Triiibe on the Common by Canon DSLR Challenge

Canon DSLR Challenge | all galleries >> Challenge 105: High Contrast (Hosted by Melbob) >> Challenge 105: Eligible > Triiibe on the Common

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27-OCT-2007	Kelly Bellis

Triiibe on the Common

Boston Common - For every square inch of the bright red fabric flowing from a casualty of the World Trade Center, a casualty of a fallen U.S. serviceman and a casualty of an innocent Iraqi citizen, twelve actual casualties are represented. Standing absolutely motionless on a low small pedestal for 45 minutes at a time, the Casilio sisters; (L to R) Sara, Kelly and Alicia, identical triplets, profoundly effected many of the 10,000 protesters who gathered at Saturday's rally calling for an end to the war. These incredible women do performance art and collectively call themselves Triiibe - check them out at http://www.triiibe.com

Canon EOS 40D
1/100s f/7.1 at 17.0mm iso320 hide exif

Full EXIF Info
Date/Time	27-Oct-2007 12:18:09
Make	Canon
Model	Canon EOS 40D
Flash Used	No
Focal Length	17 mm
Exposure Time	1/100 sec
Aperture	f/7.1
ISO Equivalent	320
Exposure Bias
White Balance
Metering Mode	matrix (5)
JPEG Quality
Exposure Program	aperture priority (3)
Focus Distance

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Please do not delete, update, or otherwise edit others' entries
* Submitter retains all copyrights *

Canon DSLR Challenge		01-Nov-2007 11:26
Hi Cindy - Thank you for commenting. I live in Maine. - Kelly

Canon DSLR Challenge		01-Nov-2007 04:40
Very interesting image and performance art/protest piece. I'm always a little concerned when I see images of other people's art (although we've all done it, me included), so the editorial approach in this one makes me more comfortable actually. Kelly - do I have you mixed up with somebody else - you are not from Boston are you? Do you live there now? Cindy

Canon DSLR Challenge		30-Oct-2007 22:28
The final image is here:http://www.pbase.com/cslr_challenge/image/85331171 If you read from the bottom up, you will see the references to the Inset. I ended up removing the main background and replacing it with the scene being painted. Previously it had a bland background and the scene being painted was shown as an Inset to the left of the artists head. Original:http://www.pbase.com/image/88151015 -Naj

Canon DSLR Challenge		30-Oct-2007 21:14
Thank you for commenting Najinsky. I scoured both the Eligible and Exhibition sections of Paper, Challenge No. 102 looking for, but never found the image you described - did I overlook it or did it bug you bad enough to dump it? Regardless, I'd love to see it in order to better understand what you're saying. It's interesting that you viewed the three head shots as an editorial and makes me wonder if visual editorials are discouraged while clearly verbal ones seem to flourish. In actuality, the original idea was a triptych of the triplets and then I added the background for context, so the "insert" is actually the larger image. Kelly

Canon DSLR Challenge		30-Oct-2007 19:55
A few challenges back (Paper) I used an Inset to show a scene that was being drawn by an artist (who was the main subject of my picture). Something really bugged me about the use of the Inset and I didn't see what it was until a fellow challengee pointed out the Inset was an editorial or educational device, rather than artistic. The insets here have the same effect, making it editorial and, specifically, political editorial. It is therefore not surprising that some people are struggling to contain their desire to add a political comment that is clearly invited by the context of the picture, whilst remaing aware that this is a donated PBase gallery for the CSLR Challenge for people to discuss their love of photography. I think the colour version of 'Triiibe' that you recently moved was much more relevant than this version as it's context was artistic and relating to the artist (you), as opposed to this editorial version and relating mostly to the subject. -Najinsky

Canon DSLR Challenge		30-Oct-2007 14:09
I did overlook the contrast in color. Thanks for pointing that out. Jim H2

Canon DSLR Challenge		30-Oct-2007 14:08
Alastair, mcbit and Kelly- I think we all agree that far to many lives have been lost, as in every war. I won't debate the merits of this one because I don't think it's the correct forum. But lets not neglect who is responsible for the vast majority of each of those deaths Maybe I am overly sensitive, but there is a long tradition of servicemen in my family (we hail from the Volunteer State afterall). I have cousins and friends who have been there and some who still are. They are not the suicide bombers. Jim H2

Canon DSLR Challenge		30-Oct-2007 13:52
Thanks Gerry - Green v. Red was one point in defense of being on topic. Another is the high contrast of the low key OOF background contrasted by the crisper and high contrast of the foreground, not to mention the obvious contrasts of those opposing war, but that of course wasn't what Melbob was intending. It's interesting that contrasts in chroma aren't seemingly as easily discerned as contrasts in tone or value. Thanks all who have been disquieted by this image, or if only it made you think for a moment of the costs of war. And thank you Victor for the comment about the barrel lens distortion - I've attempted to remedy it in this recent update. - Kelly

