Sale temps, a photo from Geneva, Ouest

Photographer's Note

The freezing cold is not yet gone. -10° this morning in geneva, although they announced a bright sunshiny day. Cold but clear. Winter in the city is not a funny period of the year. That's why people find distractions such as shopping malls, and sales promotions.

This is one more umbrella for Curtis

eleparc, Proxilva, Porteplume, cmartos, Rinie_Hoff trouve(nt) cette note utile

Critiques | Translate

jhe00 (271) 2005-03-01 5:31

wonderfully composition; unique and compelling angle. i may be wrong, the frame seems slightly tilted to the right. lovely sepia tone.

pridel (233) 2005-03-01 6:12

bonjour Gal
C'est bizarre les coïncidences, je viens de commenter une photo de José qui présente aussi un homme solitaire dans le froid.
---
j'aime bien ta photo pour cette ambiance un peu triste. le parapluie est presque "comique", mais l'intérêt du cadrage pour moi réside dans le fait qu'on est à un angle, un carrefour. Qui a-t-il à gauche qui a-t-il à droite ? j'aime beaucoup.
Pascal

eleparc (24063) 2005-03-01 7:01

sale? oui c'est vrai que la rue est bien sale avec toute cette neige fondue! haha! finalement la neige , c'est bien mais pas en ville... je suis d'accord avec toi. On y a eu droit à paris la semaine dernière aussi et ce matin -4°C à Paris, tu imagines? pendant ce temps là, la mouche fait le dragon en thailande.. le retour va lui être fatal!! il y a une justice quoi! haha!

Proxilva (2157) 2005-03-01 7:55

Hi Yeti

I love this one, the bdark moody snowcity and the snow melting by the salty street gives this a wonderfull sad citylook... but the light elements in the photo are really great!!!

the white umbrella gives a wonderfull soft divine light on the mans face... it works like a studio softbox here... excellent mood..

a favoutite of mine

greatings from 'warm', 'sunny' holland...

Porteplume (4036) 2005-03-01 11:45

I'm still wondering when it's my screen or because of the snow or something else... Because I always think your B&W works could be a liiiiitle bit lighter or with a softer contrast to give us more details. And of course it's a pity as you always offer spendid and clever compositions.

Most springing in the eyes is the word "Sale" of course which is nicely combinated with your title - [Don't you think the English speakers will understand something like "Weather for Sale"? :o)]

I also noticed that the greatest difference with Rinie's streets scene for exemple, is the mouvement. Hers are blurried by speed, yours are more "frozen" secondes out of life, or maybe I should recognize the famous "flegmatic" attitude of the Swiss? :o)))

I agree with Pascal about a certain melancholie getting out of your pictures, all most attractive. Thank you for your unusual way to present us your country... I like it a lot!

Ebbe (9625) 2005-03-01 12:46

A very moody feeling here with wet snow and low key tones, very well brought out by your B&W PP. Fine composition too with the lines of the building and the man in a strong point. A good thing he had a white umbrella.

cmartos (242) 2005-03-01 13:44

Un sentiment de solitude, peut-être même désemparé. Voilà ce qui se dégage ici. On ne sait pas ce qu'il y a de chaque côté, c'est vrai, toujours est-il que ces lignes devant lui, il ne les prend pas. On attend tous quelque chose; pourtant, le mieux est encore de prendre une direction, quelle qu'elle soit.
L'excellente composition est plus que bien servie par ton traitement N/B aux tonalités assez denses, ce qui convient très bien ici, et le parapluie clair accroche parfaitement le premier regard.

faubry (35447) 2005-03-01 19:42

cet homme semble frigorifié litéralement sur place, et ne sait pas pr où se diriger, peut être un peu moins de neige à droite... ou à gauche!! j'aime beaucoup la simplicité de ta composition, et le noir et blanc
francine

RandomCameraGuy (3071) 2005-03-01 20:22

Nice one Gal! I love umbrella shots myself (I posted some in my Rainy Day theme), I've been wanting to get one here in Manila where so many use them to cover themselves from the sun, but haven't gotten any I really like yet.

