Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 2001/05/29
[Author Prev] [Author Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Author Index] [Topic Index] [Home] [Search]At 10:29 PM 05/28/2001 -0700, Jay wrote: >To use your shot as an example: >The left & right edges of the color version is fine, but when you try to >look at the beggar, the eye is drawn away by the woman in red and the bright >white shirt further right. Plus the red shelves. None of that adds anything >to the message of the photograph - the beggar. >In the B&W "version", things are better, your eye seeks out the middle of >the photo easier, but the folks in white shirts need a little toning down. >In either version, >I< would (note: That means me & me only!) crop severely >and leave nothing but the beggar. >But, I also would have pre-focused my 35 or 24, at 4 or 5.6 to make sure, >and hit the shutter right in front of him as I dropped a few lira into his >hat... We're talking about http://www.2alpha.net/~pklein/italy/beggar.htm Jay: Everything that you say is reasonable. But I don't agree, because it isn't just a picture of a beggar--it's a picture of a beggar who looks like he's out of the 19th century, and still nobody notices him. Forgetting about the B&W vs. color issue, what about context? I know we often feel we have to crop mercilessly, and frankly, half the shots I take with a 35 I later wish I'd taken with a 50. BUT in this case I composed the picture carefully as I saw him coming, and I didn't feel that I wanted to crop much. Notice how everyone's back is turned? It shows the indifference. In the color version, I like all the brightly colored clothing and shop windows contrasting with this bleak fellow in the center. That you take a moment to notice him makes you feel that same sense of indifference. Maybe? I still haven't decided which picture I like better. The B&W is less distracting and perhaps stronger, but it's also less like the reality--this sad, dark figure in the midst of the tourist "carnival." I didn't feel right about taking a picture of him as I gave him a few lire (actually, I *did* give him something--afterwards). The picture I saw was about him and the crowd, not about him and me. - --Peter