a studied composition, you're going to miss the opportunity to capture some great moments.
Street shots are often short of perfect but to me that's part of how they convey the chaos, the multi-facetedness and the fast pace of modern cities.

And indeed reflections have been done before. As has everything. Cliché is not elaborating on a previously explored theme, but rather lack of character in your rendition of it. And I wouldn't say this photo is devoid of character.

I would agree with JT that the truck is too much, and makes things look a little off. A prettier car might have made for a more polished-looking picture. Certainly.

But that is not within the photographer's control.
The things that are (choice of subject matter and execution), I think, are pretty interesting and worth talking about.
 
Unfortunately, in my opinion, the composition is chaotic, the viewer can't tell if he is reading or just has a headache, there is no real contact or view of the inside to know if there is a dichotomy between calm and the possible bustle outside.I have nothing against clichés but, IMO, this is an attempt at a cliché that didn't work.
As far as street photography goes, I think if you're going to wait to get a studied composition, you're going to miss the opportunity to capture some great moments.
Street shots are often short of perfect but to me that's part of how they convey the chaos, the multi-facetedness and the fast pace of modern cities.

And indeed reflections have been done before. As has everything. Cliché is not elaborating on a previously explored theme, but rather lack of character in your rendition of it. And I wouldn't say this photo is devoid of character.

I would agree with JT that the truck is too much, and makes things look a little off. A prettier car might have made for a more polished-looking picture. Certainly.

But that is not within the photographer's control.
The things that are (choice of subject matter and execution), I think, are pretty interesting and worth talking about.

Well said. Although I do think the reflection is somewhat within the photographer's control here. I would love to see the next few frames, assuming some were snapped, without the truck reflection. I think there would be a very faint reflection that would still give the intended effect, but allow the reader and his books to really "pop". As it is now, the truck is the first thing that jumps out to me.
 
As far as street photography goes, I think if you're going to wait to get a studied composition, you're going to miss the opportunity to capture some great moments.
Street shots are often short of perfect but to me that's part of how they convey the chaos, the multi-facetedness and the fast pace of modern cities.

And indeed reflections have been done before. As has everything. Cliché is not elaborating on a previously explored theme, but rather lack of character in your rendition of it. And I wouldn't say this photo is devoid of character.

I would agree with JT that the truck is too much, and makes things look a little off. A prettier car might have made for a more polished-looking picture. Certainly.

But that is not within the photographer's control.
The things that are (choice of subject matter and execution), I think, are pretty interesting and worth talking about.

Everything you say makes sense in some general, no-specific-picture way, but that doesn't mean that a viewer can skip over the very weak parts of the picture to try and make something out of it when the photographer hasn't.
The various elements of the image give a hint of what the picture might have been but isn't.
The role of the photographer is to recognize when the picture falls short and use the shortcomings as lessons learned.
If the viewer is going to riff on little bits and what it might have been, then the viewer isn't an audience but a collaborator - and not a useful one.
 
Unfortunately, in my opinion, the composition is chaotic, the viewer can't tell if he is reading or just has a headache, there is no real contact or view of the inside to know if there is a dichotomy between calm and the possible bustle outside.I have nothing against clichés but, IMO, this is an attempt at a cliché that didn't work.
As far as street photography goes, I think if you're going to wait to get a studied composition, you're going to miss the opportunity to capture some great moments.
Street shots are often short of perfect but to me that's part of how they convey the chaos, the multi-facetedness and the fast pace of modern cities.

And indeed reflections have been done before. As has everything. Cliché is not elaborating on a previously explored theme, but rather lack of character in your rendition of it. And I wouldn't say this photo is devoid of character.

I would agree with JT that the truck is too much, and makes things look a little off. A prettier car might have made for a more polished-looking picture. Certainly.

But that is not within the photographer's control.
The things that are (choice of subject matter and execution), I think, are pretty interesting and worth talking about.


Alexandra, if you look at the shots of street photography masters, the chaos is perfectly organised there. That is why these shots are so difficult. You need to have this rare sense of chaos organisation and need to take lots of shots to get a good one. I personally love the shots that convey the chaos of the street, and to me these shots are cut above simplistic street compositions, but the chaos has to click compositionally. It does not click here. These are very very ambitious shots to pull off.

If you want an interpretation of this shot though, I can give you one. The man wants to hide from the noise and chaos of the street in a quiet reading environment. But the is no hiding place in a big city. The hectic urban life penetrates walls. The pose and the awkward reflections SORT OF support this concept. But it does not make the photo great in my view. It is not bad though.
 
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Sometimes the message is best delivered with subtlety.

You don't need to include the ENTIRE truck to let us know that the truck is there.

In the end, the picture is about the GUY within the space, not the SPACE itself.

This is a common problem with a lot of photographers (especially lately, it seems... I see a lot of REALLY good people going way too wide, and it ruins a lot of good shots)

A simple crop helps this image a lot.


$62646d1387744225-man-intently-reading-his-book-dsc_2020.jpg

Alexandra... it's not a matter of waiting to get a studied composition... it's a matter of quickly identifying what the composition is and capturing it close enough to ideal that you can finish off whatever fine details need adjustment in post.

I was once in a library shooting something. I had my camera on a tripod. There was a guy behind me working on something, but he wasn't doing anything all that interesting. I turned around and noticed he was leaning back and resting his eyes. I whipped my camera around, adjusted my camera on the tripod and took a SINGLE shot. Immediately after the shutter fired, he got up again.

http://www.wickedtiki.com/images/tpf/Salem Courthouse and Library - 009 bw.jpg

Without knowing what a good "street shot" is composed of, I wouldn't have seen that... let alone been able to pull it off that quickly.
 
I had a similar thought when I first saw the picture..some cropping will improve the focus. Your crop does add a lot to the picture.
 
Thank you all very much for the replies, there is a ton of information I can take from here. This is exactly what I love about critiques.


I'm quite new to photography and even newer to 'Street Photography', I haven't quite worked up the confidence to take time (not that there always is) with my candid shots. I tend to see it, take it and scurry away hoping to not get caught. I do love all the reflections, but that truck is a sore spot for me also, wish it could have been silhouettes of pedestrians or at least a less obtrusive vehicle.


I would love to see the next few frames, assuming some were snapped, without the truck reflection. I think there would be a very faint reflection that would still give the intended effect, but allow the reader and his books to really "pop". As it is now, the truck is the first thing that jumps out to me.


Yeah, unfortunatley it was a single shot that I scrambled away from shamefully because I was breaking social norms :D
 

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