Here are my impressions of this week's images in the PF Gallery found at http://www.rit.edu/~andpph/gallery.html. David Small (N.Y.C. 2002) - I wonder if its possible to take a dull street shot in NYC? I also wonder if the 'ST." in "St. Mark's Deli" stands for saint? Are saints allowed to open a deli? I like the combination of the statue and the man and the busy background with all the signs and details equally sharp. I can hear the noise and smell the steam rising from the grates in the sidewalk. I also really like the way the sidewalk falls off behind the woman as if there is no going back for her. She's there on the street preaching to the masses while her assistant waits patiently beside her. Roderick Chen - This is hauntingly fantastic. This looks to be about 150 years old and perhaps a mistaken double exposure taken at some Parisian clinic or perhaps its a publicity still taken in the backroom of some charlatan spiritualist. I've seen a photo of Mr. Chan and I would say that the hand does not belong to him but I cannot say if the skull is his or not although I would imagine that a self portrait such as this would border on the excruciatingly painful if not impossible. I love the shot though. The subject is somewhat mysterious and the aging really enhances that feeling. Richard Cooper (Reflections) - Interesting reflection because it doesn't look right but I'm not really sure it isn't right. The veil reflection seems to overlap itself too much but then again perhaps it looks that way because its not opaque. I like the shading on the woman and its interesting how her reflected eyes are brighter than the original eyes. Its a puzzle for me and who doesn't like puzzles? Gregory david Stempel (The Farm) - There's a chimney? There are power lines? That bump on the horizon is a farm? This shot really needs to be on a really big print. Looks like this definitely has lost its impact as a 50k jpeg but would be quite dramatic as a 50ft mural. The sky is fantastic and exceedingly ominous but as far as composition goes, nature was slacking with a circle on top of a couple of horizontal lines. Marilyn Dalrymple - From the thumbnail I had no idea what was in the image but it looked interesting. Then I opened it and thought 'oh, its a snapshot of a cat'. But something in the image interested me (cat's generally don't). The shot looks over-saturated and this takes me out of reality mode and into graphic mode. You've got broad vertical stripes then a blindingly white horizontal stripe on top of a grey and black checkerboard. The small arch bottom right and the curve formed where the base of the cat's tail meets the white baseboard add to the basic geometric shapes filling this image. The cat's body forms a bizarre shape with only one hind leg and the forepaws melded together into one triangular shape topped with a mouse who's tail just happens to lay out parallel to the edge of the square in which it is held by the cat. The harsh shadows clearly define the edges of the three dimensional objects. There is no pain of death for me and I suppose that's because the cat and mouse appear to be looking stage left as if seeking guidance from the director on how to interpret this scene. I've really enjoyed looking at this image. Brian van den Broek (Time Enough) - I love the shading on the watch face how it looks like a clear sky at twilight. I also like the way the hands lead the eye into the image. I think having a reflection works ok for the shot but I don't like being able to see what looks like a refrigerator and a butcher block table. To me the watch speaks of space and the cosmos but the reflection speaks of someone's kitchen. Now if you had a sputnik shaped toaster in there, it would work really well. Dan Mitchell (Boxes) - I probably wouldn't mind this as a purely graphic pattern shot if there were no background visible. I don't know for sure but it looks to me like you were attracted by the vibrant colors but the direct sunlight has washed them out. I guess I'm having trouble getting an impression from this image. Greg Fraser (Fall) - I get two feelings from this shot. The swirling, diagonal leaves make me uneasy. The solid, stationary tree gives me the opposite feeling and the way the root stretches into the leaves ties them together. I feel a lot of motion and instability but the tree has everything under control. I can safely look at the leaves as long as I like without being swept down stream. I also like way the swirling lines in the bark represents the swirling nature of the leaves. Brian Chandler (Botty) - I don't really get much of an impression from this. There is an obvious similarity between the little gray statue and the white statue/man in front of it but I don't feel compelled to stare. King/Arthur (Up/Down) - I'm not sure of my take on the composition but I do like the large patches of red, green, blue and yellow. I also like the look of the lecherous person walking towards the camera and how the people on the right have line up single file so as to not get too close to him. D.L. Shipman (November Pumpkins, Englewood 2002) - Setting, orange sun on dark orange pumpkins makes for a lot of orange. I like orange but the image on my screen looks noticeably dark as if it is under-exposed. The vertical cropping seems to go against the shape of pumpkins but if you notice, there is a diagonal line of pumpkins going from bottom left to upper right and this reminds me of naval pennants which of course reminds me of my old navy days which at first bring back fond memories which in turn bring back less than fond memories which then bring back the night terrors which force me to bolt up in bed at 3:00am screaming "I HAD NOTHING TO DO WITH THAT SHIP SINKING! I WAS TOLD TO TURN THAT VALVE!" Thanks to all this weeks contributors for caring enough to submit. Greg Fraser
