Kwesi (I need your opinions)

[DanOstergren25]

I love playing with light and shadow, but I'm not sure how to feel about this particular shot and wanted to see what others thought about this.
I believe there are certain elements to this shot that are very beautiful, but in the back of my mind there is this thought that keeps me from sharing it. To me it's very evocative, but the shadows almost have an effect that implies the model is behind bars, and I don't think putting a black man behind bars is something I want to convey in my photographs. Am I just overthinking this?

Anyways, this was shot in natural light.
Canon 5D classic, Canon 50mm f/1.4 lens set to f/8, 1/400th sec, ISO 400.

 

[pixmedic]

I don't see it as "bars", only dappled lighting.
I think it's a stretch to view this as "imprisoned" so I wouldnt worry too much there.
The two things that bug me here is the subjects face being so much darker than the rest (almost appearing as a different skin tone) and that big triangle shadow in the corner.

Its a great pose with a perfectly accompaning expression. It's the lighting that kills it for me.

 

[vintagesnaps]

I don't know if it would've occured to me if you hadn't mentioned it. I don't take it as him being imprisoned, I see it as a pattern of shadow, but these days it wouldn't surprise me if someone did. I'd think about how and where you'd use this. I could see it being more usable down the road since there seem to be so many hot points nowadays. I might hang onto it for awhile and wait for an opportunity for it to be seen/viewed as you intended.

 

[Derrel]

I don't see it as "bars", only dappled lighting.
I think it's a stretch to view this as "imprisoned" so I wouldnt worry too much there.>SNIP>

Its a great pose with a perfectly accompanying expression. It's the lighting that kills it for me.

I don't know if it would've occured to me if you hadn't mentioned it. I don't take it as him being imprisoned, I see it as a pattern of shadow, but these days it wouldn't surprise me if someone did. I'd think about how and where you'd use this. I could see it being more usable down the road since there seem to be so many hot points nowadays. I might hang onto it for awhile and wait for an opportunity for it to be seen/viewed as you intended.

I too (three?) did not think of the "bars" concept until after I read your possible interpretation. I looked at the photo first, before reading ANY of your post, and based upon my own experiences, composed my thoughts about several aspects of it. I was surprised about the "bars" aspect--to me that had not occurred, but I see where you are coming from!

 

[JonFZ300]

I think there will be people who see it like that but it could be interpreted as a social comment too. It could be shedding light (ugh) on the fact that blacks are disproportionately incarcerated compared to whites.

As a portrait or piece of art, it's nowhere near the other stuff you usually post in my opinion. Background is too bright, the shadow corner mentioned above, the shadow corner in the bottom left, face is too dark with a stripe across the forehead, etc... I'm not trying to shred your work. Everything I've seen from you is excellent. I hope that doesn't sound harsh. It's only my opinion. Cheers

 

[Studio7Four]

I can't say that my mind went to the "bars" interpretation immediately, or even on it's own. But something did seem off about the shadowing, and I did accept that interpretation pretty readily. There are two reasons that my mind was so willing to go there:

1) The two vertical shadows running up his torso (and to a lesser extent the one on his right arm) are sized and spaced such that, while not suggesting that interpretation, certainly support it.
2) That shadow does not carry over to the background (except for a little across his face), so we viewers have no context as to what is creating the shadow.

For what it's worth, when I visually crop off a chunk of the bottom (say, at about mid-pec), all I see with respect to the shadows is an interesting light pattern. Even with a pre-suggested interpretation I don't see the bars.

 

[Derrel]

>SNIP>> Even with a pre-suggested interpretation I don't see the bars.

pre-suggested interpretations can be very difficult to overcome. At times,it seems almost impossible to get past a title, or caption. Often, we have read that, "A good picture tells a story," when in reality many times it's more like, "A picture often supports a preconceived notion that comes from the title, description,or caption."

 

[Soocom1]

to be blunt.

Unless it was specifically pointed out to me, I too would have missed it,
HOWEVER!!!!

Had the bar shadows gone across his face then the intent would have been clear.

