Texture

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Copyright 2000 Jeff Spirer.

What can I say about this? I like it. His hair has the same texture as the wall.

-- Jeff Spirer (jeff@spirer.com), July 25, 2000

Answers

Perfect composition, Jeff. A very complimentary image. Do you take prints back to your subjects? What might this guy think about his portrait? (Beautiful print, scan, use of difficult midday light, processing technique blah blah blah more of same)... t

-- tom meyer (twm@mindspring.com), July 26, 2000.

Putting him in the right side of the frame rather then on the left is very effective in making his tough guy attitude jump out of the picture at you. The placement makes him seem aggressive, like he's getting ready to step out of the frame and get in your face.

-- rob (long time lurker) dalrymple (robd13@erols.com), July 26, 2000.

i find this composition excellent, and the rough background is wonderfully complementary to this guy's hair and attitude, but... i don't think *anyone* could have successfully dealt with the degree of contrast produced by the harsh natural lighting. the subject's nose appears to be painted white, and his facial structure is disjointed by the shadow forms that are unavoidable under such conditions. of course a reflector to image right, or natural overcast are modifications that come immediately to mind. otoh, you may not have had the time or opportunity to plan the shot.

-- wayne harrison (wayno@netmcr.com), July 26, 2000.

I agree -- expression, composition, and texture all look great. I just would have had him facing the other way, into the light, to (hopefully) remove those distracting facial shadows.

-- Steve Leroux (steve@bigadventures.com), July 26, 2000.

What are you guys? a bunch of vampires? Don't go out in the noon day sun, huh? Or maybe you're like me and don't take the camera out at noon. Those shadows are full of detail and texture and I'll bet Dimes to Dollars (whatever that means) that the print has plenty of tonality throughout, even the "painted" white nose. I'm sure if this guy was a diver at the pool with Zinc oxide on his nose, you could tell the difference.... hey..Wait a minute! That background! It's a swimming pool! and that hair those glasses... Jeff you devil you! this guy's really a lifeguard! you're yankin' our chain(s) and Wayne's right! Isn't he, isn't he, c'mon now...isn't he! Jeff...Jeeeefffff! You kidder, you!... t hahahaha

now wayne, check out the white shirt... t

-- tom meyer (twm@mindspring.com), July 26, 2000.



I have attemped to respond to this twice, once yesterday and now... and both times I've simply resorted to backspacing over everything I typed because I just cannot offer enough praise for this excellent photograph. So I'll skip trying to be eloquent and just say that it's truly kick ass... highlights, shadows, contrast, texture(!), tonality, subject, composition, the fact that it's midday sun and you still managed to get the tonal range, and most importantly of all, it looks like a signature "Spirer" photograph. I wish I could say that about my own. Great job. Perfect and stunning work.

-- Tony Rowlett (rowlett@alaska.net), July 27, 2000.

good god, tony; having said what you have said about this image, what the hell do you say about, for instance, eisenstadt's image of goebbels, or *any* portrait that annie leibovitz ever did, or kertez's "kiss", or...the list is almost endless. and you swoon over the fact that modern b&w film has considerable latitude? sorry, i just don't see the thrill.

-- wayne harrison (wayno@netmcr.com), July 27, 2000.

All them others just suck! :-) Some photographs you just get into, others not. Noooo big deal. How exciting would the world be if everybody loved exactly the same things. The color green, for instance. Green buildings, green toilets, green pianos, green streets, green tatoos, and green hair. I think this is a cool photograph, maybe even more the the Times Square one, q: who cares? a: me. But guess what... part of the enjoyment of photography is letting loose in expressing that enjoyment. Internet a factor? Nope. If you (Wayne) and me and Jeff and Tom and John and Dick and Harry were in a class of 100 people, I'd be one to stand up and shout Hey, this is a great photograph. Cool man.

-- Tony Rowlett (rowlett@alaska.net), July 28, 2000.

And I would have a lot LESS to say about the work of Annie Leibovitz. Relative to Jeff's work, Annie's (the popular stuff that's in all her books at bookstores) is a bunch of contrived bullshit that has about as much interest for me as rocks with funny faces painted on them. Some of hers are entertaining (wasn't she the one who took a picture of... nevermind), and she is technically pretty good.

-- Tony Rowlett (rowlett@alaska.net), July 28, 2000.

well, tony, if annie l ever posts here, you just go right ahead and jump her bones:). really, though, as you point out, we are dealing with the height of subjectivity, and i have no real right to wring my hands over your likes and dislikes. i'm just happy we have some readable interaction here.

-- wayne harrison (wayno@netmcr.com), July 28, 2000.


Good point, Wayne. Also, and I really do have a lot more respect for Annie than what it sounded like in my last few posts, and who am I to publicly denounce her skills??, but we're dealing with two entirely different styles of photographers. My impression is that Annie's portraits are all (or mostly all) posed, whereas Jeff's are all candids. A huge difference.

Did she take a photograph of Whoopie Goldberg in a bathtub of milk, or is that just a strange dream I had?

-- Tony Rowlett (rowlett@alaska.net), July 28, 2000.


she did... did you?... t

-- tom meyer (twm@mindspring.com), July 28, 2000.

If I dreamed it, I did.

-- Tony Rowlett (rowlett@alaska.net), July 28, 2000.

How cool this is! Everything just comes together. A good example of making perfect use of light conditions that would have most of us running away screaming - I love those shadows and textures.

-- Christel Green (look.no@film.dk), August 07, 2000.

Superb!

-- Art Sands (sands@msn.com), August 23, 2000.


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