Social issues photos

[danielgilbey]

Hello,
This was shot on a recent weekend in Paris. I thought it quite poignant given the name of the store...
Opinions appreciated & thanks in advance.


http://www.shotwithlove.com
Photography by Daniel Gilbey

[habakuk]

Daniel. I think this is a great scene you captured here. Although it is easy to interpret it in several, pretty different ways. On first look, I thought it's quite a funny scene, with someone standing behind the doors, seeing his goods on the street, and maybe having the key outside, and the door snap-locked... Or... the "New man" sign: the guy behind the glass has just put all his old belongings on the street, sort of a stripping of old burdens.

however one interprets the scene, it is one that captures the attention and I like that a lot. well seen, well shot. (Ok, on the right side, the framing isn't perfect...)

cheers
®

[eob]

Whatever meaning hinted in the scene, for me, it got greatly obfuscated by the chaos of reflections in the windows.

When I look at this picture, I see most of all those reflections and not much more. Since I know that this shot can't be about reflections, I keep looking around and finding some other elements, but they seem to be disconnected and not playing together at all. So, I am very hard pressed to see the irony of a mental connection between the nameplate, the mannequin and the refuse on the street. The idea is great and the scene is nice, but the way it was photographed seems to be random.

I think, a radical treatment in Photoshop could improve this problem greatly. Just a suggestion...

[stormyva]

The reflections in the glass really confuse the shot.  When I look at it that's the first thing I noticed, then the mannequin, then the pile of clothes which I assume is a homeless person, then finally the sign.  Your description made me go back and look again to try and understand what you saw in the scene.  Like was previously suggested some PS work to remove the reflections might help bring that which you see in the picture.

[danielgilbey]

Wow, thanks for the replies all.
Just to clarify, it is a homeless person sleeping(?) in the door way - I guess the irony for me was the name of the store the person decided to camp up at.
Hadn't really taken much notice of the reflections (until now) to my mind they are quite abstract although I can see how they may 'confuse the shot'
Also, looking at it again, I don't suppose it's overly obvious that it is a homeless person laying there (I didn't want to ask him to say fromage for the camera...)
Anyways, thanks for the comments & feedback - appreciated :-Daniel

[eob]

Well, I was convinced that the thing in front of the door was just a pile of garbage. Somehow, I did not recognize a human form at all. Even after your explanation, I still don't see a human. And that changes a lot in the general perception of this image...

That is yet another proof that the meaning of any photograph is "in the eye of the viewer" (to paraphrase the popular saying), rather than the photographer who took it.

[danielgilbey]

Sorry that you cannot see that it's a person there, (like I mentioned, I didn't fancy asking them to pose for the camera...)
However, maybe that is indicative of what the picture is implying (maybe not) that we see homeless people as just 'garbage' in doorways - I guess there are many interpretations of what is there & what isn't? I'd like to imagine the confused reflections are an impression of the confusion of the values of modern society in regards to homelessness & care for other people & the values attached to that?

Either way, thanks for the critique, appreciated...

:-Daniel

[eob]

I hope, you are not implying that I (or anybody else) see a garbage when I look at homeless persons. The problem here is not my perception of homeless people, but rather the visual representation of reality in your picture. No matter what kind of philosophy you're gonna try to attach to this image, it will be hard to find - because this particular image does not support visually the idea behind it...