Sex, Drugs & Rock 'n Roll. (8 photos).

[honoryourlife]

Here is my take. If I forgot to take off my polarizer or ND filter on this shot, I probably won't say anything about the filter. I am pretty sure you thought a CPL was going to help improve your image. I have done stupid stuff in my photography career too. But I don't buy it at all that you "forgot". I think you were mislead.

I said something about, because after the shoot I noticed it was still on. I'm pretty sure I knew it wouldn't help improve my image at all, actually. Normally I use the 24-70 outdoors, and leave the filter on because I don't take my filters off usually.

Mislead by who exactly? I did my research, went out and bought everything I wanted/needed and that was it. I didn't ask advice about any filters.

I know what a CP is for, and its not for a shoot like this.

I simply forgot that it was on, thats it and thats all.

But thanks for your input.

 

[honoryourlife]

It was hard for me to put my finger on exactly what I didn't like about them, at first I thought "campy" but i normally love camp. I liked the image recently posted of the redneck Santa.It dawned on me this morning that he issue I have is that they aren't very convincing, they don't seem quite "trashy" enough, everything and everyone seem too clean - the women look like club kids, the kind you'd find at a rave party, not at a biker bar, they look like rebellious yuppies to me a innocent girls gone wild. I do

.I don't think you'd need to hire real junkies (though you could) to get this effect, but the direction and makeup just doesn't convey a sense of "sex drugs and rock and roll" to me.

You ever been around people who use drugs? Or know how people who use drugs use their make-up? Everyone does their own make-up differently. I had no hand in helping with the make-up. They chose how to wear it themselves.

Junkies are drug users who usually inject their favored product.

These girls are not junkies, but habitual users.

 

[honoryourlife]

Not all people that use drugs are bikers, a lot are actually people who go to clubs too. Just letting you know.

Trust me, I used to live in this world. SO I have first hand experience.

 

[unpopular]

please. you were going for a specific image, don't bother me with the superficialities and political correctness. if you were going for the wall street addict, you would have approached the subject differently. If it weren't staged, i'd be ok with it, but it was staged to convey a certain idea.

 

[honoryourlife]

please. you were going for a specific image, don't bother me with the superficialities and political correctness. if you were going for the wall street addict, you would have approached the subject differently.

I think, I got exactly what I wanted to out of the shoot.

There's a difference between a wall street addict and a teenage drug user. Get real man.

 

[unpopular]

what's the point of the knife thing then? this isn't social commentary, it's camp. it's my life with the thrill kill kult, not david lynch.

if you left it as what it was, it could have been interesting. otherwise, it's just pretentious.

 

[rexbobcat]

That doesn't change the fact that people aren't going to receive the full effect from these photos. YOU might know how real junkies are, but the majority of the public doesn't. These don't seem reminiscent of the Rolling Stones type of sex, drugs, and rock and roll. These honestly do give the effect of kids with too much money who like to do stupid stuff. You can't just assume that the audience knows exactly what you were going for.

And I know teenage drug users. They are not quite as...elegant...in their drug use.

Were you trying to romanticize drug use in a way, or were you trying to be realistic? These seem dramatized/romanticized to me...

 

[honoryourlife]

what's the point of the knife thing then? this isn't social commentary, it's camp. it's my life with the thrill kill kult, not david lynch.

if you left it as what it was, it could have been interesting. otherwise, it's just pretentious.

It was for fun? I don't know, they wanted to use it. Drugs are often associated with violence. In case you didn't know. I had a friend beat to death over a few hundred dollars worth of weed.

It was just a practice shoot, basically to find out what works and what doesn't.

That doesn't change the fact that people aren't going to receive the full effect from these photos. YOU might know how real junkies are, but the majority of the public doesn't. These don't seem reminiscent of the Rolling Stones type of sex, drugs, and rock and roll. These honestly do give the effect of kids with too much money who like to do stupid stuff. You can't just assume that the audience knows exactly what you were going for.

And I know teenage drug users. They are not quite as...elegant...in their drug use.

Were you trying to romanticize drug use in a way, or were you trying to be realistic? These seem dramatized/romanticized to me...

