Hello my name is Maxwell and I'm brand new to photography and to Fred's and im excited to converse and critique with all of the other artists here.
"capture my coy inference "
is my first artistic attempt at fine art with a camera and i hope you can enjoy it. I shot this myself (no friend holding the camera), and i almost got kicked out of the bar i was in because the camera flash was annoying people. Unfortunately i cannot turn off my flash on my Power Shot Elf because the LCD is broken thus i cannot see the controls.
Post Script: I enjoy critique as long as you say i'm comparable to Van Gogh and i am a living masterpiece with works equal to "starry night" or " Michelangelo's "David" ! lol that would be a joke. joke. joke.
Critique is an extremely useful tool to mold an artist into the best that he or she can become in all area of art, humanity, and time.
yes it me in the photo... i swear not a prima donna.
Thanks, yeah i thought of that right away, but then the camera gets confused aperture wise i believe and you can get bad results. For this shot though i just left it because it is supposed to display culture rather than dynamic light, negative space, and etc.
Being of a rather different generation, I'm likely not making all the subtle inferences. But I find this image strangely compelling. It has a real candid/spontaneous feel to it.
Two things I'm not sure about with this shot - firstly, the position of the subject. It's a bit too centred for me. I don't know why there is so much space at either side. The leg is a bit distracting.
And secondly, I really don't get what the "inference" is? What are you inferring? The verb infer means to suggest or imply, and it seems to sit at odds to the content of the photo.
I can see 'contradiction' ie someone looking coy while adopting a deliberate 'I'm a picture' pose, but the word "inference" seems a bit semantically adrift...
Being a sponge for critique, positive and negative, I'll tell you what I think.
The subject matter is edgy, but doesn't tell me much of a story. It leaves me wondering why you are framing a face with closed eyes, with an open, dynamic body pose. Those elements pull me in two directions instead of unifying a theme.
Compositionally, the vines on the wall merge with the subject's head and make me examine and decide if they are meant to be an extension of the hair for some artistic reason.
I'd like to see the subject in one of the spaces of thirds.
the overblown highlights of the shirt draw my attention rather than support the attention on the subject's face (or at least I think that's the intended subject.
That's the critical response.
Artistically, I do like the energy, the youth and the expression of culture. I like your interpretation of color. I'd like to see more of your images in this style.
Welcome to FM and the WA's. I'm looking forward to watching your development.
Being a "traditionalist" myself the only problem I have is with the washed out colors. I like dramatic bright colors or dramatic bold B&W. It needs some pop--add some contrast, remove the color, and lower the brightness just bit. Think a contemporary James Dean paparazzi shot as it would've appeared in an old photo mag.
Anyway, keep taking photos. And, if needed, ignore us "traditionalists".
teglis wrote:
Being of a rather different generation, I'm likely not making all the subtle inferences. But I find this image strangely compelling. It has a real candid/spontaneous feel to it.
Welcome to the WA!
-- Rich
Rich, thank you so much! i'm so glad to have such a amazing photographer comment on mine novice shot. I personally didn't think i would get a single reply, but thanks to people like yourself and all at the FM forums makes it much easier to be motivated to keep SHOOTING.
hahah im glad you got a kick out of it... its so sad because when it comes to the other forms of fine art i work with i have great tools, but with photography, my Canon half busted 2 megapixel is like making Jackson Pollack paintings with a ballpoint pen lawl.
Bill Sutherland wrote:
Very contemporary feel about it. Traditionalists probably won't like it but stick with it.
Thanks for the input Bill.
I really am new to photography and i haven't even really looked around to see styles etc all that much, so what i enjoy most about all of this is that whatever i shoot, i can vaguely be conscious that its coming mostly from my heart and not a style i picked up by some photo instructor (that is why photography is so great to me because im so new to it that i cant be jaded by non internal specific style yet. I say that because ive been jaded in other forms of art like sculpting for example.) so all i can do is try to weld my life experiences and perspective into each photo i take. I am a new photographer which naturally gives me a different perspective on everything just like someone who lived through WWII, or has traveled the world so on and so forth.
I remember being 18 years old and thinking i knew everything in the world, now i look up at the stars and realize i am just a blip of carbon that will eventually just be energy.. its so odd how the the brain grows. All of the photographers on Fred's are unique, but it is how we display the arts so differently that is so wonderful to for me.
suse wrote:
Two things I'm not sure about with this shot - firstly, the position of the subject. It's a bit too centred for me. I don't know why there is so much space at either side. The leg is a bit distracting.
And secondly, I really don't get what the "inference" is? What are you inferring? The verb infer means to suggest or imply, and it seems to sit at odds to the content of the photo.
I can see 'contradiction' ie someone looking coy while adopting a deliberate 'I'm a picture' pose, but the word "inference" seems a bit semantically adrift...
first off thank you for replying.
in reply to your observations and critique.
1. I am centered in this piece because it is supposed to be a "model" shot hence the vogue symbols symbols im making over my face. The point was not to model myself, but to be thrown into a modeling shot without the intent of being photographed.
2. I tried centering and all other sorts of things but to take away the bricks and the gritty feel would ruin the image for me because i don't want it to be about me; its about being framed or captured if you will. I did not want negative space or a dutch composition etc.
3. The leg displays a defensive pose. Notice almost my entire body is defensive or shy show im not wanting to be captured in this frame. my head is down and my eyes are closed; there are all defensive or meant to be.
4. Its a juxtaposition. Capturing my shy intentions.. To infer or act out coy or shyness.
thats where i was going with that. maybe i wont label photos anymore because it takes away from the viewers perspective... i guess that would mean im feeding viewers the meaning of a art piece that has a story told by its image alone. Sometimes photos can be so theoretically or philosophically complex a name is in order.. i dont know.
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Inference
–noun
1. the act or process of inferring.
2. something that is inferred: to make rash inferences.
3. Logic.
a. the process of deriving the strict logical consequences of assumed premises.
b. the process of arriving at some conclusion that, though it is not logically derivable from the assumed premises, possesses some degree of probability relative to the premises.
c. a proposition reached by a process of inference.
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I'm usually very long winded when it comes to art because i've spent most of my 25 years my life studying art, failing and succeeding at it. So im going to get this off my chest "forgive me." I got such mean unnecessary critiques in school from people who couldn't conceive a creative through if their life depended on it. That is why i love these forums, because everyone here is here each other in a positive way and i dig that.
THANK YOU ALL FOR YOUR CRITIQUES AND COMMENTS!!!! from the bottom of my heart they mean a ton to me.