America, America, God's shed his grace on thee

[sarah_19_nz]

To me it is just a snapshot too. I also held/hold Geaux's point of view. I too was shocked at the well known, MUCH admired posters comments giving it praise so I sat and stared at the image for quite some time trying to see what they could see. I didn't see it. So in the end , this shot doesn't do anything for me. Just my opinion though and I'm certainly no pro.

 

[baturn]

I think Sharon already alluded to this, but "God's" is a perfectly acceptable contraction of "God has".

 

[baturn]

Oh, and I like the pic for what it is and think that except for the flag t-shirt it could as easily be Canadiana.

 

[JacaRanda]

Don't underestimate Scarlett's impeccable taste. I know I still have a shot.

Based on this last sentence, I suggest you ask your doctor to double your dose of Seroquel and ask your spouse to buy a gun that shoots tranquilizing darts - just in case.

 

[The_Traveler]

To me it is just a snapshot too. I also held/hold Geaux's point of view. I too was shocked at the well known, MUCH admired posters comments giving it praise so I sat and stared at the image for quite some time trying to see what they could see. I didn't see it. So in the end , this shot doesn't do anything for me. Just my opinion though and I'm certainly no pro.

I play poker once in a while and I also read twoplustwo.com which is a site for discussions on poker. Most of the time when they talk strategy, I just plain don't understand what is going on, the concepts seem to be just that nebulous, but yet these people are quite successful at winning at poker.
So I have two options; I can assume that what they are saying makes no sense or I can accept that there are things that I'm just not experienced enough yet to understand.

On TPF, 99% of all the photography is pretty much bread and butter straightforward, smile at the camera stuff, you know, taking pictures. However some of us try to use photography as a tool to say things, not just record what we see. Those pictures may not be so obvious, either because they don't work or because the individual viewer may not be tuned into it as much.

In terms of increasing 'subtlety', I think this one is easy to get. The obvious contradiction between people demonstrating against surveillance, yet taking pictures of each other. That's understandable intellectually.

This one is a little more difficult, the viewer has to have some idea of demonstrator against power, it's a feeling, an emotion that means more than a simple statement of what is going on.

And this is the most nebulous of all, everyone looking the other way at the parade as this one boy alone stares at the camera. All sorts of possible ideas run through my head but I can never have an answer. There is all this mystery about what and why.

Not all photography is digested work, out there so you can see or understand everything about it. Some of it requires the viewer to engage with the work.

Getting to be able to shoot like that, getting past the pretty picture in focus is what some of us are trying to do.

 

[bribrius]

you grew up in the sixties! That's what this is. yeah, some of us wont get this, like me (generation x) we don't really get into politics and activism for the most part.

 

[Geaux]

Lew, I just want to say I appreciate your responses for actually engaging instead of lashing out like other posters would. The above shots are rather engaging to me and draw an interest, I just don't have that same feeling from the OP. I also sense some animosity towards those of us who like the posed or planned type of photography. It's a different genre than what you shoot, but doesn't make it any less talented or photographic.

keep on doing what you do, even though I already knew you would.

 

[jenko]

I like it. It shows a certain vulgar aspect of American culture. I do not believe every shot has to be pretty or formal to be interesting or telling.

 

[sarah_19_nz]

Lew, I just want to say I appreciate your responses for actually engaging instead of lashing out like other posters would. The above shots are rather engaging to me and draw an interest, I just don't have that same feeling from the OP. I also sense some animosity towards those of us who like the posed or planned type of photography. It's a different genre than what you shoot, but doesn't make it any less talented or photographic.

keep on doing what you do, even though I already knew you would.

^^^ this!!!

I love those other photos you just posted! I see the story/meaning/message in those but the original photo just does NOTHING for me. I love your work Lew don't get me wrong.... I jut don't 'feel' that original image.

 

[pgriz]

My take on it, is that when we are immersed in a culture, we become oblivious to the many symbols that populate our living space, and to the connections between things that are implied. A culture generally has a world-view that becomes the lens through which we see the world and understand the relationships within it. A person from a different culture will be less desensitized to the symbols, and will assume (or know) less about the connections and the meanings behind this web of interrelationships. Partly because we are so used to dealing with the symbols, they sink beneath our conscious awareness, and in fact become effectively invisible, whereas to a newcomer to the culture these things are observed and seen at face value. Over time, the newcomers learn the associations, the hidden meanings and subtext, and start to "see" the structures that form that culture.

