In Newton´s study
by lausi

Comment:
Good idea, but the bookselves in the background are distracting. Would love to see it in front of a plain dark background to better get the sense of motion.

Applerise
by yaesumofo

Comment:
Great idea, are the light trails below supposed to simulate stars. If so, I'd want them to be more clear. If not, I just find them distracting.

Nine out of ten witches recommend...
by Pedxer

Comment:
Very clever, but oversaturated for my tastes.

Barbecued Apple
by evenfl0w

Comment:
Good idea, but the size of the fire takes away from the apple for me.

Freshly Picked
by Shannon

Comment:
I quite like the setup, but the focal point seems to be on the shed not the apples.

Broken Spirit
by scrum8

Comment:
Interesting idea, but I'm not getting the feeling of broken spirit. Sure sleeping on concrete is bad, but the blanket looks clean as does the subject, so it doesn't have the look of someone exposed to life's slings and arrows.

silenced by any means
by KDO

Comment:
I would echo some scalvert's concerns about the communication of the specifics. Though I likely would guess that your model was Native American, I couldn't be sure (perhaps, Native American or Mexican American or even Arab American). While I don't think the ambiguity takes away from the emotional impact of the photo, I think the overall political impact would have been stronger with more specificity (a lesson I learned with my entry).

I'd would want to be careful about avoiding stereotype while giving the viewer enough information to get the visual metaphor. Perhaps a more targetted title would help or perhaps incorportating some of the tools of oppression (treaties, casino gambling, beer, the Lone Ranger, etc.) into the photo could also help. Adding the emblems of oppression I think avoid some of the stereotyping that making your model look more "Indian" would create.

I like the intent of you and your students to try to disembody the hand. I wonder if the same effect could have been achieved with a headless person (in perhaps a suit) standing behind your model. It could still convey the anonimity of power/authority while giving more visual cues about who is who in the photo.

But all of these are just thoughts on how a good photo might be further strengthened and focused - well done to you and your students.

Namdaemun Gate, Seoul, Korea. (Build in 1394 AD)
by docpjv

Comment:
Great shot. Good color on the greens on the upper part of the gate. The cropping feels a bit close too me, but otherwise high marks. If you are there on a trip, enjoy the photo ops - lots of good opportunities.

Where once there was laughter, rain erodes rock
by markmulkerin

Comment:
A poem to accompany the photo:

Where once there was laughter, rain erodes rock -
surrogate tears for nearby mother's grief
buried heart and breast decaying or decayed
shudders of woe long cease.

Yet in this row, silenced children cue
ribcages once possessing blood and gush and laugh and sigh
no own stale air, dust, vacancy.

Time, that slathering beast, that pilferer,
that ravaging foe, that unbiased judge,
takes all - less perhaps faith.

White man's burden or tyrant's charm ...
by markmulkerin

Comment:
Thanks for your comments everyone. I guess it is time to clear up the questions. Yes, it is a machine gun (specifically, a machine gun on a WWII era British tank that would have been stationed in Hong Kong to keep Hong Kong British). Yes, my overexposure and tight focus on the muzzled end was intentional - I was hoping to give the impression of what it might look like to someone from the wrong end of it. I guess for some it worked, for most it didn't.

White man's burden - the short answer is a 19th century Imperial British notion that it was the duty of civilized people (meaning British) to lift the ignorant heathens (meaning anyone not white) from the quagmire of their pathetic lives (meaning not Victorian England) even if they didn't want help (meaning we will save them even if it means killing them all). The term, I believe, was coined by Ruyard Kipling as part of a glowing praise poem to British Imperial power.

Thank goodness we are past that stage in our history and don't invade countries to install regimes that follow proper capitalist/democratic values (I won't argue whether or not Iraq would be better as a real democracy, but the picture should suggest what the US soldiers look like to some locals).