Close of the market

[mugge]

The lady in this image is the very last displaying bolts of fabric in The Victoria Market, Melbourne. I have been in Melbourne for over 50 years and have seen her selling fabric on many occasions. Sadly her time is over as the market is due for a significant makeover. C&C welcome.

Close of the market by Ole Hansen, on Flickr

[Manfred M]

Good strong image here Ole. Your timing was right on as you captured your subject in a positioned where she is well framed. Had she looked your way, that would have been even stronger. Going B&W allows you to push the image a lot harder than you could in colour.

With bolts of fabric, a colour rendition could have been interesting too, although that would make a completely different image.

[Shadowman]

Nicely done.

[pschlute]

I like it. The correlation between her and the old wooden market benches is a good one.

[DanK]

A very powerful image. I think B&W is ideal for this. the textures are superb, and you have done a great job of highlighting the woman despite her relatively small size in the frame. I think it would be even better as a print.

[FootLoose]

There is good structure in this image and I think it could be improved with a bit of tonal work. For example, I would tone down the brick arch at the top of frame, and also pull down the brick wall top right of frame to allow the woman to stand out a bit more (luckily she didn't stare down your lens and ruin the shot). I would also darken the table in the lower left corner so it is less obtrusive. The image might also benefit from a subtle gradient mask applied more-or-less diagonally from the lower left corner up to the first row of table tops.

[mugge]

I tried some of your suggestion, Greg. I think you are right.

[Manfred M]

Greg has given you some very good advice on edits and his thoughts are very much along the same lines as I would suggest.

The only point he and I don't agree on is the direction that the lady is looking, but there's nothing you can do once the picture has been taken. My issue there is that the direction she is looking pushes out of the frame. Had she been looking at something in the frame, for instance some of the spread out cloth or at the photographer, the associated story would have been stronger.

[shreds]

Greg has given you some very good advice on edits and his thoughts are very much along the same lines as I would suggest.
…...My issue there is that the direction she is looking pushes out of the frame. Had she been looking at something in the frame, for instance some of the spread out cloth or at the photographer, the associated story would have been stronger.

Given the back story, I rather think that her looking out of frame from the deserted tables in this instance very much reflects her uncertain future after all those years….staring into the abyss you might say.

As such, it says something to me that follows the back story quite well…...

[lovelife65]

Another excellent image Ole. The correlation between the woman and the old market is wonderful. It's really an emotional capture, and I find myself wondering what is she thinking, how is she feeling? The direction she is looking, IMO, only enhances the feeling of the photograph. A direct look at you and your camera would have given a different feel and motion to how I perceive the woman.
I love it.

Sharon