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My World: Street..Europe..Munich

fahim mohammed

Well-known member
p950626233.jpg

Leica M; ZM 25/2.8 biogon; Hyperfocused.

Edit: Mistakenly said it was a ZM 50mm Sonnar. Apologies.
 

Ruben Alfu

New member

Hi Fahim,

Nice and pretty scene. However, the view from behind of the couple dominating the photo makes me uneasy. I don't see nothing in them that justify this angle and composition. Yes, there are other relations and compositional elements of interest, but they are rather secondary. You know all this, but I had to say it anyway LOL.

Regards,

Ruben
 

fahim mohammed

Well-known member
Hi Fahim,

Nice and pretty scene. However, the view from behind of the couple dominating the photo makes me uneasy. I don't see nothing in them that justify this angle and composition. Yes, there are other relations and compositional elements of interest, but they are rather secondary. You know all this, but I had to say it anyway LOL.

Regards,

Ruben

Hi Ruben, I agree. No excuses except they were going the wrong way!!

Best.
 

fahim mohammed

Well-known member
Fahim,

Maybe get rid of the couple in the center with "Content Aware" eraser in Photoshop. That would be amazing if it really worked here.

Asher

Thanks Asher for the suggestion. I have a few generations old PS! Besides vanishing people off the streets is not something I subscribe to.

Regards.
 

fahim mohammed

Well-known member
Traveling across beautiful Bavaria, I wondered if I had lost my muse. Would it be different. Could I connect
to people here in Germany?

There was only one way to find out..

p306277049.jpg

Like I said, either one has it or one does not. To me people are people. Worthy of respect. They reciprocate.
 

fahim mohammed

Well-known member
One last one from Bavaria; beautiful region, lovely people.

The way I do street..Leica, hyperfocus, in plain view, people doing their thing..

p517565235.jpg

Moment frozen in time.

Thank you for being here.
 

Asher Kelman

OPF Owner/Editor-in-Chief
Thanks Asher for the suggestion. I have a few generations old PS! Besides vanishing people off the streets is not something I subscribe to.

Fahim,

You have a point, ethics, the difference between what we can do and what we should do!

There's another value here, that of sharing knowledge. We need to trust you always. When we look at a woman in Vogue, we all know, (or should know), from the outset, that it's a mirage we see, sculptured to appear perfect. In street photography, however, we expect to be able to believe that "this" actually happened. Otherwise, we lose our reach through your lenses to see in a broader way.

Asher
 

Jerome Marot

Well-known member
Since I know the place, I can give some comments on the context where these pictures have been taken.


I know that beergartens are quite popular as a photography subjects and I have always wondered if the reason is because in some part of the world (e.g. the USA) it is not allowed to serve beer outside in plain view. I think this is the beergarten at Viktualienmarkt (near the place the first picture was taken), but I am not sure this is the most flattering view of the place. It is not very clear to me what your subject is. Maybe you just wanted to take the two people at the front? In this case, lowering the frame a bit would have avoided cutting the feet of the right drinker while keeping the heads of the two men at the back in the picture.


Is that a Canada flag on the fourth lady? Are these tourist or, from their identical hats and the bag, a group of young ladies paid to be cheerful? This seems to be taken at or near Marienplatz on the christmas market and I have seen similar groups on the occasion. In any case, I regret that the frame abruptly cuts the lady on the left.


This is taken in Dianatempel in the Hofgarten. The fountain is called "Muschelbrunnen" (Seashell fountain). The expression of the violin player is static but interesting, one can see his concentration, but I would like to have seen more of the context (because I know how the place looks). Maybe you could have moved to his right so that one sees more of the fountain and less of the black bag on the right. Or used a wider lens to include more of the building.



I like the eye contact between the two men and the passing cyclist. The top of the background is distracting for me. The back of the cart is abruptly cut by the frame. The man on the left is partially hiding the horse. The road is overexposed and that attracts my eye on an empty zone between the man and the horse. I wonder what the man on the right is doing with his hand, at first glance one would expect he is smoking, but there is no cigarette. He looks as if he was caught doing an error or as if he is thinking about his next phrase, in any case a puzzling expression. Still, one can understand that the stern expression of the man on the left is precious, although we see very little of his face. One sees horse carts regularly in Munich, they are used for special occasions. The Oktoberfest, or course, but it is not the only occasion.
 

Asher Kelman

OPF Owner/Editor-in-Chief
Is the subject "Ihe Isolated People" and not "The Wonderful Octoberfest Wagon"?

No doubt, Fahim, you noticed the antique and quaint-looking wagon. But is that what you actually photographed? I think, perhaps not!

One last one from Bavaria; beautiful region, lovely people.

The way I do street..Leica, hyperfocus, in plain view, people doing their thing..

p517565235.jpg

Moment frozen in time.

Thank you for being here.


Fahim,

I see this as a moment of frozen separateness of folk who do not have time to engage with one another. This is such a unique part of modern life, walking past other folks with no need for greetings. This would never happen in a village, unless one had tricked a man into marrying the wrong daughter or sold him a bad car.

So I don't worry about the end of the carriage not being shown. In fact, that is not required for the picture. I'd try to de-emphasize it by unsharp masking. When I look at the picture I see the bubbles of 3 different lives passing with zero acknowledgement. It's as if we travel with social blinders on.

This picture is important, Fahim as it tells us of the disconnect we can unfortunately get in a large urban community. Look at this report from China. A two year old is run over, folk see it and just walk around but don't stop.

So, Fahim,

Maybe festivals, like the one in Janadiriyah, outside Riyadh in Saudi Arabia, Oktoberfest, or Mardi Gras perhaps, invite folk to greet one another and return us to village life for a short while where we greet each other.

Asher
 

Jerome Marot

Well-known member
So I don't worry about the end of the carriage not being shown.

The carriage is certainly not the subject, but extending the frame a tiny bit to the right would have been better, I think. I believe that it would actually attract my eye less if it would not be cut by the frame. But maybe it is just me. Unsharp masking the carriage is also a possibility.

When I look at the picture I see the bubbles of 3 different lives passing with zero acknowledgement. It's as if we travel with social blinders on.

I don't agree. It is obvious to me that the two men work together, because they wear the same clothes. You would not know that the clothes mean that they are the carriage drivers, but you can see that they are identical. And the picture is interesting because of the interaction between the two men, they don't ignore each other.
 
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