I agree with most of what you had to say.

They are quite dramatic/romanticized, obviously.

Otherwise, I would have shown it a different way.

When I was a teenager, I had thousands of dollars to spend. I spent it all on drugs, some people can be a bit more "elegant" with their drugs than others. I worked hard (heavy machine operator on a crusher from 17-19, after I graduated high school) and played even harder.

It was just one of my first themed shoots and a practice one at that.

I fail to see why I have to explain myself to people over the internet on the content/meaning behind the images.

 

[Josh66]

Otherwise, I would have shown it a different way.

So, who is in charge on your shoots? You, or the models?

I can't tell from your post if you wanted it to be romanticized, or if you just shot what was in front of you. (Who brought the flour?)

I fail to see why I have to explain myself to people over the internet on the content/meaning behind the images.

I guess since you don't care about the images, and you don't care what anybody else thinks, there is no need to explain anything.

Clearly, some people are not 'getting' your message though. I guess that's what happens when you half-ass it.

 

[unpopular]

But who cares about simulated causal teenage drug use? And that is just what it looks like simulated drug use.

In my opinion, these images are tacky, but not in a campy sense, but rather in an amateurish sense. They don't really convey anything except people pretending to be something they aren't - even if in reality they are. They come across as trying a bit too hard to be daring, like the desperate suburban Hot Topic customers. In my opinion, these images just don't convey anything substantial.

If you check out this portfolio:

DAMNED AND BEAUTIFUL : Irina Werning - Photographer

I find this odd dichotomy between the grotesque and the glamorous, a sense of wanting to participate but being glad that I am not.

 

[unpopular]

hey man, listen. I can understand why you were offended by my comments. Please know that I was commenting on these images, not society as a whole. Also understand that I was really unsure what you were going for. Because they read so campy, i kind of expected a 1970s porn quality about them. I felt it was distracting being that everyone was so "clean"; this makes this set look fake to me, yet still trying to be realistic.

Of course I know that drug use isn't always stereotypical, though being camp I felt that the subject wasn't being "overdone" enough. When I say "camp" I don't mean this as an insult, I think it's a perfectly legitimate genre.

I know I can be very harsh in my critiques. I am not interested so much in the technical elements - and frankly, I think the cheapo lighting approach was a good start for these images - again, the 1970's porn thing - but I would encourage you to consider what you want to be communicating, if what you are communicating is worth communicating and how best to execute this before starting. dig it?

 

[Patrice]

The op was 'just practicing', so don't pay too much attention.

The op was too lazy think about lighting, so don't pay too much attention.

The op is too cavalier about equipment and does not even look at the state of his lens, so don't pay too much attention.

The op does not ant critique, so don't pay too much attention.

The seems to have an 'I know better attitude', maybe wrong but that is hoe it comes across, so don't pat too much attention.


The end result --- why post this series at all then? Big waste of time and bandwidth.

 

[unpopular]

some of these newbies get an ounce of success and think they've got a masterpiece!

 

[Patrice]

The op was 'just practicing', so don't pay too much attention.

The op was too lazy think about lighting, so don't pay too much attention.

The op is too cavalier about equipment and does not even look at the state of his lens, so don't pay too much attention.

The op does not ant critique, so don't pay too much attention.

The seems to have an 'I know better attitude', maybe wrong but that is hoe it comes across, so don't pat too much attention.


The end result --- why post this series at all then? Big waste of time and bandwidth.

Oh, and by the way:


Once this op's style has progressed and matured we might have to go to an uptown gallery to view more. (If there is no drug and booze burnout early on.)

 

[Noxire]

The images was somewhat underexposed, but I am going to guess its already been mentioned

Otherwise, I find there is a lot going on in the background, as well as strong spots of color at odd placed. (like the red ribbon on her arm)

In my opinion these could work better in black and white since a little more contrast and texture could add some "grit" to the images, which I think would be beneficial when you want to convey this lifestyle. It would also remove all the distracting colors and give the images a more photojournalistic feel.

I went over the top just to illustrate my train of thought.

Happy holidays