Phil, I like how you describe it: prelude before the storm.. We don't see here the conflict and the desperation as it in Henry's picture, but I always feel that there is a silent war going on, everybody has to compete with each other to survive..
Leo
22-Nov-2005 06:01
OMG, the picture HCB took was incrediable... it's the nature of photography, to record, and remember... in that sense, taking a photo is to become part of the history...
His image forever records a moment of desperation, frustration, and even survival itself. Yours, on the other hand, seems more of a prelude before the storm. Those faces on the escalator, and those rising towards us on the steps, seem every bit as vulnerable to pressure as those that HCB so eloquently captured. They may not be fighting to stay alive here, but their passivity and indifference are just as troubling in their own right.
****A remarkable statement on temptation vs. indifference, based on a double incongruity. The seductive ad is in color, representing fantasy, while the black and white people walking in the opposite direction, represent reality. If you look closely at the faces of the people in the crowd, you will see vulnerability and uncertainty as well, while the face of the model displaying her body to an unseeing crowd is relaxed and confident. Like mice in a cage, these people seem trapped on a treadmill that leads nowhere in particular. You seem to be saying that while they may avoid temptation this time, they may be ill prepared for the misadventures that lie ahead for them in this, the biggest city in the biggest country on earth. This stunning image, Jen, is not really street photography or photojournalism -- the mixing of black and white and color in the same image moves it into the realm of thought provoking personal expression and social criticism.
I find this one really amusing! The selective colour makes it bizzare...a half dressed woman, and nobody has a good look ;-) Not a single man or woman, they just want to get home. If any single image expressed the crowds in a Shanghai subway this is it, no time for anyone else but themselves...I like it. K
