Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 2001/04/10

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Subject: Re: [Leica] paw - week...whatever.
From: Nathan Wajsman <wajsman@webshuttle.ch>
Date: Wed, 11 Apr 2001 06:55:36 +0200
References: <B6F515F5.1EF9%lbacchus@home.com>

Hi Lee,

I like the knitting lady and I do not think you needed to back away. A portrait
like this, nice and tight, is best, and one can still see what she is doing. The
out-of-focus hands do not bother me, and I love the parallel betweeen her hat
and the hat in the background.

Rebecca is not as interesting, I think it would have been nicer if you had moved
in closer (or perhaps the picture has more impact in a larger size). I am also a
bit bothered by the crooked lamp. Of course, I do not know the location and
hence do not appreciate its significance.

Nathan

Lee Bacchus wrote:

> A pair of contrasting portraits from my almost completed project (to form
> part of a small group gallery show) on Vancouver's Downtown Eastside
> (http://www.photo.net/photodb/presentation.tcl?presentation_id=52810). The
> first is of a woman in Chinatown (which is contained within this desperately
> troubled and impoverished community) who makes her living on the street
> knitting hats. The other is of Rebecca, who ‹ ahem ‹ makes her living on the
> streets as well.
> When I first encountered the knitting lady, I vainly and naively imagined
> myself to be one of the few to shoot her. After I fired off a dozen or so
> shots of this woman who spoke not a word of English, she reached back behind
> her, pulled out a dog-eared and timeworn piece of cardboard on which was
> scrawled, "May I please sometime have a copy of your picture, please."
> If I was going to offer some pre-emptive self-criticism, it would mainly be
> that the knitlady's hands should be more in focus. Alas, I was only carrying
> Delta 100 and couldn't stretch the DOF amid her shadowy corner. I also
> wonder whether the shot is too tight, and that it would work better with her
> array of knitted hats as a background. Conversely, I wonder if Rebecca's
> portrait might work better in tight. But then I wanted to display part of
> Pigeon Square, a famous (and infamous) hangout in the neighborhood.
> Other comments gratefully accepted,
> Lee Bacchus
> Vancouver.

- --
Nathan Wajsman
Herrliberg (ZH), Switzerland

e-mail: wajsman@webshuttle.ch

General photo site: http://belgiangator.tripod.com/
Belgium photo site: http://members.xoom.com/wajsman/
Motorcycle site: http://www.geocities.com/MotorCity/Downs/1704/

In reply to: Message from Lee Bacchus <lbacchus@home.com> ([Leica] paw - week...whatever.)