After a three hour, respiratorless scrubbing of the interior of a fuel oil tank with kerosene, here are my impressions of this weeks PF Gallery as seen at http://www.rit.edu/~andpph/gallery.html. Christiane Roh (Morat, July 2002) - I really, really like the subject matter and the balance thereof in this image. The huge, dark cube by itself on one side and the man, sign, bulk of the hills and almost all of the clouds on the other. It reminds me of the new VW Beetle ads that Gestalt the shape of the beetle with its environment. I did find though that the block grabs and holds my attention so strongly that I never really get over to get a good look at the man. I flipped the image and found that although I was drawn to the block, I could now move back to the left and for some reason having the man walking out the left edge of the image seemed more intriguing. He's not leaving because he's done. He's heading into something. Strange but true. Kostas Papakotas (tuning before the "MILKMAN") - Yeah, this is another concert shot but no, its not JUST another concert shot. At least not to me. I like the way Stefan is leaning a bit and his face is turned to the light. To me, its a pose of surrender and relief. Both hands forming fists with the left thrust in my face while the right, coiled hand recedes into the darkness. The harsh lights, the surrendered pose and the fists remind me of a boxer just after taking that last right hook and he realizes he has lost and is heading to the mat. How's that for stretching it? Don Roberts (Music Ain't Everything) - I like the title but it doesn't look to me like the musicians are actually looking at the woman. They seem to be looking ahead of her. Rather rude of the tubanator to block the banjo picker's view though. David Small (Additional details: N.Y.C.) - Interesting parallax here but I'm not really warming up to the image. However, I do like looking at the man's shins and feet. I'm getting an optical illusion going on where his feet seem to be pointing towards me and then his legs look all goofy as my mind tries to straighten it out. Michael Weiser (San Miguel de Allende, Mexico) - A repeat of a previously viewed image. I remember it well. I really like the lighting on the woman and the door but the large area of darkness signifies death moving in on her while she's not looking. To her its a lovely sunny day. If only she knew. Chilling. Jeff Spirer (Door to Perceptions) - Jeff you must have been exhausted after prepping these walls for the shot. How many ball peen hammers did you say you go through per year? The door seems to indicate a once more prestigious address. That door is interesting. The ironwork curls around like little whiffs of smoke that seep out from the stone. At the top of the door they float before a darkening background. At the bottom they disappear completely into darkness. They are ghosts of the past that form an arched form in a rectangular opening. Cool. I am intrigued about why you tend to lean towards the dilapidated and rundown. The texture is cool but one can't constantly shoot texture. What is it about you that makes you seek out this environment Mr. Spirer? Karen Habbestad (winter) - I just love this image. I get a smile every time I look at it. The large area of formless white gives me a strong feeling that the snow goes on forever. The intensely close cropping of the horse's head pulls an hourglass shape that I knew not existed in a horse. The nostrils become eyes and some alien creature and perhaps its the horse's smile that makes me smile too. Beauty of a shot. Brian van den Broek (Vespa, Padua) - Another close crop but in my mind not as effective. I am bothered by the lighting. Why use a flash? You've lost the warmth and intensity of the light and the highlights really ruin the smooth gradation of the fiberglass. The harsh shadow on the lower lip is quite troublesome to my mind. Even with the flash, a lot of the read still really screams RED but I would prefer it lit au-naturelle. Louis C. Smith - I find this image interesting in its unrecognizableness. I like the short DOF but I'm not so sure about the high contrast between the table and background. Perhaps a closer crop for my taste to emphasize the blue tube, the glass swan and the mysterious yellow between the two. Marilyn Dalrymple (Bicycle Wheel) - So very, very small. By design? Hmmmm...It's really a shadow though isn't it. That vertical that bothered me on the right is actually the end view of the wheel. And the squiggly wire is actually a crack in the pavement. I wish I didn't have to sit so close to the monitor to see the details in an image I think I would like were it 3x larger. Roland Idaczyk (Toby and his friend) - Come on who you kidding? That cat is drunk! Look at his eyelids? They're a spittin' image of Bobert on Thursday afternoons an hour into Lone Star happy hour at the Dusty Steer out on route 77 while he rummages through his coat looking for the words to 'These Boots Are Made For Walkin' and curses the DJ for not rewinding his Billy Ray Cyrus tape. And I can clearly see a staple in the mouse's right hind paw! Some may call it animal cruelty but I call it perfectionism. Bravo! King/Arthur (Baby/Lamb) - I like blue and yellow together but that is overpowered by my urge to clean my contacts. Some setting on the blur needs to be adjusted. Thanks to all the contributors this week and thanks to the PF staff for yet another fine display. Greg Fraser
