Ciggy Break

[Kiwi_gav]

Couple of blokes on a construction site, thought it was an interesting shot, any thoughts?

 

[helenjune]

Hi Kiwi_gav,

This is a decent snapshot of some construction workers, but personally for me, it isn't an interesting picture. I don't find it interesting because, while it is capturing some kind of moment, it doesn't present anything about construction workers that I didn't already know.

And that's what these guys are for me in this picture- just construction workers. Their eyes are covered and they're looking away from the camera, so there's no humanity to connect to - they're completely behind their jobs and covered up by them. Their uniforms stand out more than anything else, so it's these I find myself looking at the most, not their faces.

The background is also not very pleasing to my eye, it's too chaotic.


Why do you think this is an interesting shot though?

 

[Kiwi_gav]

Hi Kiwi_gav,

This is a decent snapshot of some construction workers, but personally for me, it isn't an interesting picture. I don't find it interesting because, while it is capturing some kind of moment, it doesn't present anything about construction workers that I didn't already know.

And that's what these guys are for me in this picture- just construction workers. Their eyes are covered and they're looking away from the camera, so there's no humanity to connect to - they're completely behind their jobs and covered up by them. Their uniforms stand out more than anything else, so it's these I find myself looking at the most, not their faces.

The background is also not very pleasing to my eye, it's too chaotic.


Why do you think this is an interesting shot though?

Hey Helenjune thanks for your response

What I was trying to do was catch them in there natural surrounds taking a break/having a cigarette or a chat and a laugh. I have to admit I didn't think about the background when I took the shot but after reviewing I thought it was ok as the scaffolding fitted in with the construction theme. I can see what you mean by chaotic though.

I agree about the lack of connection, the sunglasses are covering any expression from their eyes and although the chap on the left is having a laugh the, brim of his hard hat and the sunglasses make that almost impossible to see.

You hit the nail on the head with one point, the "humanity" factor is exactly what I want to portray. I work with construction workers everyday and want to capture them in a way that shows something different about them. How I get my 'engineers brain' (works well with algorithm, terrible with art) to point my camera in this way im still working on!

 

[helenjune]

You hit the nail on the head with one point, the "humanity" factor is exactly what I want to portray. I work with construction workers everyday and want to capture them in a way that shows something different about them. How I get my 'engineers brain' (works well with algorithm, terrible with art) to point my camera in this way im still working on!

Yeah, I can definitely relate! Maybe it's something you never really stop working on really. The deeper you dig, the more there is to see.

I'm still working on this myself, but when I'm photographing strangers on the street, I try to get them to talk about themselves and I photograph them as we talk, although you have to wait for the right moments between all the talking - the times they pause to think, their reactions to things.

I guess "different" is a very broad term and doesn't really mean anything when I think about it. To me, the most important thing when photographing someone is to capture something that is real about that person, even if what is "real" about someone is their addiction to superficiality, for instance.

Anyway, I'm sure you'll achieve it if that's what you want, I imagine you will have many opportunities... or moments waiting to be made into them!