IMO our "social sensibilities" are far to acute and we are finding bad guys behind everything.

 

[DanOstergren25]

I don't see it as "bars", only dappled lighting.
I think it's a stretch to view this as "imprisoned" so I wouldnt worry too much there.
The two things that bug me here is the subjects face being so much darker than the rest (almost appearing as a different skin tone) and that big triangle shadow in the corner.

Its a great pose with a perfectly accompaning expression. It's the lighting that kills it for me.

Thanks for the feedback.

 

[DanOstergren25]

I don't know if it would've occured to me if you hadn't mentioned it. I don't take it as him being imprisoned, I see it as a pattern of shadow, but these days it wouldn't surprise me if someone did. I'd think about how and where you'd use this. I could see it being more usable down the road since there seem to be so many hot points nowadays. I might hang onto it for awhile and wait for an opportunity for it to be seen/viewed as you intended.

Thanks for the feedback and suggestion.

I wouldn't be surprised if someone saw the image and took it in that direction, and I can't just assume that I know everything that can be seen as racist by an oppressed race of people. If a black person told me this image is racist, I would believe them without argument, even if my intent wasn't racist.

 

[DanOstergren25]

I don't see it as "bars", only dappled lighting.
I think it's a stretch to view this as "imprisoned" so I wouldnt worry too much there.>SNIP>

Its a great pose with a perfectly accompanying expression. It's the lighting that kills it for me.

I don't know if it would've occured to me if you hadn't mentioned it. I don't take it as him being imprisoned, I see it as a pattern of shadow, but these days it wouldn't surprise me if someone did. I'd think about how and where you'd use this. I could see it being more usable down the road since there seem to be so many hot points nowadays. I might hang onto it for awhile and wait for an opportunity for it to be seen/viewed as you intended.

I too (three?) did not think of the "bars" concept until after I read your possible interpretation. I looked at the photo first, before reading ANY of your post, and based upon my own experiences, composed my thoughts about several aspects of it. I was surprised about the "bars" aspect--to me that had not occurred, but I see where you are coming from!

Thanks Derrel. Perhaps I'm being too sensitive to an issue, but I'd much rather be that than insensitive about it.

 

[DanOstergren25]

I think there will be people who see it like that but it could be interpreted as a social comment too. It could be shedding light (ugh) on the fact that blacks are disproportionately incarcerated compared to whites.

As a portrait or piece of art, it's nowhere near the other stuff you usually post in my opinion. Background is too bright, the shadow corner mentioned above, the shadow corner in the bottom left, face is too dark with a stripe across the forehead, etc... I'm not trying to shred your work. Everything I've seen from you is excellent. I hope that doesn't sound harsh. It's only my opinion. Cheers

I thought of the possibility of it carrying a social narrative too, but considering that it was never the actual intent of the photo, and it's an abstract and vague implication, I felt it best not to try and force that narrative with the photo.

 

[dxqcanada1]

I looked at this and yes, do see a symbolism about "strife", to put it mildly.
I showed just the image to my wife and she also saw a caged/slavery context to it.

 

[jcdeboever]

IMO, I see your concern. I would bin these and move forward or reshoot. I think your self critique is spot on unless you wanted to explore black lives matter. I feel the tension.

 

[DanOstergren25]

I can't say that my mind went to the "bars" interpretation immediately, or even on it's own. But something did seem off about the shadowing, and I did accept that interpretation pretty readily. There are two reasons that my mind was so willing to go there:

1) The two vertical shadows running up his torso (and to a lesser extent the one on his right arm) are sized and spaced such that, while not suggesting that interpretation, certainly support it.
2) That shadow does not carry over to the background (except for a little across his face), so we viewers have no context as to what is creating the shadow.

For what it's worth, when I visually crop off a chunk of the bottom (say, at about mid-pec), all I see with respect to the shadows is an interesting light pattern. Even with a pre-suggested interpretation I don't see the bars.

Those were my reasons for seeing the potential interpretation as well.

Thanks for the feedback.