Appraisal
Ben Hawkins critiques photos from the fifth round of APOY - City Life
John Hall, Ireland
This is Ivan, an apprentice HGV mechanic with a passion for tinkering with engines. I regularly see him outside his shed, covered in oil and grime, with some project or other on the go, and on this particular day I saw that the shiny engine parts contrasted beautifully with the timber of the old shed behind him. I asked him to continue working without posing as I fired off a half dozen shots, reckoning this would give a more natural result.
Ben says
MORE documentary than street, John’s wonderfully gritty environmental portrait reminds me of the work of Nick Danziger, arguably Britain’s finest living photojournalist and a master of capturing street-level reality in glorious mono. It’s not an obvious take on the ‘City life’ theme and instead invites you into Ivan’s very personal world of cam belts, spark plugs and worn tyres, and reveals more about the subject than a 1,000-word essay ever could. Kudos to John for having the courage to approach his subject – not all photographers are comfortable with this kind of personal interaction – and for intruding only for as long as was necessary. Black & white is the perfect medium here and the sympathetic mono conversion enhances the tones and textures while allowing the subject to take centre stage. Could this photo be improved? I’d be tempted to tighten composition and possibly even apply a classic square crop, as so much of what’s good about this image happens in the right half of the frame, but it’s very much a matter of personal preference.
Ron Tear, Essex
The weather forecast said snow, so I walked to the Millennium Bridge and waited. By midday it was snowing hard and commuters were already making their way home. I got down low to capture the snow, commuters’ expressions and St Paul’s in the background.
Ben says
I’ve seen thousands of similarly composed photos of commuters crossing the Millennium Bridge, but not one taken in such Arctic conditions. I feel cold just looking at it! It’s a shot of stark contrasts and, as you’d imagine, the histogram is heavily stacked towards the left and right extremes, with very little by way of midtones. It’s this starkness that pulls me in – St Paul’s is rendered as the faintest pencil-sketch outline while London’s usually busy skyline has all but disappeared. In terms of composition, I want to see the central forward-facing figure occupy more of the frame, as she’s currently competing for our attention with the two figures walking away from us.
Sophia Spurgin, Hertfordshire
I asked a friend to walk past this advert so I could see where to focus. Despite me asking him not to look, he turned and smiled, assuming I’d finished. I loved the resulting photo, as he does indeed look confident.
Ben says
There’s a lot to be said for photos that make you laugh out loud and city streets provide the perfect stage for moments of spontaneous comedy. There’s a look of knowing mischief on this chap’s face, which contrasts brilliantly with the rather stern – or should that be confident? – look on the model’s face, and it’s these kinds of incongruous juxtapositions that provide the chuckle factor. You can’t force humour in photography but you can certainly go looking for it – you just need a keen eye, lightning-fast reflexes and nerves of steel. On a technical level, Sophia’s image is perfectly composed but lacking in critical sharpness. This won’t be a problem online or on social media, but will be an issue if printing beyond 8x5in.
Zay Yar Lin, Myanmar
In February I visited some of the monasteries and nunneries in Sagaing looking for new images for my portfolio. These nuns were waiting for lunch and the rows formed by their queue were amazing. I found a higher viewpoint to create more depth in my image.
Ben says
I chose this image because it’s exactly the kind of colourful, well-observed travel shot you’d expect to see in the pages of Wanderlust or National Geographic Traveler. Travel is a tough genre to define, as it borrows liberally from so many others, but at the very least it should tell a story and capture your imagination, and Zay’s vivid depiction of Myanmar’s ‘thilashin’ (novice female buddhists) certainly does that. Their pink robes, orange shawls and shaved heads are incredibly distinctive and the strong diagonal lines running from top left to bottom right turn what could have been just another travel snap into a cleverly composed image that’s more than the sum of its parts. It certainly offers a very different kind of ‘city life’.
Christine Matthews, London
I was attending a function at City Hall and spotted this scene from a balcony. I’ve always been keen on night photography, but this image is slightly different from what I usually shoot. I used a Canon 600D with 17-55mm f/2.8 lens at 17mm, 1/40sec at f/2.8, ISO 2000.
Ben says
If LS Lowry were alive today, I imagine this is the kind of scene he’d paint: sparse city landscape, skeletal trees, lone figure, and muted tones. It’s not a view of London I’ve seen before and it’s one I find rather beguiling, owing to its graphical nature and the idea that the numerous straight lines resemble graphs and charts, which seems fitting given the location. Christine had to shoot handheld (tripods are rarely encouraged at posh functions), and with a wide aperture and high ISO to achieve a fast enough shutter speed, although you need a very steady hand to shoot sharp at 1/40sec. The result is a fascinating photo that just lacks pin-sharp detail and clarity.