* Wednesday C&C "No Theme" Thread #800 / Revived #020 on 2023 08 16 *

Welcome back Jim, we've missed ya!

This is a fun image to consider. The young man is clearly on the run and happy to be so. Whether that disembodied hand is someone trying to catch him or some artifact left over from himself a few seconds earlier is a question for the viewer to decide, though the photographer knows the answer. An impediment he is joyfully escaping? A trap he's unaware of? A spirit being in hot pursuit? The urban background is as solid as a stage set, and he is quite alone in it, except for the ghostly pursuer. Fine visual puzzle, thanks for sharing.

Well composed cityscape that could almost be "real" colors if we image these are cherry trees in bloom. I suspect they are not, and instead are IR renderings of leafy trees against a bright sky. The clouds have lost some detail and I don't know if that is because of the capture or the processing. I like that you have the leading line of roadway coming in at the lower left and advancing to its vanishing point at the enter. That makes for an easy-to-read image, and good locations for those bushy trees.

I'd glad to be out of skilled nursing, where I was recovering from a fall.

The disembodied hand is the smiling guy's girlfriend, from the way they were acting. Glad you picked up on the solid background. This series is called Alone in a Crowd, and is about travel, loneliness, the permanence of the old train stations, and the evanescence of those who pass through them.

Thank you for your critique ... I'd like to read more opinions on that bright spot as I think I deliberately left it it.. My thinking now is that that bright area gives a reason for the two participants looking up -- one with sun glasses and the other squinting. Also it made the viewer -- you -- look up, imitating those two! ... What I thought when I did it is long forgotten .... but maybe ... What do you think???

WhyNot

As I emerge from the leftover fog of a surgery I had yesterday, I share in your celebration of escaping the medical complex one more time.

I believe that one sign of a good image is how much story it permits the viewer to write. This one allows a great deal of latitude while providing great props, character, and setting.

I'm a big fan of ambiguity in photographs.

I like your portrait - it's quite experimental because of the colors, but I feel like it does work. However in its current state it is a little bit too drastic for my taste. There's just too much contrast and not enough which keeps the person connected to the surroundings. Here's how I would try to solve that:

Of course if your intention is to make him feel out of place there, than that's not a good idea... 😅

Once more a really interesing and unique shot - excellent work!

You humble me as always. Yours connects the viewer to the image way more than mine did. Just because my eyes and brain are what they are, what exactly did you do? Desaturate the man and bench a tad?

Thanks Andrew.
USA vehicles have never been my favourites but I've always had a softspot for Pontiacs. Must be something to do with the chrome bonnet strip they all have.
If a photograph is to be done of an American car, it has to get the chrome right. It has to be shiny with good blacks. It has to avoid clipping. It's at its best with some readable reflections. You got it.

A small aside first. In recent weeks I've had a number of discussions with friends about the state of the photography market. I make a part of my income from selling landscape photos, although these aren't what I usually share here. A theory. Selling photography gets harder and harder. Thanks to camera phones and the net, we are drowning in images. The general public are now far more aware of digital processing on computers and this has further devalued the market. I suspect that there is a swing to classic black and white because it still looks like "art." That's preferable if you want something to hang on your walls for the admiration of viewers. Along with this I suspect that photographers at least, are enjoying "playing" with their cameras and the processes. As compared to taking photos. I'd cite the interest in such images and experimentation in this thread and also on the DPRevived Abstract, Minimalism and Creative genre group.
Which brings me back to Jim's photo.
It has got both. Classic B&W plus deliberate movement blur. It's recognizable as a "photo". It goes beyond the recording of a scene but we feel it was done in the photography, not the PP. I like its chances of having public appeal.
I'm pretty sure we have a meeting between two people here and they are glad to be meeting. The movement adds intensity to the meeting. Plus the feet in mid air. Hands reach out. We have enough face detail to see real pleasure and excitement.
The solidity and monumental nature of the surrounds accentuates the humanity and movement of the people. The downward slope of the railings positively pushes her into his arms. The surrounds suggest a railway station so perhaps a meeting after an absence? Add a memory of a residue of hundreds of 40s and fifties films with important moments between characters at travel points.
I'd enjoy it over and over on my wall.

It isn't surprising that travel there is slow.
Is there some sort of record for the greatest number of receding hills one can manage in an image? This has to be a contender.
Perfect light for the effect. Especially note that the second layer of hills nack is in complete shadow and then we have more sunlight arriving through the mist so a second wave of hills begins the receding trick again. I don't recall another receding hills shot that has done this. It's a glorious mist/light combination that lets enough light through building the shapes. I like the dark band, top right, that breaks up what otherwise would have been a large expanse of bright featureless cloud.
Greens don't get lusher than that and suggest plenty of rain which is further guaranteed by the picture.
Is this from a film camera?
Definitely a hardship posting.

The title was in reference to the 800th edition Linda. I have posted a number of car images in the past for 100 numbered editions. There is an 800 in the image on the car. As to the puffins, yes I had it in my image collection from a trip we took about this time last year to Newfoundland in the gift shop of 'The Rooms', a small museum of sorts and an attractive new building. An image below of The Rooms and another taken inside The Rooms, not in the gift shop.
Andrew
Right from the start I suspected there was an 800 link in the photo. I was thinking more about models. I searched the image looking for cryptic shapes in the grille. Nope?
Having read this posted clue I went back again. Eventually I found it.

I'd agree with all that Lou. Ref my response to the photo from Jim Kasson this week.
I'd agree about my shot as well. I thought the statue was remarkable and I wanted a photo of the statue and had no thought of adding any interpretive layer of my own.
Even so, there is a close similarity in the vision of the two sculptors. I don't recall another memorial statue that is similar. I wonder if the Dutch sculptor had seen the statue in Rome? The Rome statue has been famous for many years. Visitors come to see it and the grave of Keats close by.

Glad you think it works - of course there might be different ways to do that... in my example I adjusted the tones of the bench (desaturate, a bit darker and a slight change towards red) and the pants (similar, but even less).

We are in a train station. A man is in movement and thus blurry.
Classic B&W composition. Good positioning of the man in a natural (door)frame in the background.
A "decisive moment" captured : this image would not have been as good a fraction of a second earlier or later.
I feel like this is a nod to Henri Cartier Bresson's famous image of a man jumping a puddle at Gare St Nazaire (at least I think it was THAT train station).
The only thing missing is a reflection.

I love this kind of urban street shot with motion blur. And the ambiguity leaves space for interpretation. At first glance it is a prosaic shot of someone running for their train, but there is enough space here for all sorts of fanciful interpretations that keep the viewer interested and wondering. As a species we love making up stories, and this is a nice playground for that.

Been learning about cheating lately...

Nicely played.