Stairs and pastels

[Cedric MASSOULIER]

Some stairs near my home, a place where i walk everyday to go to my office. Colors on the wall are allways changing as these pieces of painting are here to cover tags and graffitis. So, walls are not the same during the year, following timeless battle between youngs and authorities...

Yes, these quiet and lonely stairs are a real battleground...

Minox 35 GT-E & Portra 160 NC
Scanned with Coolscan VED
Processed in PS CS3

 

[Asher Kelman]

Cedric,

There are a number of values that this image might be said to contain. One is the mystery of the empty staircase: who walked these steps before, who might appear soon or some passage stage in life, for example. Then there`s the composition and colors. For the latter, just the top portion, excluding the stairs could make it on its own and would I believe me interesting. The geometric shapes are well balanced the colors agreeable and the sentiment neutral to pleasant.

I also wonder about how this might hold together as a design and to have feelings related to the stairs without the inherent beauty of the color stealing away from such thoughts. So a B&W version optimized for the importance of the stairs would be worth considering too.

Of course you do not need to do any of these as the picture is as is. Still these ideas of mine might give some interesting surprises and so I`m intrigued to know what you might think.

Asher

 

[Cedric MASSOULIER]

Hi Asher,

I agree with you about a B&W version, i will try it soon. This place is my daily photographic playground, i have several other shots you should appreciate. When i have time (you know i have a baby at home !), i will present them.

Regards,

Cedric.

 

[Ken Tanaka]

Judging simply by the frame you've shown I have to believe there's potential here. This image strikes me as a rough scene study of this location, rather like producers might snap to scout glam shot locations.

The essence of the potential of this scene to my eye is as follows.
(1) Confluence of GEOMETRY. The harsh stairs, the curves of the railing and concrete rear wall, the lines between the concrete courses, the divisions of color... It's an orgy of geometry, but it needs to be worked.

(2) Color. Ugly is pretty these days...and this is ugly. Warm, cool, pastel, jewel tones, it's all there as paint and natural colors.

But the issue here is really light. Whether or not light ever lands here to help create a compelling frame. You might be able to use some artificial light to manage some of these features, too.

I think you'll also want to explore different positions for the camera. This frame is not very interesting. It feels like it need to be either wider or compressed with a longer focal length.

 

[Asher Kelman]

(2) Color. Ugly is pretty these days...and this is ugly. Warm, cool, pastel, jewel tones, it's all there as paint and natural colors

Ken,

We seem to agree on the matter of geometry. The question of light might be mute if one only frames the top part, aas the light can be flat.

I have two questions.

First explain the "ugly"

The upper and lower parts could together be seen as ugly but would that be the case in B&W tones. Also would it be necessary to relight the scene if one assigned colors to different shades of light in the conversion to B&W as opposed to removing color information?

 

[Ken Tanaka]

Re: Ugly. As in "not pretty". This is not a crit, per se. "Pretty" is out in art. The colors here, to the extent that they can be decoded, are rather dissonant which is fine. But there has to be something more interesting or more compelling in this frame.

The solution is not removal of color (b&w). The solution here is a new image that's informed by this image and perhaps many others and Cedric's ready access to, and knowledge of, the site.

Most time spent on photography is not. It's spent waiting.

 

[Cedric MASSOULIER]

Well, i thought about geometry, color rendering, light, etc... and i produced a mixed version (color/b&w).

I also tried a full b&w version. But i am not really convinced...

Finally, my last trial was a richer colored version.

Well, i can't decide myself... I think i have to wait for another idea. Maybe to make another shots of the place as said Ken...

 

[Cedric MASSOULIER]

Hi fellows,

I have worked for you, C&C would be welcome !

 

[Ken Tanaka]

Maybe to make another shots of the place as said Ken...

The solution lies in your camera, not in your computer.

 

[Paul Abbott]

Cedric, I like this image, but I would appreciate it more in B&W.

I like the analogy with all the lines and shapes in the photo. Nice one.

 

[Asher Kelman]

Re: Ugly. As in "not pretty". This is not a crit, per se. "Pretty" is out in art. The colors here, to the extent that they can be decoded, are rather dissonant which is fine. But there has to be something more interesting or more compelling in this frame.

The solution is not removal of color (b&w). The solution here is a new image that's informed by this image and perhaps many others and Cedric's ready access to, and knowledge of, the site.

Most time spent on photography is not. It's spent waiting.

The solution lies in your camera, not in your computer.

Of course Ken, your words have resonance. One should be making notes and then go back and take a picture based on one's previous understanding that develops in a project like this. Working an image to death in PS is no substitute for informed re-examination of the subject for new shots.

However, I do have a question on your concept of B&W removing colors. If one does that, then one has lost the color information and not used it for the picture. Rather I think we re-assign hues to tones, but likely that's what you really mean.

Asher

 

[Charles L Webster]

I like the original best. But like Asher says so often "I want to see more, I want to understand the context of this piece"

I wish I had taken that picture.