My impressions of this week's gallery as seen at http://www.rit.edu/~andpph/gallery.html. Robert G. Earnest - An amusing shot .... or is it? I mean who has a bear laying around to use as a prop? Not I. I cannot tell why Antonio was up the tree. He may indeed have been driven up there by the bear or perhaps he just likes trees. Perhaps he was in his blind, hammered on Jim Beam, using his 12 gauge as a crutch while he leaned over to relieve himself and off popped his sandal bopping Gentle Ben on the nose causing him to look up as the stream hit his face. Whatever the story, the important thing is that he had the instincts to bring along a camera! Bravo! Alan P. Hayes (Blue Black Truck) - This shot seems more fluid and more colorful than your other night shots I remember. The others were more patches of color whereas this one has much more form to it and lines. This is really interesting how the truck is pinched in the middle. The longer I look at it the more I like it. Perhaps its the dark surroundings but it takes on a mysterious feel to it. Jeff Spirer (John Wayne and Someone Else) - Just who is that someone else and why was there no mention of Big Bird whom this mystery woman is holding? Is it just me or is the theme of this gallery "unanswered questions?" (should that question mark go inside or outside the quotation marks? The tile makes me think this is a bathroom with the Duke on the door. I can't help but wonder who would have a bathroom decorated so eclectically? An image that strains my imagination. Love the grain by the way and the way that the tiles are reduced to broken white lines on a black background. Rich Mason - The vehicle appears to be on a downward slope but the buildings give no clue that the street itself is sloped so I have a strong feeling that the driver has just slammed on the brakes and one of those laws that Sir I. Newton passed so long ago is making the card dive forward. The driver might even be leaning a bit forward. The heavy, heavy double border reinforces this feeling. A thinner border could not stop the car and hold it in place. The 'One Way' sign has perhaps been driven down through the hood of the car to help keep it in place. Well now all this sounds ridiculous even to me but that's what I see damnit! Alan Zinn (Is this 'savoir faire', or what?) - I'm not sure what 'savoire faire' means but I know that the arch enemy of my favourite super hero, Underdog, was named Savoir Faire and that's not him. That car with all its curvy lines looks like a great candidate for a Lookaround shot but I would like to see her closer to the camera and definitely with her back foot not severed by the frame. That's really a beautifully designed car body. Roderick Chen - Well just blow me away. I thought the thumbnail was of a flower and it looked very interesting to me but of course the full size image is just spectacular. At first I thought that was fancy lighting but it doesn't appear to follow the contour of the model's body. I was disappointed by that but then I realized that the lines would lose their symmetry. Regardless, its a beautiful image with the lines perfectly following the form of the body. Marvelous. Rand Flory (The Drop) - Very nice lighting. I really like the shot of the model but the needle is bringing me down. I suppose that is its purpose though. Of course it could be something really great in that needle like a cure for some horrible disease but the look on the models face tells me otherwise. Christiane Roh (Lac de Neuchatel, July 2002) - Identical twins with double ended oars row past two sets of two tires hung on two sets of stilts but then the rest of the image fails to conform. The boats in the back could be just background if they were all white but that one orange bastard just had to get into the shot. Too many twos for me or is it not enough two? Hard to choose. Richard Cooper (See you in the Spring) - I would have gone for a straight on shot but you chose to be slightly off center. Perhaps to add some instability and to let us know this is not a gentle snow fall scene. Why is that thing still in the water anyway? Don't they pull their boats there in the winter? Perhaps the owner slipped on the snow, clunked her head and fell overboard. Not paying her harbor fees, the harbor master was damned if he was going to pull her boat when she already owed him for the slip and besides, she never should have left him for his half brother Raoul 'the eel' of pro bowling fame. Oh what a sad, sordid tale this image portrays and so close to Christmas too. Jim Davis (Bee Hawk Moth) - Ahhhhh....a wee bit of summer in a slushy world (my world anyway). That's got to be very close to impossible to catch that critter in such a perfect pose. Determination and plenty of film or just firing away digitally? Either way the results speak for themselves. The flowers really give me a feeling of warmth. Jay Bjerkan (Rotunda 11/2002) - Cool illusion working here. The trees really seem to be in front of the wall when you first glance at it. Then the wall takes shape and the hole is obvious but still the trees try to make themselves foreground. Very cool. Emily L. Ferguson (The mortise man) - The look on this guy's face is priceless. Perhaps its the result of wearing all that clothing while performing manual labour under a glaring sun. What was with those pilgrims and their fashion sense? Thanks to all contributors this week. Greg Fraser
