Frank wrote: > I did love New York's Chinatown: it was so dark and mysterious and > full of twists and turns and smells and textures and characters. I'm > not sure if I captured much that here, but I kind of like this shot > anyway, probably more for the memories it evokes than any actual > aesthetic value. Still, you may comment:
> http://www.photo.net/photodb/photo?photo_id=3680667 I see no twists, no turns, no characters ... nothing that's evocative of smells, such as markets or restaurants, nothing particularly mysterious. IMO, you've captured none of what you say you set out to capture. Apart from a couple-three small signs, there's nothing here that says, or even implies, Chinatown. While that isn't a bad thing in and of itself, I think the photo loses a lot since you've told us what you were trying to capture and which, IMO, you failed to achieve. Perhaps I'm being too literal. Perhaps you describe too much about your thoughts and intentions. If it wasn't Ann's back in the pic, would the photo have any significance? Yes, it probably makes a nice shot for your scrap book, but it doesn't show much of anything about Chinatown, or the bustle of NYC. It does have some nice geometry to it, but not enough to make this much more than something for your memory. It certainly doesn't hold my interest beyond the superficial, or make me want to delve into the "mysteries" presented in the photo. Perhaps Ann's the mysterious element? Now, as a single frame in a series, such as "My Day Following Ann Around," there might be something more interesting. Imagine a bunch of shots in which this "mystery woman" appears, all taken in different parts of the city, none of which show her face or are close enough to allow the viewer to discern anything about her. Shel