Canon DSLR Challenge		30-Oct-2007 12:27
Green and red are complemntary colours and as such provide the basis for contrast of colour. -mcbit

Canon DSLR Challenge		30-Oct-2007 10:53
It worked ok when I went to the site, Victor. There is a video of these young ladies setting up and traveling to the location in the pictures. Quite interesting overall. I agree with you that the picture is wonderfull, however is it on topic? I doesn't seem to be a contrasty image (except for the contrast in cultures, I get it) but is that what Melbob was asking for? I don't know. Oh, and you're welcome. Jim H2

Canon DSLR Challenge		30-Oct-2007 10:52
It is an emotive subject, John Hopkins University estimate 601,000 dead since the start of the conflict in 2003, but as Jim says its a bit more complicated than it looks at first glance. Consider this, over 4.2 million Iraqis, more than 16% of the Iraqi population, have lost their homes and become refugees since 2003. As of June 21, 2007, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees estimated that 2.2 million Iraqis had been displaced to neighbouring countries, and 2 million were displaced internally, with nearly 100,000 Iraqis fleeing to Syria and Jordan each month..... -mcbit

Canon DSLR Challenge		30-Oct-2007 05:29
I just noticed the reference to triiibe.com. Unfortunately, whether I view that site with firefox or IE, all I see is a message about installing Flash (note Flash IS installed on my PC -- ever tried uninstalling it? Darn near impossible). -- Victor

Canon DSLR Challenge		30-Oct-2007 05:26
Jim, Thanks for posting that. I spent a lot of time choosing my words carefully. It's probably one of the most difficult posts I've had to make here. I almost didn't post it, but I felt I really needed to. It's a wonderful picture, by the way. If I were to be critical of it, I can think of onely one thing. The ladies appear to be leaning away from each other. The lens used was a 17mm lens. I would expect barrel distortion unless it's a rectilinear lens. In any case, I'm not so sure the lean helps the image. -- Victor

Canon DSLR Challenge		30-Oct-2007 04:42
Very thought-provoking images. Nicely done. As to the question of how many lives the Iraq war has cost or saved, the epidemiological survey conducted by the British medical journal the Lancet compared death rates before the war, under Saddam, with those during the war. The most likely estimate supported by the study the last time it was conducted, about a year ago, was that at that time about half a million extra deaths, over and above the number that would have occurred had the old regime stayed in power, were attributable to the war. The study itself was conducted according to the standards normally used by the US government to estimate deaths from diseases. I've read the study thoroughly and can find no significant flaws in its construction or statistical analysis. That's the consensus view of the majority of experts who have examined it. It does, of course, have its critics, notably the current US administration. Alastair

Canon DSLR Challenge		29-Oct-2007 21:36
Victor, I have been struggling to find the appropriate response to this, to put into words my thoughts about this post. I have typed and retyped and deleted several times because I just cant seem to express what I want to say. You come along and sum it up for me perfectly. I cannot disagree on the tradgedy of so many deaths, but the reality of the events is so much more complicated than this simple demonstration would present. Jim H2

Canon DSLR Challenge		29-Oct-2007 21:30
This is quite touching. Good for them! Nice job with the image. ~ Lonnit

Canon DSLR Challenge		29-Oct-2007 20:54
I found a website that attempts to answer my questions. Unfortunately, it's been unresponsive the last few time I've tried accessing it. http://markhumphrys.com/iraq.dead.html You can view a cached page by googling "How many lives did the Iraq war save". If you take the website at face value, then I think this picture is misleading. Missing from the analysis is the background death rate of the military in peace time. I'm sure that's a low figure, but it's not zero. -- Victor

Canon DSLR Challenge		29-Oct-2007 20:43
Off the top of my head I can think of two immediately. * Saddam Hussein is known to have killed people by the tens if not hundreds of thousands. * More acts of terrorism against the United States and other countries. Presumably, a main purpose of the war is to prevent such atrocities. One can only speculate on what measure of success the war has achieved. At a cost, certainly. Anyway, I don't want to turn this into a political debate, particularly since I'm not very good at those sort of issues. -- Victor

Canon DSLR Challenge		29-Oct-2007 18:41
Thank you Gerry and Victor for your comments. I'm unclear what you mean Victor by your remark. How could there be more casualties if there was no war? - Kelly

Canon DSLR Challenge		29-Oct-2007 17:48
These are thought provoking images. One thought that crosses my mind is what these same amounts of material would look like were it not for the war. It's not obvious to me that they would be smaller. And if they would be larger, then the war is a good thing. And now I will hastily disclaim any ability to predict such a thing. -- Victor

mcbit		29-Oct-2007 16:04
Kelly, you have posted a pair of nicely constructed and thought provoking images! -mcbit