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Here are some snaps from yesterday's March for Life protest staged at the Washington, DC Mall and later at the foot of the Supreme Court. The mood was initially celebratory, but turned more sombre when the Court was reached. A great many young people were in attendance.

 

The small "pancake" 28/2.8 was used for all photos without use of a cut filter, processed in C1 with Jamie's profiles and Photoshop for the conversion to web resolution and color space.

 

The on/off switch kept moving around, as did the focus and even aperture rings, so attention to those was required throughout. After about 300 photos, 1/2 of the battery was left, as I do not "chimp" my photos, except rarely.

 

Besides the seriousness of the subject, there is also a poignancy to this cause, because of all the institutions of government, the one that should be least susceptible to public pressure is the Supreme Court. And yet its decision is what the group seeks to undo. The last photo represents this conflict, as the guards stand like modern day centurions before the Court.

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Individual photographers do not need to be fair and balanced. We all have an agenda. I am pro-choice myself, and non-religious, but I support the freedom to have our own views. I am happy that we mostly live in countries where both views may coexist. In the end, "the majority" will decide things like this, as it should be.

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Apart from the shoots topic being "disputable", I am not really impressed by the selection presented.

 

Are those the best out of your 300 photos? They do belong in the photo section anyway I think, since there's not much info beyond that you shot them?

 

Dirk.

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Unless you're asking for help in getting more accurate colors (especially in skintones and reds) I'm not sure why these snaps have to be in the digital forum. I think the photo forum is a better place.

 

Surely among those 300 shots there must be some that have people expressing the controversy of the subject they are marching for. That's what i would like to see in your shots.

 

Regards

 

Hans

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Moderator - I wonder how many forum members think as I do that the [original] post is a political statement thinly disguised as a photographic one. Given the dubious 'merits' of the photographs, should the thread be elsewhere?

 

.................Chris

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Thanks for the comments and criticisms -- a bracing experience.

 

I am putting together a collection of images under the general heading of the First Amendment right to free assembly as part of the general question of social change and the legal system. This is a subject I taught in law school and in which I have had a long-standing interest. We have many, many such protests here in Washington, and I believe they are a legitimate subject of photography. There is a major war protest soon, and I intend to be there.

 

I see now that a better choice for posting would be in the photos section, not the general digital section. I was anticipating comments on the images, and boy did I get them, and I should have posted elsewhere. Thanks to those who took the time to post.

 

It should be possible to separate photographic critique from political affect of the images, and the more powerful the image the more sharply the issue is drawn, but that is a whole other subject.

 

Steve

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Besides the seriousness of the subject, there is also a poignancy to this cause, because of all the institutions of government, the one that should be least susceptible to public pressure is the Supreme Court. And yet its decision is what the group seeks to undo. The last photo represents this conflict, as the guards stand like modern day centurions before the Court.

 

i think its clear that the only disputable section is that i quote, the rest fairly categorizes the operation of the camera

 

i would in no way describe this as thinly veiled, its merely adjacent in the most matter of fact manner and introduces the photographers concept of the final photograph. this is after all the very concept of photojournalism

 

some of you people should get over yourselves, and look forward to a critique on the forum of your own work

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The thing that bothers me about these photographs is that they just aren't very good photographs. By that I mean they are poorly composed and seem to be just random clicks from the camera. I acknowledge that you have called them "snaps" and they seem to be that, no more, no less.

 

Not trying to be just negative I would suggest that you spend a lot of time on the Magnum web site where they have a host of photographers who have photographed demonstrations from around the world. From their approaches you will be able to see the differences between professional (artful) photography & random snaps.

 

One more thing:

 

" The last photo represents this conflict, as the guards stand like modern day centurions before the Court."

 

Your visual work should speak poetically about that which you are trying to convey. Leave the verbal analysis of your own work to others.

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