Les Courtes from the Aiguille de Argentiere

Another cardboard cutout. This one's a mountaineering cliche, but it's my mountaineering cliche and it's a found image, not a posed one. The picture conjures up lots of good memories and a photographic lesson. Rage away.

-- Struan Gray (struan.gray@sljus.lu.se), August 11, 2000

Answers

Not much rage, hereabouts...

Although I haven't been around for a while, this is a refreshing change from the crushing intimacy of portrait after portrait after portrait.

And it may have familiar attributes, but is still an awesome juxtaposition. I appreciate being reminded of what real power is and how the passage of time is recorded by other clocks.

In other regards, you have found a strong composition without relying on any obvious formuli. Thanks for being so straight... t

-- tom meyer (twm@mindspring.com), August 15, 2000.

I really like this photograph but I wasn't sure how to write it. I follow and connect perfectly with everything Tom said about it. I'm glad he spoke up. Very nice.

-- Tony Rowlett (rowlett@alaska.net), August 15, 2000.

I think its a terrific travel picture or stock shot. However, I would edit it to get rid of that annoying shadow to the figure's left - it looks rather like a shadow puppet out to get him!

-- John Kantor (jkantor@mindspring.com), August 15, 2000.

Rather like this!

-- John Kantor (jkantor@mindspring.com), August 15, 2000.

I too just looked and enjoyed. I didn4t notice the shadow until John turned it into the puppet masters hand - LOL!

-- Christel Green (look.no@film.dk), August 16, 2000.

Fresh-faced heroes

Thanks John, I needed a laugh. I suppose I could go back and kick over the pile of rocks, but I rather like how they make the sillouette more interesting. As a stock shot it works well enough as-is, and as a record pic there seems little point in removing something that was actually there.

This was taken during my second alpine climbing season, when Bruce and I (the lads in the snap) cut both apron strings and teeth. The figure is our climbing mentor, felled by a prolapsed disc and waiting for his chicks to return from their first un-tutored effort. Looking back, I don't know what was more courageous, his agreeing to teach us to climb, or having the judgment to allow us to make our own decisions. Gawd we were young.

When I took this I was lugging an old screw-mount Yashica SLR and three honking lenses around the hills. The image still holds it's own against what I take today, and I have a big print on my wall which I like to contemplate when gear-envy threatens. After an odyssey through more 'convenient' equipment I now have a very similar outfit, albeit one which weighs and measures half as much.

Thanks for all the comments. I'll try to find an image with a recognisable face in it for my next posting :-)

-- Struan Gray (struan.gray@sljus.lu.se), August 22, 2000.