Raining Under Manhattan Bridge
by insteps

Comment:
Hi Henry,

Nice to see this essay and the website where you've posted it. I plan on spending some time there poking around your earlier essays. It gives me a greater sense of who Insteps is. FWIW... Your challenge images are consistently among my highest scores.

Although I really lack confidence in my ability to critique an essay, (I am bit more comfortable with individual shots), I'll give this a shot.

The tile and cover photo caught my interest right away and I wasn't disappointed. I was also impressed with the imagery of your written text, it certainly amplified the effect of the images and worked to create a coherence that the images alone might not have created. I guess that's what essays are all about. And I don't mean to lessen the impact of the individual or set of photos, which would stand well alone, but the context is fascinating and onto something I had a clue about.

I really love the first image with a sense of busy-ness, congestion and dank environment. It is so well composed to take so many elements and present a sense of place and its separate but connected nature to the city. The second image really brings home the place you are exploring - growing up as a privileged white kid in southern California suburbs, it's hard to imagine anyone living like this. Also standing out to me is the powerful diptych of two women's faces (one on the poster and the one behind her umbrella). The two pigeons work well in sequence here, too.

The bright red fire escape contrasting with the drab grey of the day and the building works for me too... it brings my attention to the other similar splashes of color that you have sprinkled throughout. Perhaps my favorite image is the reflection of the bridge in a rain puddle, which you've also used to great effect in the banner link to the essay on your website.

In the end, I find this to be highly engaging and effective in providing context and a sense of place. It really is a complete work, despite my comments about individual images. It is what I would expect a well-crafted photo essay to be... a gestalt set of images (or images and text) that is "greater than the sum of its parts". [As an aside, I recently read on Wikipedia that the original quote from Gestalt psychologist Kurt Koffka, "The whole is other than the sum of the parts" is often incorrectly translated as "The whole is greater than the sum of its parts"]

Thanks for sharing your work!

Message edited by author 2016-01-03 21:25:10.

Magazines
by DistantColours

Comment:
A simple idea, well executed. Subtle lines and colors take it up a notch.

the street
by cutout

Comment:
Nicely framed with limbs and shadows.

the one who stares at
by Tiberius

Comment:
Yep. Cropped tight AND with context. Nice.

d e a d f a l l
by Bear_Music

Comment:
Textures and lines in the deep shadows of the foliage. Lovely tones and exposure choices!

lorem ipsum
by tate

Comment:
Neither is there anyone who loves, pursues or desires pain itself because it is pain

outdoor living with a street view
by Abra

Comment:
Can't tell how much I love seeing a photo like this getting the blue! Congrats.

Storm Break
by JakeKurdsjuk

Comment:
Wow. Just plain Wow!

The Figure at Forest Lake
by skewsme

Comment:
Absolutely stunning. A clear standout for me in thes challenge - or better yet, a standout as a singular photo, regardless of theme.

cover
by posthumous

Comment:
First the words. Turns of phrase that resonate on the harmonics of memories growing up with the sea nearby... Then the images. Sparkling abstractions and shadowy gestures of retreat swinging by the same rope.

I find it hard to respond to these images and tropes at anything beyond a viseral intuition. Impossible for critique to add or define meaning. Only to share the vague presence of salt air and indistinct sound amid the whiteness.