J.D. Salinger's 'Catcher in the Rye'by
nico_blueComment by taterbug: Greetings from the Critique Club :-)
Well, I don't know wether to feel honored or intimidated :-), you see you are one of my favorite, fAVorite photogs! Also, I must confess,(hanging my head in shame} although an avid reader, I have never gotten around to reading this book :-( I shall try to give you some humble thoughts here though :-)
I think it would be safe to assume, judging by your score and comments received, that you nailed the challenge nicely. The first things that strike me about this image is the quality, the awesome processing and an amazing depth for such a 'tight' shallow scene, if you will. What I mean by this is, I think a good photographer can easily give an image depth when working with say a landscape, or a street scene or things like that. Here, you've got this tiny portion of room, and just a few feet between camera and the wall, but I feel a strong sense of depth to the photo. I think you've accomplished this with the tonality of the edit, the elements used for the composition and wonderful lighting. Even not have reading the book, the tones and feel of this image seem quite fitting, definitely a brooding piece, and easy to get into and want to study. The composition is simple, yet strong and gets the point across, but still leaves room for the viewer to speculate. I like that in a photo.
I can point out a couple of very minor things here, the lighting is a little hot on the wall behind the head, and the right hand and shoe. Also, as mentioned in comments, the little thing under the chair leg, and chips in the floor at lower right. These seem very minor, and I think that the image is just so darn good, it is quite easy as the viewer to be very forgiving of such slight flaws.
Several commenters pointed out the slight tilt to the image. I find it strange, it is obviously at a slight angle, but it just doesn't seem to 'put me off' at all. And yeah, I'm like most ever-critical photographers and readily freak out about tilted horizons and such :-) But I'm thinking maybe with the tilt of the head and pose of the subject, the mood that is set, and the composition as a whole, that tilt just isn't detrimental to the image, and in fact maybe even strengthens it slightly and adds to the overall 'feel'.
Overall, a really cool image. Love the tones. It makes me wish I had read the book so I could appreciate it even more. Well done and congrats!
If you have any questions, or comments or anything, please feel free to contact me.
Happy shooting,
taterbug :-)
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