To me, this image has many of the "sub-conscious" symbols, that together look "normal" in one context, but would be very out-of-place in another. The attraction in this "snapshot" is how Lew managed to get so many of the symbols captured at the same time. As Derrel noted, this image could not have existed 15 years ago. And it may be anachronistic in another 15. So it works as a record of a time and place, of a culture and of an attitude. It may even be worth using this image as inspiration for other "snapshots" that capture, for instance, the New Zealand peculiarities, or the daily life of Mumbai, or London, or Toronto. Despite the homogenization of culture, it is still possible to see regional differences. That collection of things that are specific to a time and place ARE interesting.

 

[sarah_19_nz]

Coming from N.Z I see the original image as the 'spitting image' of a stereotypical American scene, and all the little things that make it 'American'... my mission is to now be on the look out for a very 'kiwi' scene

 

[leeroix]

JD in a plastic cup?

 

[limr32 1]

you grew up in the sixties! That's what this is. yeah, some of us wont get this, like me (generation x) we don't really get into politics and activism for the most part.

Hey now, don't characterize us! Wasn't that the point of calling us Gen X? Because our defining characteristic was a lack of a defining characteristic?

Lew, this is the shot that I would love to have taken but don't have the guts to take. Could it have been better? Sure. But can't everything be just a little bit better? I think this isn't your strongest work, but it's still a fine photo. And the parade pictures in that last post of you are outstanding.

 

[The_Traveler]

@Sarah and Geaux

I just don't 'feel' that original image.

And that's fine with me.
(altho I would obviously rather that everything I do instantly strikes to the very core of each viewer's soul - but that may not happen.)
Not every picture strikes everyone in a good, sensible and useful way.
That doesn't mean either that the viewer is dumb or that the picture is bad; it just means a disconnect.

Too often, since most of what we see here is straight ahead stuff, the unstated implication is that when the viewer doesn't get it, it's the fault of the picture.
And 'I don't get it' becomes a judgement on the picture and the photographer.

All I am asking is that, if you see people (like me and others) pushing the boundaries of their work, try to understand what they are attempting and question it.
That push-back and attempt to understand may be beneficial for both the maker and your own self.

(that effort to understand has been meaningful to me just lately. I am writing a review of a gallery show that contains an abstract artist. Her work is quite beautiful and perfectly presented. I think some of the work is quite beautiful but I can't extend myself to get the feelings that she says she is attempting to engender. And she asked me what I thought, I was taken aback by the question and, without thinking much, said I thought it was 'very decorative.' She was really, really hurt and sent me a long email. Both of us were wrong in that situation; me for not being prepared with some harmless platitude and her for expecting that the work which was so meaningful to her must affect everyone the same way. SO I've been reading about abstract art the last two days.)

Thanks again, both of you, for extending yourself in this discussion.

 

[sashbar]

Intricate composition. Amazing light. Sophisticated colour palette. All these things make a good street shot. But it does not mean a street shot HAS to have all that to be good. Sometimes a straight, simple in your face shot is as effective and probably better, especially if the style reflects the content, the idea and the feeling.
I like the fact that the composition is simple, the colours are telling but not "artistic". Everything is mundane about this shot. Anyone could take it. Anyone with a camera. Or a phone. There is nothing sophisticated about this shot. Yet it IS sophisticated because the style beautifully complements the content. In a way it is a sort of a 'pop shot' as in 'pop art'. I have no idea whether it was intentional, I doubt Lew was thinking in these terms, he just saw it and snapped it, but it does not matter at all. We have here what we have. A dumb shot of a dumb pair in a dumb environment. And I like it. I am not saying it is a great shot (probably it is not dumb enough to be great), but it is an interesting shot to me.
And as a foreigner I do not care whether it is Americana or Canadiana. I know the type. You can give the guy a Union Jack t- shirt, change some brands on the table, and it will be a perfect Anglicana. The Great Culture of Dumb Folks is universal.
When I look at this picture I imagine the god himself descended on this party on a big shiny parachute. Because that is how these people would look like if they actually saw Jesus. Or an emu. Or a can of baked beans. Or me.
Just my 5 p. and a can of Coke.