Nude

[D-tach]

thank you for respecting my opinion, to often round 'ere if your not in the mutual appreciation society, your a leper...

any way, lets just come down to earth, a great story...like Moby dick or the grapes of wrath? they are great storys, yes i can project a story into this image, like there he was taking a pic one day, when he realized that the budget background that he brought to the shoot, to look like a pro, was to small for a full body shot, so he remembered richard avadens cowboy series and how some of the best pics showed him shooting the cow boys showing the big white paper gaffered up against the barn...
and he thought well if i put this thing in the back ground i will look really arty, AND get a full nude in. now the most interesting part of the story is how she is looking at the camera and blocking out the sun, i mean Shakespeare, hello! uuuuuhh im out of breath.

i mean i could imagine that she is in a magic show and decided to go burlesque, putting her costume behind the curtain, and taking the photo is the king of the fairies who lives in the trees in the back ground...

i mean correct me if im wrong but this is a picture of a naked girl standing in front of a sheet, on a dirt road, in a rural setting, blocking out the sun with her arm. being photographed.
so its a photo of some one being photographed, a self consious model, not an actor.

tell me where in this setting, is there suggestion of a story, a plot, or an imaginary scenario. putting the drape there automatically makes it a set up, so all suspension of disbelief is out the window, all fantasy shut down.

some one is bound to say, naked woman =fantasy and therefore strong emotion..... i say bla bla bla

if i am to truly be interested in a pic to make up a story, it must have the seed of that story, in symbolic form, some where in the picture. Wether that be the tone, the symbols used, the emotion and body language in context. the suggestion.

so i would love to hear what the great story you see is, a synopsis will do, i have a vivid imagination...


andrew

Not that vivid apparently...
Perhaps it's not a 'background' as Frank was trying to tell you in a subtle and polite reply...
Boy, you really must have fried your brain in those 3 months trying to decipher that Sekonic

[cosmicexplosion]

as to your cheap shot tom; do you really think you can admire some ones supposed subtlety and politeness on one hand
and then use low brow fighting words in another..boy.


still no story....

[cosmicexplosion]

just for public record, i have no gripe against frank, a photo is not a man, in Australia, we take the piss out of people we like, this has many good outcomes, such as keeping it real, not being too serious, and fostering enthusiasm for life, ironically, and i hear its the same in some parts of the u.s?

but i think the main thing to learn here, is not to be too cool for school. this forum is a lot of things, and a good portion is pedagogical in nature, so whilst its becoming normal behaviour on the internet to act like your poking fun of a lion in a zoo, and out of reach of any physical retaliation, its primitive and small minded...the trick is not to confuse the problem with the person. or the photo with artist, every artist in history produces shit, but does that mean they do not produce great art, or their shit is not shit?


so if you are precious you will never allow any one to offer criticism of your work. and you will feel insulted, and may never grow beyond your own desire, but a real man, will relish in whatever people say, good or bad, in fact there is a culture out there who promote the bad as it seems to get people going better?
bitches love to bitch

thats cool, woteva floats your boat, but i grew up on the streets and have had at least 500 fist fights, so whilst the last one i had was twenty years ago and was against 4 or 5 others, and yes i ran when the knives and broken glass came out, i am pretty much over petty violence, but when i hear comments like d-taches it sure brings me back to the days when that was how a fight started. ahh the good old days...SLAP sorry what was that?

me personally i am trying to learn and grow, and i admit; i know nothing!

[Frank Petronio]

I actually set it up as a scrim and the torso shots were done on the shady side, we were just goofing around, I do want to get the linen dirty and soiled for later use as a portrait background.

I figured I should catch a snap of her naked since she does that for pay with other photographers... I'm not much for naked photos - I mean art nudes, I think they are mostly stupid unless I do them ;-p - but I think we should document those perky tits and flat stomach so she can shock her grandkids in 2057. Plus I think it is naughty yet innocent fun to hear other men make up elaborate stories about what was going on during the shoot (I've heard some doozies, apparently I am quite the cocksman in your fertile imaginations).

I wish I had more pictures of myself when I was in my prime, 19-20 and in shape. Well maybe not naked in case I run for office, but it wouldn't be so awful to have photos where you just look good physically.

[stradibarrius]

Thank you for the link. Is the process one that seems simple when you read it but is more difficult in the execution? I expected to read a complicated set of "How To" instructions but the technique as you have described it SEEMS simple????

Found it... allready here...

http://www.largeformatphotography.in...painting+light

[cosmicexplosion]

Doth Spake Reality!

[stradibarrius]

Regardless if you like the particular photograph being discussed, I feel that we should respect the criticisms given even if we disagree...I know when I post a photograph, and this applies to any work that I do, knowing what people do not like is sometimes more valuable to me than know what they do like. If criticism is given in a in a mature manner then, IMHO, it should be encouraged. There is a difference between someone voicing an opinion and someone being an insulate asshole! When I read cosmicexplosion's opinion I didn't see it as rude or mean spirited. It just seemed like his opinion. I know as a violin maker some of my instruments suck and some are truly world class. If no one ever tells what sucks then I don't really have a true picture of my work. Frank, again IMHO, has produced some terrific work. Photos that I would like to copy...but that does not mean that everything Frank, or any other "Artist" produces, is something I really like.
When I look at the photo of the girl in the country standing in front of a drape background, I didn't understand the photo. Looking at it as a stand alone photograph it looked to me as someone struggling to be artistic??? Frank's explanation of what actually happened makes me like the photo a little more. Now I see it as more of a fun "candid" shot taken during a shoot. The photo has a sense of what really happens and her pose has a simple innocence to it. Almost as thought she was being given direction between shots.
If I receive the type critique for one of my photos as that which cosmicexplosion voiced, it would not bother me, I would appreciate the truth. I would try to take his opinion and hopefully be smart enough to learn something.

[Leigh]

tell me...

Why should we tell you anything?

You obviously think you already know everything, and have promoted yourself to position
of paramount authority on the subject of art, so we can't tell you anything.

- Leigh

[cosmicexplosion]

wow i'd love to hear your violins, i play a hundred year old, gypsy style!

[Frank Petronio]

I like cosmic explosion's take and appreciate that he took the time to think about my photos rather than ignoring them or making another bland affirmation. I'm not required to respond to every criticism but I find them all useful in some way.

Criticism could be good but I doubt it could be done to all parties satisfaction on this forum. Most people here are hobbyists and making any criticism of their photos ~ at all ~ is equivalent to making a personal insult, at least in their minds. Same goes for any discussion of art or politics (in fact "politics" and "religion" topics are banned here so if you consider them integral to human interaction, we really can't talk about anything). This usually devolves into name calling. It's much safer to stick to simple pictures of pretty girls and talking about camera gear. We'll avoid questions of sexuality, feminism, and power so as to avoid the banned topics.

Some art schools and teachers are noted for having tough critiques, that move many of the overly sensitive types to tears. But I think it's valuable so long as you understand the psychology involved, the competitive factors, the "group-think" and ass-kissing that is going on in any group of people. In the end you need to follow your own heart and stand against any group, but to be fair, if you are getting a lot of negative criticism then it's important to figure out why?