NY_Dan
Well-known
Just found out I received an honorable mention in the 26th Annual Gordon Parks International Photography Contest 2014.
Link: http://www.gordonparkscenter.org/photocontest/current.aspx might not be updated yet...
Link: http://www.gordonparkscenter.org/photocontest/current.aspx might not be updated yet...
Congratulations, Dan! The photo is obviously a winner. 
Bob Michaels
nobody special
Great! One of those rare ones where no supporting words are necessary as the photo says it all. I think that maybe those folks at the Gordon Parks Foundation know something about photography.
rhl-oregon
Cameras Guitars Wonders
Amen.
In the tradition of WeeGee's "The Critic." The relative postures and dress of the two people do most of the work, but the Look Look Look bag and the proximity of the trash can deserve mention. Way to go, Dan.
In the tradition of WeeGee's "The Critic." The relative postures and dress of the two people do most of the work, but the Look Look Look bag and the proximity of the trash can deserve mention. Way to go, Dan.
x-ray
Veteran
That's excellent!
Mlehrman
Mlehrman
Deepest congratulations!
Crazy Fedya
Well-known
Congrats, Dan!
gb hill
Veteran
Congrats. Dan on your excellent photograph. They should have picked yours as the winner.
airfrogusmc
Veteran
BRAVO Dan.....
Darshan
Well-known
Great photo that needs no words and congratulations.
MrFujicaman
Well-known
Yup...Dan's the man...
CMur12
Veteran
Congratulations, Dan. That is a great capture.
- Murray
- Murray
taskoni
Well-known
Very nice Dan! Congratulation!
Regards,
Boris
Regards,
Boris
Congrats Dan...
JMQ
Well-known
Lovely shot. Congrats Dan.
adespen
Member
Lovely image, Dan. Tell us more about taking it, if you can.
Thanks
Thanks
NY_Dan
Well-known
Thanks everyone. Sure Adespen. A half-hour or so before taking the photo I attended the AIPAD (Association of International Photography Art Dealers) at the Park Avenue Armory, between 66th and 67th streets. It was a good show. I decided to walk back to Penn Station and along the way look for AIPAD worthy photos. I was hoping to channel some of the energy of the show. When I got to the corner of 55th Street, I saw the wealthy lady and the street person, and knew it presented a good photo opportunity.
I adjusted the camera settings on my Rolleiflex 2.8f -- probably 125th at f/8 and moved closer to take the shot. The way the wealthy woman stared me down delayed my taking the photo for a second or so, and in that time the street person spotted me and turned away -- I almost didn't take the photo, as I didn't want a shot of her looking away. However, as I continued my walk I wondered if perhaps that may have been the stronger shot. When I scanned the negative I decided it was. I still can't believe the wealthy woman had a handbag with the words "Look Look Look," that was lucky. I wonder what their stories are, and what the wealthy woman was thinking, who she was meeting, and more. The contest judges were two photo editors from Life Magazine.
It's so hard trying to figure out which photos to submit to contests. You select photos that address the contest theme, you look at past entries, factor in the judge's tastes (if possible), and hope for the best. I've formed a real aversion to photo contests. It seems that they're just ways for organizations to make money. However, in the case of the Gordon Parks Museum, unlike say PDN Magazine, one can justify the entry fee as a way of supporting a worthy cause. Still, $40 is $40.
Earlier on the same day I learned I was one of 16 finalists in the contest, I found out my photos were rejected for a local contest with the theme of patterns. I submitted, what I thought were some beautiful photos that fit the the theme perfectly, and yet the judge selected what I felt were some crappy shots, amongst them a boring shot of leaves. I guess it's only normal to not like rejection. The funny thing was that I thought I was a shoe-in for the local pattern contest, and that I'd never hear from the GP contest.
I don't know what other photographers think about contests, I try my best not to get seduced into entering and spending money I don't have on entry fees that I need for Kodak TMY 120 film and chemicals, and the $10.75 off-peak train each way to NYC -- (where I like to shoot most). I joked with my wife that I really wanted an honorable mention because it comes with a $50 check, and that would cover my $40 entry fee and almost cover the $12.75 it cost to ship the 16x20 print I made with my Epson 3800 to the contest. I agree with the judges decision on the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd selections.
What I also found interesting is that when I send e-mails to people on my promo list, I get a better response when it contains being recognized by a third party like a contest or a magazine, then when I send them a collection of better photos, such as a Blurb book. I guess that's human nature.
My take away from all this is that what matters to me and I'm sure a lot of my fellow photographers, that the best way to approach photography is to shoot for yourself, and if you can earn some money to support your "habit," and from time to time get some encouragement and the opportunity to share your work, then that's a nice bonus -- but not the be all and end all.
