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Submitted: June 8, 2009
Image Size: 186 KB
Resolution: 900×598

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Comments: 186
Favourites: 235 [who?]
Views: 4,955 (1 today)

Camera Data

Make:NIKON CORPORATION
Model:NIKON D90
Shutter Speed:1/30 second
Aperture:F/2.8
Focal Length:28 mm
ISO Speed:1600
Date Taken:Jun 7, 2009, 8:44:35 PM
Software:Adobe Photoshop CS3 Macintosh

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Supplicationby `StamatisGR

Photography / Street

Beggar selling candles, on the stairs of a church during a local fair...

_{"The wealth of the Greek Church is huge. The state has not recorded it, also the leadership of Church of Greece declares officially that it does not know the financial elements of abbeys, monasteries and temples because each metropolis, abbey, temple and monastery has its own economic management. The profits of the Greek Church come from offers, from renting its huge number of buildings and lands and from stocks in the Stock market. The Greek Church does not pay taxes to the Greek state."}

Shutter Speed:1/30 second
Aperture:F/2.8
Focal Length:28 mm
ISO Speed:1600

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Thank you for your time to look at my picture, your kindness to comment on it
and your generosity to fav it. Your support is greatly appreciated.

Critique by =EricForFriends Sep 30, 2009, 1:14:30 AM

The fact alone that after his picture has received two critiques by very able photographers there's still something left to say does say a lot about its quality. It's a picture from which a lot con be learned by anyone who's asking the question what exactly makes a good photo.
The subject "beggars" is a staple Street Photography subject and I share much of =SLPdomain's misgivings about it. In the first place there's the issue of deceipt and much worse, child exploitation (to the point where the beggar women are allowed to rotate in shifts, while the baby or child that's used has to stay in place all day). However, a photographer is not a detective, policeman or a judge - he just has to record what he sees, whether it's something that's worth our compassion or a con act. Another matter is the artistic side. Apathic homeless people and beggars are easy, non-moving targets for a camera, nearly guaranteed to evoke compassion in a viewer and giving the photographer a sense that he's doing something worthwhile. The result is many artless pictures of pitiful pieces of humanity - unless there's a really good photographer at work who can give the image something more. That's what happened here: the brilliant timing of the shot allowed the expression of the beggar to be combined with the repeating motive of the legs, and the framing breaks the old rule not to cut off people's heads with great effect, increasing the impersonality of the passers-by and the isolation of the subject.
In doing so, Stamatis bridges what I see as the two opposite poles of Street Photography: "Pure" Street, with its raw, sometimes chaotic images that try to create the suggestion of prosaic "life as it is", and Street in a wider sense of the word, shooting "People in candid situations in public spaces" with greater attention for composition and visual jokes, resulting in a more stylized approach. I think this picture is at ease with both schools while avoiding their pitfalls.
When I found this picture while looking for material for a feature about square Street pictures [link] I was very happy because it also bridges another gorge, the one between clear, crisp Street and the dynamic blur and avantgardism that are part of the =SixbySix club's square tradition.
That makes this picture is a prime example of squaring the Street, worthy of careful study.

What do you think?

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10 out of 11 deviants thought this was fair.

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Critique by ~absinthFenix Jun 26, 2009, 12:16:34 AM

This is one of your best shots. I know I say that often and every time I really mean it, but this is just stunning! The expression on her face is beyond any words, and even more so the contrast between the rushing legs and standstill of her arm with the sleeping child in them. This so much reminds me of a sad fairytale "Little match seller"...
And unfortunately, this scene we see to often. Every church organization is like that. Christianity (no matter if it is Orthodox or catholic or whatever) lost its purest and original form, and this is great representation of that.