I need your help!

[wattsy]

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I rather like 19. You might consider throwing that one into the mix.

[Guest guy_mancuso]

Tim one word of caution with photo contest. Read the rules really careful , many times when entering these win,lose or draw. They sometimes retain your copyright to them or use them to promote the contest without any money going to you. This is one reason I have never bothered with many of them because somewhere along the line you may lose more than you gain. Some are very legite so don't get me wrong but do read the rules about YOUR rights

[ChrisC]

Tim - As you invited feedback, I offer the following:

 

First, you might want to very carefully check for hints of a 'right's grab' with this competition, and make sure there is no conflict of interest for your recent association with Leica. Do not presume that because Magnum's name is associated with the competition that your rights for your work are being protected as you would require. Rights grabbing with competitions is a wretched practice, it catches the unwary, and it is common practice.

 

Second guessing the judge's taste, Stuart Franklin, would be a bad move; ultimately I think you need to go with what feels right for you regardless of any feedback you get here, including mine.

 

As I suspect you have found, putting six images together from a collection is not so easy because it was not a planned intention in your working process. An added problem for those of us entering into the spirit of your invitation is that we are picking images without seeing how they interact with one another on a wall, or in sequence on a page. I would check to see how, exactly, your work is being viewed for selection.

 

With some of the above in mind I re-visited your work; and ignoring notions of your photographic 'range', or what might be your or my favourites, and also ignoring which images others have suggested, I've selected six pictures which hopefully generate an unnerving undercurrent. And in this order:

 

1 - 5 - 11 - 23 - 19 - 20

 

Whilst arguably not a 'street' photograph, No. 23 acts as a link into the last two.

 

Make of it what you will, for me it was a welcome distraction to concerns about when my lens and camera are going to turn up, and whether or not they will actually work properly. If you enter the competition - good luck.

 

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

 

As usual with my terminally slow typing, I appear to have duplicated another post; I've just seen Guy's post above. Sorry.

Imust type faster. I must type faster. Imisttype fastter In ,,mund firssst. . ..Oh hel..................

[tashley]

Thanks chaps, good advice all round.

 

I have no contractual obligations with Leica, nor can I find anything on the website for Arles that implies a loss of rights - Hype is generally good about that sort of thing, they're very artist oriented and collaborative. But it is well to be aware, and maybe when I submit a box with all sorts of ts&cs will pop up...

 

Chris, your phrase ' 'it was not a planned intention in your working process' really hits the nail on the head. It is very tough to decide when there are no guidelines as to whether they are judging a series or a bunch'o'shots. My gut feeling is that if the images are displayed sequentially with one name under them, they are a series by default. So I am thinking of going with (in this order)

 

1, 2, 3, 8, 6, 11 (all Venice)

 

Whereas the voting so far is (no order)

 

2, 8, 11, 14, 18, 21 (mixed)

 

I might try to slip 21 in, since I like it and it matches the feel of the others to an extent.

 

I really appreciated your advice here - it's an interesting exercise asking: I had a novel published coupla years back and got used to having an editor, a very interesting exercise in having other people sanity check your own opinions!

 

Best

 

Tim

[tashley]

11 got a lot of the votes so far but was the only B&W one in my proposed series so I reverted it to colour and learned an interesting thing, which is that IMHO it is better in colour than in B&W...

 

What do people think?

 

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Think I'll touch out that speck on the cheek!

 

Tim

[Guest guy_mancuso]

I like the blue maybe just tune it down a notch

[charlesphoto99]

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Hi Tim,

 

Just caught this thread. My picks would be 1,5, 10,11, 18, 25, 22, 23.

 

Just as you discovered that shot looks better in color than b&w I might suggest taking the edit suggestions as a starting off point and go back through your files and see if you can fill it out.

 

I can't seem to get the link to the actual competition to work (the pop-up from the home page).

[tashley]

Hi Charles,

 

Thank you for the suggestions!

 

The link can be temperamental but is quite cool when it works... these guys are guerillas and the site is very nice!

 

Best

 

Tim

[RSL]

Tim, No doubt about it: 14, 16, 19, 21, 22, 26. All the stuff with the masks, etc., is interesting, but it isn't real street photography.