I adjusted the camera settings on my Rolleiflex 2.8f -- probably 125th at f/8 and moved closer to take the shot. The way the wealthy woman stared me down delayed my taking the photo for a second or so, and in that time the street person spotted me and turned away -- I almost didn't take the photo, as I didn't want a shot of her looking away. However, as I continued my walk I wondered if perhaps that may have been the stronger shot. When I scanned the negative I decided it was. I still can't believe the wealthy woman had a handbag with the words "Look Look Look," that was lucky. I wonder what their stories are, and what the wealthy woman was thinking, who she was meeting, and more. The contest judges were two photo editors from Life Magazine.
It's so hard trying to figure out which photos to submit to contests. You select photos that address the contest theme, you look at past entries, factor in the judge's tastes (if possible), and hope for the best. I've formed a real aversion to photo contests. It seems that they're just ways for organizations to make money. However, in the case of the Gordon Parks Museum, unlike say PDN Magazine, one can justify the entry fee as a way of supporting a worthy cause. Still, $40 is $40.
Earlier on the same day I learned I was one of 16 finalists in the contest, I found out my photos were rejected for a local contest with the theme of patterns. I submitted, what I thought were some beautiful photos that fit the the theme perfectly, and yet the judge selected what I felt were some crappy shots, amongst them a boring shot of leaves. I guess it's only normal to not like rejection. The funny thing was that I thought I was a shoe-in for the local pattern contest, and that I'd never hear from the GP contest.
I don't know what other photographers think about contests, I try my best not to get seduced into entering and spending money I don't have on entry fees that I need for Kodak TMY 120 film and chemicals, and the $10.75 off-peak train each way to NYC -- (where I like to shoot most). I joked with my wife that I really wanted an honorable mention because it comes with a $50 check, and that would cover my $40 entry fee and almost cover the $12.75 it cost to ship the 16x20 print I made with my Epson 3800 to the contest. I agree with the judges decision on the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd selections.
What I also found interesting is that when I send e-mails to people on my promo list, I get a better response when it contains being recognized by a third party like a contest or a magazine, then when I send them a collection of better photos, such as a Blurb book. I guess that's human nature.
My take away from all this is that what matters to me and I'm sure a lot of my fellow photographers, that the best way to approach photography is to shoot for yourself, and if you can earn some money to support your "habit," and from time to time get some encouragement and the opportunity to share your work, then that's a nice bonus -- but not the be all and end all.
Out to Lunch
Ventor
Great picture. Congratulations!
rhl-oregon
Cameras Guitars Wonders
Thanks for the backstory on making the image, Dan. Although you and perhaps most street photographers know that some (potential) subjects avert their heads from the camera, what comes across in this image is an aversion to the other woman, and an implicit shame in dereliction and begging. It works as meaning and as figurative symbol. Good that you stuck with it.
Thanks, too, for the reminder about how recognition, reward, publication, and especially one's self-expectations in the critical marketplace are like, well, leaves subject to the whimsy of the four winds. Yet sometimes the leaf gets the wind it deserves. The Parks recognition offers a better measure of your vision and technique--evidence of what the good doctor would call the "content of your character" (as well as the character of your photographic content)--than a local award for pattern-making. Not to demean pattern-making per se: in my earlier post I called attention to dynamic contrasting patterns in posture and personal demeanor, where it was form following function to deliver an image of dynamic irony about social inequality personified.
Patterns for their own sake can be pleasurable and instructive, especially in scientific photography. In the arts, pattern is fundamental, sure, but the visual apex of pattern-per-se is applied design. In your photograph, these would be the Look Look Look bag, the floral skirt, the doubled string of pearls, the coiffure. And these belong to the upright, forthright lady who can afford them, where they are a small part of what the image compels the viewer to witness and ultimately judge.
Sometimes fine work gets the regard it deserves. Thanks for sharing yours with us.
Thanks, too, for the reminder about how recognition, reward, publication, and especially one's self-expectations in the critical marketplace are like, well, leaves subject to the whimsy of the four winds. Yet sometimes the leaf gets the wind it deserves. The Parks recognition offers a better measure of your vision and technique--evidence of what the good doctor would call the "content of your character" (as well as the character of your photographic content)--than a local award for pattern-making. Not to demean pattern-making per se: in my earlier post I called attention to dynamic contrasting patterns in posture and personal demeanor, where it was form following function to deliver an image of dynamic irony about social inequality personified.
Patterns for their own sake can be pleasurable and instructive, especially in scientific photography. In the arts, pattern is fundamental, sure, but the visual apex of pattern-per-se is applied design. In your photograph, these would be the Look Look Look bag, the floral skirt, the doubled string of pearls, the coiffure. And these belong to the upright, forthright lady who can afford them, where they are a small part of what the image compels the viewer to witness and ultimately judge.
Sometimes fine work gets the regard it deserves. Thanks for sharing yours with us.
Last edited: