Leon Eldridge, choir leader - Bohemia Rothschild, drag queen

rexbobcat

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I am currently working on a photo essay for my documentary photography class. We were supposed to come up with an interesting social issue (in this area) and find someone involved with the issue to follow and document. And since I live in a fairly conservative part of Texas, I decided to document a kind of unique situation involving a man here who graduated from a Christian university (I think, I have to verify this) with a degree in religious studies, and on Sundays he sings and sometimes preaches at a church here in town.

Then that night he will dress in full drag and hit the gay clubs in town (there are a total of....two).

It might not seem that intriguing to people living in other areas, but I thought it was a different story for this area of the U.S.

I still need to do cutlines, so the photos are captionless for now, but I'm interviewing him today to get some contextual information to go along with the photos. This is also the general gist of the project. I have a few more photos that I didn't include.

*WARNING* Lotsa photos ahead

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Congratulations! You made it to the end. lol :D
 
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FWIW, I think this is very well done.
I suggest correcting the WB on #1 and lowering the brightness a bit to give a richer look to it.

Very well done.
 
Thank you. I was worried about shooting in the club since I don't normally shoot in that environment. I couldn't get my flash to work right either so I had to just wait for the spotlights to align just right. I was stressing the whole night.

And we left at 3...on Sunday...and I had to get up at 6 and go to work. It was exhausting but I think I got the meat of the story. Now I just have to transcribe the interview and add context to the photos.
 
This is amazing Rex. The pictures tell the story even without the words. Love the subtle #6 photo and the last one of him snuggled on the couch. That the poster says "perspective" is such an added bonus. The mirrored smiles on Leon's friend in sidewalk #1, to his drag persona in the club #9 is perfect. I could go on, but then your ego wouldn't fit into the classroom to turn in your essay.
 
Very nice set.
I like the most photos: 3,5,7,8,10a and 11...I think they're more interesting.
 
10 (the first 10) strikes me as an outlier. It looks quite different on many fronts, and is, I feel, ungenerous to its subjects. The others are all kind, this one is not. I get that you're trying to present the feel of the club, and that's a good and necessary part of the story. Find a way to do that that is as generous and caring of the people in the frame as the rest of the set. My opinion. anyways.
 
10 (the first 10) strikes me as an outlier. It looks quite different on many fronts, and is, I feel, ungenerous to its subjects. The others are all kind, this one is not. I get that you're trying to present the feel of the club, and that's a good and necessary part of the story. Find a way to do that that is as generous and caring of the people in the frame as the rest of the set. My opinion. anyways.

But it's my strongest photo in regard to the atmosphere of the club.

I get what you're saying, but...well...as a photojournalist am I supposed to put the subjects first or the story first, ya know?

I mean, editing out (what I feel is) a strong photograph because it is unflattering seems...kind of unethical? It walks the line for me.

I learned this quote from a respected journalist friend if mine, and yes, it makes me sound like an egotistical, self-righteous, ******* of a journalist, but I still use it to justify some things that I'm unsure about.

"We shoot/write for the viewers/readers - not for the subjects."

I can try and find a photo that is just as effective, but I'm not sure I have one.
 
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Hmm. Maybe you can crop it in a little tighter on Leon? Or do some burning/dodging?

I have to say that looking at the picture bigger definitely helps. It's actually just as generous to the people in the frame as the rest, with the one glaring exception. I think it's worth your time to think about way you can emphasize Leon in the frame, and tone down the rest, without losing the atmosphere of the club.

I don't know what your parameters are, but if you can crop, or burn/dodge, or do a little selective management of saturation, you might be able to tweak things and make it a little more about Leon, without losing the club. Maybe?

Here's all three roughly applied:

$foo.jpg
 
Hmm. Maybe you can crop it in a little tighter on Leon? Or do some burning/dodging?

I have to say that looking at the picture bigger definitely helps. It's actually just as generous to the people in the frame as the rest, with the one glaring exception. I think it's worth your time to think about way you can emphasize Leon in the frame, and tone down the rest, without losing the atmosphere of the club.

I don't know what your parameters are, but if you can crop, or burn/dodge, or do a little selective management of saturation, you might be able to tweak things and make it a little more about Leon, without losing the club. Maybe?

Here's all three roughly applied:

View attachment 51570

Ah. I thought you were referring to the performer. I was about to say, yeah it's not a very pretty photo of her, but I can't really control that. lol.

But yeah I see what you're saying. We're allowed to edit pretty much any way we want to as long as we don't add, subtract, or change the context through editing. I'll burn it a bit and see.
 
Yeah, I was mainly seeing the performer, who probably isn't all that beautiful to start with, but man this is an unflattering shot! Great sense of motion and action, but I think he (?) could stand to be toned down a bit.

Leon looks like a million bucks.
 

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