The Busker, a photo from Victoria, Est

Photographer's Note

21 MAY 2004, FLINDERS STREET STATION, MELBOURNE

Beneath the platforms is a concourse that follows from the Yarra River to Flinders Street. This is a popular place for buskers to catch the throb of commuters going to and from work as the hours progress. While some are too busy to stop and listen and pay their regards to these "underground musicians", as in this case, the buskers look to the next potential customer in the hope that they will appreciate their art.

This is a shot I had seen about 2-3 months ago but had never been in the right circumstance to photograph. I unfortunately was divided by the "Paying Customer/Non-Paying Customer" barrier so I couldn't give this guy a coin but I will next time I pass through.

Techical: First attempt at Push Processing-- exposed at EI400. I must say I am very happy with the way Sensia 200 pushes 1 stop, the grain isn't any more prominent and the film retains much of the detail it can capture despite the added contrast. Any defects are the properties of a lens used at wide aperture and camera shake. The green tint is the result of the artificial lighting used in the causeway.

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50mm ; Sensia 200 rated EI400

Zanni, ChrisJ, manny, omritoppol, jrzufferey trouve(nt) cette note utile

Critiques | Translate

Zanni (6108) 2004-05-30 8:04

Michael, next time give him a coin also for my part, please. I like street musicians and this photo too. I add it to Street Musician Theme. Your notes are really complete. The face expression of guitarist provokes immediate simpathy.

Luko (14000) 2004-05-30 9:53

Funny you chose color slide for that shot, but the rendition is good too, you wouldn't get any shutterspeed issues with goold old TriW pushed one stop.

As Chris already mentioned, first thing that comes to mind is the calaboose feeling : guess what would then be the occupation of the right hand side lady...

cool_s15 (4050) 2004-05-30 23:13

Interesting shot, I haven't walked pass this place quite sometimes. Interesting how you captured this shot. Great shot! By the way, I've no idea about push-processing as i don't shot with a film, i knew it will boost the ISO but i just don't know how you guys "Push" them? :D

ChrisJ (171392) 2004-05-31 5:37

I almost expect him to start singing 'Jailhouse Rock' with all those bars! (lol) The fluouro light has given this a greenish colour cast as you've noted. I'd add some magenta in APS to compensate. This would also make a great b&w shot.

The image itself is great

spence (65) 2004-05-31 9:35

Great shot Michael. I love the expression on the guy's face. He's cool. The woman in the shot adds a lot to the story - she's ignoring him completely. The bars are interesting too.

manny (22032) 2004-06-01 3:03

Interesting capturing him through the bars. I also like the passing woman. Colors are nice. It does add "life" to the subject and to his art.

Burnham (2428) 2004-06-01 5:47

I think it's great you kept this in colour, because the shades of green give it a diffferent felling than grey would have, and this feeling is closer to the railway experience and it allowed us to really see the contrast between the golden guitar and everything else. Great angle and I'm glad you hadn't payed so you got the bars in the shot.

Steely (895) 2004-06-02 21:54

I like the green tinged and the barred view, the whole austere look of the image

Cool Mike :))

omritoppol (826) 2004-06-03 6:12

There is something very human, and caring in this shot Michael. I like tight crop and the blurred lady on the right, that "walk" me through the whole shot. Shooting behind the bars was a good choice. Great stuff!

jrzufferey (7305) 2004-08-07 11:25

A première vue j'ai cru voir une prison, mais après la lecture de ta note photographique je trouve l'image bien plus intéressante.Ces barreaux séparant le photographe du sujet donne une forte impression à l'image , c'est ce qui me plait le plus dans le cliché. Beau travail Ciao/jr

joseelias (0) 2004-08-20 7:22

Very interesting image with those bars adding a curious details. I particulasly like how the space between them gets thinher to the right creating the feeling of an increasing speed which goes well with the girl motion. Nice "poison" tones.

zybsan (124) 2010-03-28 8:03

Nice shot.
It's a funny thing to have the "prison-like" bars in the 1rst plan, and the street musician whose style is more likely to say "i don't have anything, but i'm free".
And the two persons are looking at opposite direction, renforcing the contrast of the photo.
I like the irregularity of the bars, which is becoming more thin too.
Cheers,
Loïc