Being watched

[Manfred M]

In street photography, there is a lack of consensus of where eye contact with the camera is important or if it is not.
There is also a lack of consensus of whether images should stick to monochrome or if colour is acceptable.

I tend to be quite pragmatic about both these points; it doesn't matter so long as the image is effective. Sometimes eye contact with the camera is critical while at other times it would not work. B&W was the default (and sometimes only) option in the early days of this genre. Nowadays colour is the default and we need a specific reason to shoot in B&W, for instance to simplify the scene.

Here is a street image that I've always found enchanting somehow. It was taken in the small town of Nandgaon, India. The young woman seemed to be interested in what I was doing and made perfect eye contact with my camera.

[Stagecoach]

I have never been one for worrying about categorising images because some could possibly consider this as an environmental portrait.

But whatever, it certainly has something special about it.

[Wandjina]

There are a lot of distracting, garish colours in this image. I know these are commonplace in this part of the world, but I think it this image would be better in monochrome

[wilgk]

I think her perfect eye contact, draws you in, to the exclusion of the other elements in the frame.

[Rufus]

The colours in the background tie in and strengthen those in the subject's clothes.

The only aspect I am not keen on is the disk in the ceiling at the top left of the frame. I find it competes with the subject's face, as it is on a plain backround and at a similar level (top to bottom) in the image.

[Manfred M]

There are a lot of distracting, garish colours in this image. I know these are commonplace in this part of the world, but I think it this image would be better in monochrome

That was one option I looked at before coming up with this version and quite frankly it was not working particularly well for me.

I do shoot B&W, but my default is colour. What struck me about this scene is how subtle the colour palette is when compared to many other shots I took in this part of India.

[Manfred M]

The colours in the background tie in and strengthen those in the subject's clothes.

The only aspect I am not keen on is the disk in the ceiling at the top left of the frame. I find it competes with the subject's face, as it is on a plain backround and at a similar level (top to bottom) in the image.

I had the same thought when I was working on this image and initially removed it. While is might seem a bit strange, I found that it actually results in a stronger image as it does something with the space.

Another alternative I looked at was to go to a square crop, but the impact was not there.

[DanK]

I agree with Rufus—I’d get rid of the cover plate on the ceiling. I’d rather have negative space than space broken up by this, which is both distracting and uninteresting.


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[xpatUSA]

Anybody know what script that is in the circles? Certainly not Hindi. Urdu maybe?

[Manfred M]

Let me throw up four variants. I tried three of these during post and did not like them as much as my original. I tried one more idea here as well.


1. B&W - I find that this really isn't working at all for me. Colours are an important aspect of this image, in my view.







2. Eliminating the electrical box cover has that whole left, top corner being too homogeneous. I feel that area needs to be broken up to be effective.








3. Square crop - eliminate the whole area to the left. Now the balance of the image is wrong with nothing to counteract the heavy wooden door on the right.






4 The only concept I did not test was to tone down the intensity of the electrical box cover. Of the four alternatives posted, this is the one that works best, but I still prefer the original.

[Manfred M]

Anybody know what script that is in the circles? Certainly not Hindi. Urdu maybe?

This is rural Uttar Pradesh and Hindi is the most common spoken languages there and Urdu is also one of the official languages. I'm not sure of differences in the written word as I thought that Devanagari is most common.

I will follow up with some Indian photographers I from that part of the country.

[xpatUSA]

This is rural Uttar Pradesh and Hindi is the most common spoken languages there and Urdu is also one of the official languages. I'm not sure of differences in the written word as I thought that Devanagari is most common.

Long ago I used to write in Devanagari script to an Indian girlfriend so I know it ain't that. Looks to me like stylized Nastaʿlīq:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roman_...Arabic)_Script

I will follow up with some Indian photographers I from that part of the country.

Thanks Manfred. I am most interested!

[Manfred M]

One of my contracts just got back to me. I was told it is "Om" in the Devanagari script.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Om#/me...Aum_Om_red.svg

[xpatUSA]

One of my contracts just got back to me. I was told it is "Om" in the Devanagari script.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Om#/me...Aum_Om_red.svg

Thanks Manfred - that certainly is it. So much for my quesswork!

[Rufus]

For me the square crop is the least satisfactory composition because the omitted balustrading that is at an angle is an important part of the image. Also the subject on the centre line is not so nicely balanced.

I agree the B&W loses impact as it appears to have lots of mid-tones and few blacks.

I hoped the toning down of the electrical box might help, but sadly it gives the impression of a dirty mark.

So for me, the choice is between the original image or the additional negative space, and I would go with the latter.

With the original my eye does not rest for long on the subject, as it keeps being drawn back and forth to the electrical box; whereas with the additional negative space my eye concentrates of the subject, enjoys the metalwork and colourful background and returns to the subject.

[mugge]

I prefer the original. The square format is dominated by the door, the b&w has no strong blacks or highlights. The eliminating the light fitting does not work at all for me because the area is now bereft of interest. The tone down of the light fitting is ok, I guess.
Cheers Ole