This pic is nice, a good empty composition with just the man and the store. It looks like that sale is really drawing in the customers! :) I only wish he were wearing a lighter colour jacket to bring him out more in this BW.

Cheers!

af

pamastro (7296) 2005-03-01 23:39

He does not seem to be interested in the sale nor does anyone else. :) This was captured well. You found the right person in the right spot at the right time here. I like the snow coming down and the snow on the street adding to the gruniness of the scene. And then that SALE screaming here I am, don't you want to take advantage. But he doesn't. He wants to get out of the cold. I wouldn't mind seeing how the colors looked on that day but this treatment does a nice job in bringing out textures in the snow. Nicely captured, Gal.

cgrindahl (6113) 2005-03-02 3:11

It appears that shopping is a favorite pastime everywhere. I recall very well the elegant shops in Zurich when I passed through many years ago with the most beautiful and expensive goods. Somehow I can't imagine any of those shops with Sale signs on their windows.

I hate to admit that the umbrella makes this composition. Is this man perhaps a plant? Did you give him your umbrella, so a rather mundane setting would have a bit of flair? You sly devil you... ;-)

All I can say is that the slush on the road reminds me far toooo much of my years growing up in Minneapolis. Although it is raining in California at the moment, I admit I'll take a cool rain over a cold snow ANY DAY!

The man gets a bit lost in the window, but as I said, the umbrella saves him. Your usual excellent job with geometry, sharpness and rich palette. Fine post processing. Just remember that spring is only three weeks away, at least by the calendar...

robiuk (10807) 2005-03-02 7:24

Hi Gal,
Thanks for this typical Feb/March view of a city street/corner.
Sale, sale, sale; when they can't shout like ages ago on markets, they can print large posters and POS (retail terminology meaning: Point of Sale).
But who cares - those frozen ones maybe, that go inside to warm up... even the guy in your pic is not attracted by the window content (unless it's because the store is with women's clothing, lol).
Anyway, I appreciate your compo with long horizontals and tasty tones on both the yacky snow and the store.
What was the original colour of the brolly?
Robi

Rinie_Hoff (9340) 2005-03-02 18:10

Salut Gal, again it took me a while to digest this one.
I liked it, and on the other hand I did not know what to write about it.
I thought it was a bit too dark, and it all looked a bit disconsolate.
At one of your earlier pictures I already mentioned something about Calvinism, that I was weighted down by it. Well that is rather exaggerated, but nevertheless, calvinism no doubt left its marks. I don't know whether it's better to be catholic. I think one can grow up very well without ANY religion.
(There are e few famous Dutch writers, who have spend their whole life and numerous books trying to free themselves from these influences).
What this picture reminded me of, were the sometimes very long Sundays with never very much to do, except church visites twice a day. Loooong afternoons, on which I got bored if I did not want to read. The evenings were great again, playing games and singing with one another. It got better when I got older, allowed to do more various things. It sounds a bit miserable, yet, I had a great childhood. And nowadays I LOVE sundays!

Anyway, that's all what this rather dark picture of you evoked.
I thought I make a workshop, to make it all a bit lighter. I hope you like it.

[workshop] [compare] +

jrj (34843) 2005-03-03 13:51

Hi Gal
The one thing I really like here is of course the simplicity of the compo. The guy out there, asking me, totally lost as an umbrella is not specialy warming, except for keeping the hair laid. The posters of the 'sale' relative uninteresting for the guy makes the contrast. The bw works, and the hard contrast makes it.
Yes, guess then a good shot....

flydragon (0) 2005-03-13 12:11

hello Gal
je vois que tu as continué ta série en noir et blanc, j'aime bien ce noir et blanc.
j'aime la lumière sur les manequins. Et cette homme seul, il y a qqchose d'insolite ici.
Un homme qui en photographie un autre en face d'une rue. je ne sais pas pourquoi cette image me fais penser a A Hitchcock, ou a un de ses films, du moin une situation dans un de ses films.
bien vue
amicalement
••simon••