Waiting or running Photo

Photographer’s Note

Some antropology today. At airports there are two basic kinds of the human species, the waiting and the running.

The waiting seem to have all the time in the world and are allways looking very bored. It can be very interesting to observe them but be careful - doing such observations for a longer period can make you one of them.

The running are on the other hand never boring to look at but it is hard to make long observations of the individuals as they appear and disappear in almost the same instant. Therefore observations of the running can only be done on a population level studying the behaviour of them as a heard.

In some areas of airports, primarily on the outside the customs, there is often mating rituals going on between specimens of the two kinds as an individual of the running finds an individual of the waiting. An example of this can be seen in the upper left corner.

Yesterday evening I spent a few hours at Kastrup, the Copenhagen airport, and tried to fill my scavenger hunt. So here is a bald guy in motion.

Isabelle, nwoehnl, jrj, mimi, kajenn, omritoppol, MiguelP, khmelins trouve(nt) cette note utile

Critiques | Translate

clodreno (0) 2004-04-17 5:44

Very nice composition Ebbe. I like it a lot. The diagonal is very dynamic here. The people on the move being a bit blurry add a lot to this image

gringofil (0) 2004-04-17 5:52

Nice shot. I like the movement with motion blur and the contrast between the people who are sitting around and those that are walking. The compo could be improved by cropping away the legs on the upper left hand corner of the frame...they are very distracting and, IMHO, add nothing to the shot. Well done, though.

spence (1679) 2004-04-17 6:51

Nice shot Ebbe - I like it a lot and I enjoyed your note very much too! From now on I'll categorize everyone I see in an airport according to your theory! As for the crop, I like the legs in the corner - they imply that this is an ongoing scene, not an isolated one. Does that make sense?

nwoehnl (120) 2004-04-17 8:16

Good shot, Ebbe, and fun note. I've never thought about a categorization as yours, but having spent my share of time at airports it makes quite some sense to me. In addition to the people illustrating your point, in your shot you also got a fine geometry from the floor tiles, and from the diagonals converging in the mating ritual area. The bald guy in motion makes for a fine double-dip into the scavenger hunt. Well done.

jrj (34779) 2004-04-17 8:54

Good observation Ebbe. Your reflections suit this pix very well...

kajenn (2325) 2004-04-17 19:09

A nice double capture from Copenhagen Airport, Ebbe. You really caught the essence of airports today in this image! Rushing for check-in and security check, and then when done, leaving you for an hour or more with nothing else to do but wait - and observe... Or wait for your luggage... Or wait for your loved ones to arrive...

And I think you've captured them all. Very nice!

omritoppol (826) 2004-04-18 8:16

That's a very cool way to look at people in airports. I like the compo it is a very dynamic one due to the motion blur & the diagonal line in the floor. The couple at the top right corner adds spice to it. Well done Ebbe (The framing is to thick to my opinion)

MiguelP (14336) 2004-10-20 18:35

Hi Ebbe. Interesting antropological picture, probably a new gender far more interesting than the sunset staff. I do agree with you about the to types of people, but I think this categories could be translated to many aspect in live, for example: Bussines or work places:
The people that wait to be recognize and the people that run over all to get what they want...
We can apply this to schools, relationships... Well, good point of view, Ebbe.

khmelins (960) 2004-12-15 12:25

It is a nice observation. It could be very funny to read you note but the tone is so ironic in some parts..

Personally I don't like the grey frame but that only my "taste".

regards,
anton