Ginza, Tokyo, April 10, 2004. Bessa R2, CV 35mm f/2.5 ‘Pancake’. Fuji Neopan 400 Presto.
Not quite sure how it happened, but the above photo (click on it for a larger view) won the most recent Salon held biweekly over at the Street Photography Mailing List, the theme of which was “twilight.” While in the short past that I’ve been entering the Salons I’d no doubt felt a tinge of disappointment when previous entries had been passed over, I always felt greater relief, for no other reason than that I didn’t relish the idea of having to judge a whole bunch of photos myself. (The Salon winner selects the theme for the next Salon, and then sits in judgement of the entries for that theme, with commentary about each expected.) So much for that now! In case you’re interested, I’ve selected “engagement” as the next theme. Photos are due Monday, May 10th.
I woul have to agree with the adjudicator’s comment on this entry (winner):
[Now this one fits the ‘twilight years’ variation of the theme very well and is also a damned fine “Street” photo too. The main character in this scene is obviously past his prime and he has that far-away expression on his face, oblivious to the movement around him, that made me want to take another look. The ad poster in the window on the far right is a little bit distracting, but not enough to ruin the overall effect. A contender.]
Nice shot Kurt !
This is a comment I received via email from someone who couldn’t post it to the site:
actually, i find the ad poster in the window to be one of the things that makes this picture interesting. it plays with the scale of the other the other heads in the photo because it is only slightly larger than that of the central figure, whose head is much larger by proportions to those of the figures directly behind his shoulder. the poster model’s youth directly contrasts the central figure’s twilight age since these are the only faces looking anywhere near the direction of the camera.
with her location in the background and mouth open, she could be a voice from his past, his youth, speaking to him in his moment of reverie.
so, if one finds this part of the image distracting, i submit that is because its not intended to be ignored.
Mark
Well, you got yourself ‘covered’ then, haven’t you? 😉
Anyway, there is something about photographing two-dimensional images in public mixed with the real world as it were. It is all flattened together and makes a strange effect. Can’t say I particular like it (not referring to your photo with this statement), but since it is there, what can you do, part of life out there.
I remember East Germany and the time after 1989 how there were no ads… made it even duller than it already was. I was reminded by that by the film “Goodbye Lenin” which I saw recently and highly recommend to everyone.
I forgot to say, there’s also a pro black and white angle to this inclusion of advertising…
uh dirk, you’re being cryptic again…have no idea what your first sentence about being “covered” refers to….nor do I necessarily see the “pro b/w angle” you subsequently mention.
I don’t know, i tend to view the background as part of the pic, whether it’s two-D or 3-D (or 1-dimension for that matter! I’m sure I have many of those folks in my pics as well 🙂 It either works or it doesn’t (for the record, I don’t agree with the person who selected this pic about the pic, and would tend to agree with Mark’s take on it). I think there’s something about advertising or signage that helps to place or date the image, as much as what the people are wearing or the style of the buildings. That said, I don’t particularly care for images that use the signage or advertising to carry the weight of the image, or that are all the image is about. If it’s documentary in nature a la Walker Evans and the like, okay….but using someone else’s work or creativity (or banality) basically as your own is not something I’m into.
I was thinking about b/w to some extent reducing or even eliminating some of the potentially unwanted distractions resulting from (mostly colourful) advertising. Especially when the ad involves a face, it would immediate compete with a person featured in the photo.
http://www.unicircuits.com/gallery/view_photo.php?set_albumName=japan_on_film&id=shinbashi_front_of_victor
Of course in colour one could work with the colours of an ad, but often there is not enough time to consider all those factors.