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Archive 2014 · Alaska and Yukon: Surreal

  
 
Watsonphoto
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p.1 #1 · p.1 #1 · Alaska and Yukon: Surreal



One of the FM members posted an image taken on Dawson City in the Yukon. It struck a chord with me due to a memorable trip to the Yukon and Alaska in 2008. Sometimes in life you encounter something so surreal you don't know whether to take a picture or not. Do you shy away from taking pictures that can provoke social commentary or elaboration on the events that transpired?

The Story Behind Bullet Catcher

From Dawson City I headed over to Alaska for a day trip and decided that Boundary Alaska would be a good place to stop for lunch. I arrived and wandered the grounds of Boundary Lodge when a pickup truck pulled in. The driver got out and started conversing to the lodge owner. What had transpired is the driver of the pickup truck was a local miner who had shot a wolf that was harassing his dogs. He had come to the lodge to see if the lodge owner would skin the wolf for him. It was the local miner that named the wolf bullet catcher as he pulled him out of the truck and pulled the wolf over to the porch of the lodge. The picture was taken when the girl asked her brother to kick the wolf to see if it was dead.




Bullet Catcher




Jan 03, 2014 at 08:46 PM
Evan Baines
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p.1 #2 · p.1 #2 · Alaska and Yukon: Surreal


This is a strong moment. It would be a stronger photograph if you were closer. This feels like a bystander's perspective. That said, the raw material and information in the frame makes this far more interesting than most of what gets posted here.


Jan 03, 2014 at 08:53 PM
CW100
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p.1 #3 · p.1 #3 · Alaska and Yukon: Surreal


Evan Baines wrote:
That said, the raw material and information in the frame makes this far more interesting than most of what gets posted here.


it's certainly different than what gets posted here. But then again, it's not really really a 'people' shot



Jan 04, 2014 at 06:42 AM
egd5
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p.1 #4 · p.1 #4 · Alaska and Yukon: Surreal


I think it is a great people shot. It says so much about the people in the shot. Three kids in a rural environment lifestyle where a dead wolf on the porch is a part of life, All the things included in the shot from the tin roof to the chain saw on the porch helps to convey their life. The unkempt hair, pajamas, and house slippers on the girls make it so realistic to me.
So much better than a model striking some pose that no one would ever do other than at the behest of some silly photog.



Jan 04, 2014 at 11:03 PM
jojomon11
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p.1 #5 · p.1 #5 · Alaska and Yukon: Surreal


Take a picture of the truth is what I say

Yes you might get people asking about your moral judgement, but truth is truth



Jan 05, 2014 at 10:36 AM
jojomon11
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p.1 #6 · p.1 #6 · Alaska and Yukon: Surreal


CW100 wrote:
it's certainly different than what gets posted here. But then again, it's not really really a 'people' shot


I see people in the shot?



Jan 05, 2014 at 10:38 AM
SargentRay
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p.1 #7 · p.1 #7 · Alaska and Yukon: Surreal


To me this shot has the exact same value as any other street shots. Only the surroundings and social references are different, if it were a dead cat or a dead pigeon in the middle of a city street and kids were poking it around in the same way, we wouldn't even look at it for more than a few seconds.

But here for most of us everything is a little different, we have different values and references to evaluate the subject matter. No doubt if my 18 y.o. son were to look at this shot he'd most probably find it gross and wouldn't understand a thing about it. I would most likely explain to him just how different life can be in other parts of the world, and that for instance in remote areas wildlife is still top of the food chain and killing wolves is a matter of survival more than anything else.

The picture ceases a moment (a very good moment) of a very different way of living and i like very much the part of a bigger story it is telling.

Can't help wondering though just how much more powerful it could be in B&W. Then again i think i like everything better in B&W, but that's just me, i'm an old photog...



Jan 05, 2014 at 10:50 AM
docsmiles17
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p.1 #8 · p.1 #8 · Alaska and Yukon: Surreal


i'd like to see it in B&W


Jan 06, 2014 at 02:17 AM
Watsonphoto
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p.1 #9 · p.1 #9 · Alaska and Yukon: Surreal


I agree this is definitely a bystander's perspective. As Boundary, Alaska only has a population of 5. (The family at the lodge) everybody else will always be a bystander. As I am city boy, I will always be a bystander or non-local in an area like this in Alaska. But in reflection there are photojournalists that get deeply involved in something they are trying to cover photographically. Not sure where you cross the line.


Jan 06, 2014 at 08:50 AM
Watsonphoto
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p.1 #10 · p.1 #10 · Alaska and Yukon: Surreal


I will see if I can do a B&W version tonight and post it.


Jan 06, 2014 at 08:51 AM
Watsonphoto
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p.1 #11 · p.1 #11 · Alaska and Yukon: Surreal


Here is a B&W version. Not sure if it changes the viewpoint, the colour version is more graphic which reinforces the subject a bit more.







Jan 06, 2014 at 07:46 PM
docsmiles17
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p.1 #12 · p.1 #12 · Alaska and Yukon: Surreal


Watsonphoto wrote:
Here is a B&W version. Not sure if it changes the viewpoint, the colour version is more graphic which reinforces the subject a bit more.


yes the color version is more graphic but the bright, mis-matched colors of the girls clothing on the left is too distracting.

Nice B+W and contrast is great. Now to reinforce the subject and be graphic, add back the red color



Jan 06, 2014 at 07:53 PM
Charlie Shugart
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p.1 #13 · p.1 #13 · Alaska and Yukon: Surreal


I really like the image AND the conversion. Each conveys a slightly different view of the scene.
And both work just fine.
IMO:
To be closer would remove the whole dynamic of the three kids surrounding the dead wolf.
The color version shows it as it was, and part of that was the girls wearing colorful PJs.
The B&W also works because of the distractions it leaves out- color.
There was no socially sensitive issue involved regarding taking the shot. The only matter of any possible concern is where you post it. On this forum- no problem.
There are people in the shot who play major roles in the overall impact; how could this be in the "wrong" forum?
Back to the image: I stopped several times in Boundary and nearby Chicken when I worked in the far north. And although I never had the good fortune to see anything like this- it seems 100% valid to me. I have no trouble at all imagining all of the bits and pieces of the story.
The only thing missing is a few dozen of the Alaska State Flower, the orange colored 55-gallon drum .
Charlie



Jan 06, 2014 at 09:25 PM
Geoff Brown
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p.1 #14 · p.1 #14 · Alaska and Yukon: Surreal


docsmiles17 wrote:
yes the color version is more graphic but the bright, mis-matched colors of the girls clothing on the left is too distracting.

Nice B+W and contrast is great. Now to reinforce the subject and be graphic, add back the red color


Different strokes, I guess. If I saw the color print matted and framed, hanging on a wall...it would never enter my mind that the girl's colorful clothing was "too distracting". Seriously. It's a kid, wearing kid clothes. Perfectly normal, nothing unusual or distracting about it at all. A dead wolf on a porch...that's the distraction. Very interesting photograph.

As for colorizing a portion of an already very dramatic b&w image...to each their own. Pure cheese, IMHO.

Both are good. I like the color best.



Jan 06, 2014 at 09:51 PM





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