Critique Welcomed A conversation between old friendships

[Gianluca Drago]

Somewhere in Naples, 2015. Nikon Coolpix P80.

 

[Beth Carter]

that's like talking to a stone wall. nice capture!

 

[Gary R. Smith]

that's like talking to a stone wall

Beth, you don't know that. The woman may be a very good listener...

 

[Stevenson Gawen]

I love it! The attitude of the stone lion (?) is so companionable it somehow seems to try to reverse the positions of of human and non-human...

 

[Beth Carter]

Beth, you don't know that. The woman may be a very good listener...

hmm...very true.

 

[Gianluca Drago]

Just to be clear, with this photo I did not want to make fun of this lady. I'm sure she wasn't talking to the stone lion, it's just the cut of the shot that makes it appear that there was a dialogue between her and the sculpture that never actually took place. I have a lot of respect for people who live on the margins of society because it can happen to anyone to become one of them. In this case, then, the lady is extremely dignified (probably more so than the tourists like me who photograph her) with her silver hair carefully gathered on her head and her nobility of character.

 

[Brian Moore]

I have a lot of respect for people who live on the margins of society because it can happen to anyone to become one of them.

Many many years ago in Mexico I handed some small amount of cash to a peasant woman begging on the street. She said thank you. The appreciation in her response surprised me and hit me rather hard. There was dignity in it, and that was the surprise. Shame on me.

 

[Tony Warren]

Great shot - looks like one of them has just cracked a good joke. Hard to say which one though.

 

[Chris Bennett]

That's a great photo. Well spotted and captured.
I wonder what was in the sculptor's mind when the lion was given that expression?

 

[Stevenson Gawen]

with this photo I did not want to make fun of this lady. I'm sure she wasn't talking to the stone lion, it's just the cut of the shot that makes it appear that there was a dialogue between her and the sculpture that never actually took place.

Oh, I gathered as much. My comment was in that vein - accepting the image as a play on the scene...

I appreciate you mentioning this though - some street photography comes close to crossing the line of exploitation in my opinion.

 

[Gianluca Drago]

some street photography comes close to crossing the line of exploitation in my opinion

You are right. My photo is also borderline exploitative, but at least the lady's facial features are not visible (and my intentions were well meant). In the case of a previous street photo taken by me, the one with the gentleman with the crown on his head spouting his truths on a pedestal, in that case, it was he himself who wanted to be photographed.

 

[Shlomi Ofir]

very nice captured, cool viewpiont.