Just finished a new project, would love some critique.

[shadowfox]

The set works because you have the eye for contrast and composition.

You do not need others to criticize you. Just to affirm your talent.
The rest is your journey anyways.

I don't think your set is lacking of any depth.
The fact that it's iphone proofs to me that your eyes are the main asset your are blessed with. Thanks for sharing this with us.

 

[jbot]

I think these shots are too artistic. The OP legitimately wants to make a photo essay on labour. I don't think many of the suggestions represent illusions about work. I personally don't equate great physical effort with labour necessarily, even, or especially on a building site. Damaso, who has a lot of experience with these sorts of projects, is right on the money. The OP wanted suggestions to improve the series. He got them.

I agree that I got great suggestions. But my effort was to find the artistic unseen moments within "Labour" rather than make a photo essay on labour. I wanted to capture a different side of construction. A classic, artistic, "perfect moment" side. I was asking people here more for feedback on the images themselves and how they work together, than thoughts about the focus and direction of the project.

 

[will-i_am]

I really like the first shot its composition reminds me of Alexander Rodchenko.

 

[Richard G]

I really like the first shot its composition reminds me of Alexander Rodchenko.

I agree with this. And I see from your post your intention. Well done.

 

[Clint Troy]

Don't pay any attention to these folks who've never lifted a hammer or shovel in their life. They are looking for an interpretive, somewhat artistic view of labor, and what you are showing is a factual view. To be able to take any time of sorts to make an exposure while on the job is not an easy thing to do. Just keep on doing what you are, as it's your work, not theirs. Scheese, everybody wants to be an artistic director.

PF

The pictures have to tell us what you're talking about. Obviously they do not. You seem to suggest that we have to work in construction to understand the pictures... Which ultimately suggest that the pics don't work.

I like the pics but obviously, more needs to be done.

 

[jbot]

The pictures have to tell us what you're talking about. Obviously they do not. You seem to suggest that we have to work in construction to understand the pictures... Which ultimately suggest that the pics don't work.

I like the pics but obviously, more needs to be done.

Again, my focus was not to share an accurate representation of construction to the masses, if that was my goal then I failed. My intention is to capture the artistic unseen side of construction, the geometry, the classic manly poses, the light, the shadows. To show the viewer that there is beauty in the middle of something that is typically labeled as ugly.

 

[BlackXList]

I like the formalist composition, the perfect arrangement of forms and shapes in the picture plane. My only criticism is that the photos appear to have been made from underexposed negatives, as the dark tones are flat grays without either detail or a deep black tone. The technical stuff is easy to improve, you have the aesthetic part perfect.

Not to say that this is the intention here, but that's a hugely popular style at the moment, both in colour and b/w.

It's not one I can enjoy, but I do know that I'm seeing a lot of it, and seeing a lot of positive reactions to it.