In my own personal case, it's Rene Hales' "Prison Blues" that literally jumps out of the book and sticks in my mind as an extremely powerful statement about separation and (I hope I'm not wrong in my interpretation here) about the sexual tension arising from the forced separation between the female friend and the prisoner. The whole composition, the cropping of the girl's body, center on the girl's sexual area and the prison in the back with the fence in-between. There is extreme tension between the two points but it is completely offset by the great gentleness of the hands and the soft texture of the T Shirt's.
I wonder how many shots it took to get this, Rene.. I would love to see continuation into a small book on the theme of "Prison Blues"...
There are two other pictures that I can't seem to get out of my mind (just like sometimes a tune keeps repeating in your mind). These are John Palcewski's "Self Portrait" and John Rettalack's 'Dolly and Rosemary". I made some comments on John's Self Portrait in an earlier Gallery: they centered around the intensity of the "regard" (sight) and the whole _expression_ of the "visage" and the association I made with an other unrelated body of work.
As for John's "Dolly and Rosemary", the picture (I treat the pair as a single image) brings me back in time and space into a Fellini-type environment. What we see of these two women and their environment is so far away from the reality of most residency hospital. It is clear that my interpretation of the picture is not likely to be representative of the situation but I feel like if I were in some forgotten Italian palace that was inhabited by smiling, richly and colorfully dressed residents wandering in the corridors to exchange with the viewer..
Last but not least, the pictures of the 23 other participants are each in their own way absolutely wonderful.
Congratulations to all, to Andy's elves and trolls and to Andy himself.
Guy
2010/8/3 Mario Pires <retorta@xxxxxxxxx>
Than you Herschell that is a great compliment :)And all that in just a 15 minute subway ride, i must admit i was lucky the 2 girls with the camera seated there :)--
On Tue, Aug 3, 2010 at 05:35, herschel@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx <herschel@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
I'll probably get hell for this single-ing out... but:
Although I really like all the work in the book, I must comment on the wonderful page by Mario Pires.
The collection of images is so alive, vibrant and full of gesture. They individually overflow with human experience and together touch a part of the collective memory. They almost instantly brought a smile to my face and kept me going back for detail. From the loneliness of the empty seats to the warmth of the sharing of the photos to the solitude of the solo guy and girl. They so beautifully address the way we set up and maintain the boundaries of the spaces we occupy and the way we move into and out of our "Shells".
Great work Mario.
Mário Pires
Curso de Estética Fotográfica -http://esteticafotografica.org
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--
"...La photographie est menteuse car, dans la réalité, le temps ne s'arrête pas." (Auguste Rodin)
