Reciting His Poetry
by bvy

Comment by dixonp1:
very cool lighting...

Reciting His Poetry
by bvy

Comment by Notroubles:
Great store picture.

Reciting His Poetry
by bvy

Comment by LadyK:
great lighting, i love the old timey feel of this. a bit too much blank space for me though

Reciting His Poetry
by bvy

Comment by jfwolpert:
love the use of negative space

Reciting His Poetry
by bvy

Comment by TheStick:
Love the dramatic lighting!

Reciting His Poetry
by bvy

Comment by tanguera:
Very moody, sexy shot. Just a little too much negative space for me.

Reciting His Poetry
by bvy

Comment by lovethelight:
I love that you can't see his face. Lovely composition and lighting.

A Less Sensitive Time
by bvy

Comment by Melethia:
I think it's a sound photograph that documents the subject well - gave it a 6 in voting. I like the added texture from the window and the stuff beyond - that takes it beyond the "picture of knick-knacks" stage. In reading the comments below, I like Nico Blue's suggestion to add context in a reflection perhaps. And to me, they're knick knacks of a different era - antiques, even - and not particularly offensive.

A Less Sensitive Time
by bvy

Comment by nico_blue:
good message but it would have been a stronger shot if those were real people instead of toys... thinking of how you would have shot the same scene differently maybe having a reflection of the neighborhood on the glass or reflections of people walking by, to add another layer of context to the shot. Otherwise this could as well have been a shot of some toys you had lying around in your garage.

A Less Sensitive Time
by bvy

Comment by Yo_Spiff:
Darn. I was expecting this one to create a little controversy over the implied message. A low score is better if it comes with great comments. It was a good effort and idea though.

For anyone interested, here's what I thought of it when Brian asked my input:

It makes a strong point about attitudes changing. What was once a casual nick-nack is now considered racially offensive stereotyping. I think it could (and will) convey two different messages to different people. The first is that people were thoughtless and insensitive many years ago and we are now better than that. The second way is that we are now overly sensitive and spend too much time walking on eggshells worrying that we might offend someone. Two sides of the same coin.

I'd like to see you enter it. You may get some offended comments and low votes because of the subject, but I think it will also get the attention of the folks for whom a pretty picture is not enough and they want a photo to speak to them. You'll probably clean up on the comments.