From: caroleigh@c...
Date: Thu Dec 9, 2004 12:08 pm
Subject: Critique: CJ Middendorf (Twilight: 2 photos)
I'm going to talk about your two photos simultaneously because they're
sort of the same concept, same feel. These are difficult for me to critique.
On the one hand, I'm saying, wow! Very cool images! Strong colors, intensity,
drama, abstraction. My kind of stuff. And then on the other hand, I'm
thinking I wish there was a bit more here -- a bit more of a "story."
Very often, however, a story needs a number of photos to tell it, a photo
essay. So I see these two images as not necessarily "standalone"
shots but rather as shots you could include in a STORY about the streets,
the colors, the mopping. The strengths of these images are their vibrant
colors, their simplicity of composition. But I don't think they're strong
enough to stand on their own. You know what might be cool? Take three
of your street reflection images and frame them in one frame, creating
a triptych. THEN they would tell a story AND have impact.
Subject: Comments: CJ's twilight mop shots
Well, CJ, it looks like you're going to have to go back to San Miguel
de Allende and re-do these! (And I'd like to go with you!) The woman mopping
the plaza is so very, very dark against the bright sunny walls there in
the background that the impact is diluted. The buckets and watery reflections
was a good idea, but the back bucket blends into the stones and doesn't
really show up, while the white one stands out very plainly. Heavy sigh.
If you have a third shot that's similar to your first two, that might
make a good threesome. I'm afraid that these two won't do it for you.
Thanks for posting them, however . . . it's good to see more of what the
scene was.
Carol Leigh (lusting for San Miguel de Allende, hoping that Tucson will
prove to be a satisfactory substitute this April!)