[tashley]

Thanks Russell

 

I know what you mean - and it's more confusing than that because to me, street photography has a very distinct and particular meaning (probably best summed up by Sean's piece on photographing strangers) but the Hypegallery website has a rather different definition. To quote:

 

"Street photography isn't just images of graffiti, it's a record of the traces people leave on their world."

 

Now to me, that's 'urban landscape' rather than 'street' - and I guess I should really be going with their definition not mine, but my guess is that the Magnum dude's view is going to be closer to Sean's definition.

 

Hmmm....

[Photoskeptic]

Tim, as to your color/bw conversion - I like the pink lights, really different. However, I believe the bw would be more effective if you opened up the masked face some. Your conversion wiped out the mask and asks the question: is there more here?

Regards,

John

[ChrisC]

....the Hypegallery .... definition:

"Street photography isn't just images of graffiti, it's a record of the traces people leave on their world.".......

 

Tim - Beware of Sirens luring you to the rocks. The quote above is fairly worthless I feel; it could be an explanation of what Archaeology concerns itself with, and it also explains nearly all landscape photography done in man-altered terrain such as the British Isles.

 

I caution you again about second guessing Stuart Franklin. There is no way to know for sure from the pictures he makes, the range of his interest in imagery. Magnum is a 'broader church' than one for just traditional working photojournalists. As a Brit [?] you will be aware of Martin Parr's diversity, most of which could be called 'street' photography, he draws on different aesthetic considerations and not solely those thought of as photojournalistic.

 

I too prefer the colour version of the hooded figure, but the pink air draws attention away from the central figure, makes the figures in the background more prominent, and reduces the menace of the image. I think I would layer mask that pink area and make it just marginally cooler than the air in the rest of the image, I think this would make the relationship between the hooded figure and the couple more disturbing.

 

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

[kobold]

Hello Tim,

 

for me, the subjects are contrived (most people in costumes), so as far as 'street' photography goes, a specialised subset.

 

The ones I liked personally from the short list are:

 

2. 4. 5, 8, 11, and 13.

 

Good luck, kl

[baloo]

Hi!

 

Here my two cents, 2, 3, 5, 8, 10, 11

 

good luck, Steve

[RSL]

Thanks Russell

 

I know what you mean - and it's more confusing than that because to me, street photography has a very distinct and particular meaning (probably best summed up by Sean's piece on photographing strangers) but the Hypegallery website has a rather different definition. To quote:

 

"Street photography isn't just images of graffiti, it's a record of the traces people leave on their world."

 

Now to me, that's 'urban landscape' rather than 'street' - and I guess I should really be going with their definition not mine, but my guess is that the Magnum dude's view is going to be closer to Sean's definition.

 

Hmmm....

 

Tim,

 

Well, that definition is ambiguous enough that it could mean almost anything other than studio portraiture. To me, street photography can be summed up by Cartier-Bresson (of course), Eugene Atget, Andre Kertesz, Willy Ronis, Elliott Erwitt, Helen Levitt, Robert Frank, Garry Winogrand, and my all-time favorite, Walker Evans. I've left out a few, but that covers a lot of ground and certainly includes what I'd consider the "urban landscape."

 

Someone added number 2, and I'd certainly agree. I sort of overlooked that one.

 

I certainly wouldn't make any prejudgements about that "Magnum dude's view." From what I've seen, Magnum photographers are a pretty eclectic bunch.

 

Best of luck. Hope you triumph.

[RSL]

Had to come back in and admit that I can't even exclude studio portraiture from that definition. I forgot about Mike Disfarmer. His portraits certainly are a record of the traces people leave on their world, especially the kids.

[tashley]

Thanks for the advice all,

 

I agree that the definition they give is rather too broad in many ways, yet oddly narrow too, since for me, 'street' should involve people in at least some shots.

 

I've had 37 sets of votes and the 'winners' by that token are:

 

2, 11, 8, 18, 19, and 10 or 21 BUT!

 

I'm going to go with a set that works together and contains an internal narrative

 

1,2,3,5,6 & 11 (in colour, adjusted as suggested)

 

I'm leaving out the very high scoring 8 because it's a shot that shows the virtues of a camera and lens, rather than one that has strong merit as a photo, and I'm leaving out the high scoring 4 and 10 because I want it to be a colour set only.

 

I think...

 

Or do I?

 

But thank you all again for all this great advice!

 

Best Regards

 

Tim