Standing in the open refrigerator door and using only my nipples to type, I offer my impressions of this week's gallery as seen at http://www.rit.edu/~andpph/gallery.html. Jeff Spirer (After the Crime, the Man Left) - Hey it's the nazi dentist that tortured Dustin Hoffman in 'The Running Man'. Is it safe yet? The camera angle, camera shake as if you're chasing this guy, all the lines (except the stairs almost) being diagonals, the harsh light and the dark figure complete with instrument bag really create a very entertaining and sinister image for me. Now if you could have gotten him to turn and glare at you, well, that would have been heaven. Christiane Roh (Lausanne, Place Bel Air, April 2002) - Now this is a different side of Lausanne than you have shown us before (or at least that I remember). I wonder if he was aware of your shooting him. I have seen this look on people's faces many times. Sadly I see it a lot on children's faces for no apparent reason. I am very interested in your story of this shot. It seems my brain is obsessed with patterns because I noticed his brow wrinkles are very similar to the scribbles on the window to the right of his mouth. Pointless observation but what the hey. Bobbie Blazy (Holy Water, Sorrowful Mother Shrine 2002) - Perfect lighting. There's just enough to bring out the texture but it's mottled enough to not be harsh. I am amazed at how people feel it is not sacreligious to dispense 'holy' water through $3.00 worth of PVC and a couple of feet of rad hose. Without the sign one might mistake it for a leak. Emily L. Ferguson (The surf at Warren's Point, RI) - Great timing on capturing that wave. I love the shape of it and the way the crest follows the line of the rocks behind it. The sky's a little dull but the background houses work well. It's a shame the whole thing is ruined by that out of focus rock about a foot from the lens. I think you would have had a really nice photo if you would have worked around that. D.L. Shipman (Turn of the century post card) - Is it a postcard or is that just the title? I will assume its the title. There is a very neat effect here the way the boats appear to be casting shadows onto the background. I really like the chaotic mass of riggings also. Very nice print I would imagine. Cool man. John Edwin Mason (Joshua Smiles: Homage to Roy Decarava) - First off you and I have the same middle name so I like all of your work. This image specially pleases me. That expression is priceless but what really interests me is the way the curves of his brow match the neck of his sax much like Chrisitane's subject matched the markings on the door. However that was just coincidence to me whereas here I see a real relationship between the man and his horn. Like how people begin to look like their dogs. Excellent shot. Well balanced and good exposure. Roderick Chen - One of those images that make me say "oh........wow." Phenomenal shadows. I have been really into shadows lately but I haven't captured any as wonderful as this. I see this as a difficult one to crop. You don't want it too orderly or it looks fake. I think you did a great job with this. Nicely 2-dimensionalized too. One of my Photoforum favourites. Greg Fraser (Fence Weeds) - Compression has taken its toll on this shot but the shapes remain and I find them strong enough to stand on their own. I took this on my way home from work. This kind of plant grows on just about every farmer's fence in my part of the world but it wasn't until the rain had soaked everything that I was ready to take this photo. I like the way the delicate little tendrils reach out to the rusty fence for support. Dan Mitchell (Quayside) - Hope the move was your choice and enjoyeable. New scenery should help. Nice how the clouds conveniently formed a backdrop around the structures but left clear blue for the rest of the sky. That's gotta be an omen for you. Nicely composed how the buildings lead out to the right but are balanced by the darker clouds leading off to the left. I guess its the bright sun and blue sky that make this nice to look at. Marilyn Dalrymple (Gate and Window) - I've seen this before or perhaps another image from the series. I remember thinking the window was a shadow of the light cage. I also remember seeing something that bothered me like a crooked wall or something but I see none of that now. All I see is a beautiful image with depth and a wonderful array of shapes. I really like the darker beam running along the top. It adds a nice contrast to the rest of the image but the angled bottom on it prevents it from being too strong a contrast. John Palcewski (Hush yer mouth) - This reminds me of a photo that I saw in the gallery quite a while ago. I believe it was a Bob T shot. It was a street level shot of a pigeon and the head of the man in the shot had been cropped off. I found that headless person intriguing and here you have reduced 2 people to feet and calves. One person is just a body and the boy has no face. We make unmistakable eye contact with the dog. I like the subordination of people and the elevation of the dog as the subject. Bob Talbot (Bloomsbury) - After looking at this several times and thinking 'nice clean street, well maintained buildings, pretty blue sky' I suddenly noticed this gentleman is sitting on a sleeping bag and I may be wrong but I get the feeling that is his home he's sitting on. The perspective is very interesting in that if I let your eyes follow down the sidewalk at the right, I only see this guy out of the corner of my eye. So easily ignored. I like this as a portrait of this man. If he was not in the photo I would still like the composition specially the way all the lines lead my eye down the street until I hit the row of lamp posts that angles to the right providing little diversions from the trip back into the image. Very well done. Thanks to all the contributors this week. Greg Fraser http://www.geocities.com/fraserg1962
