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Study hard and you'll end up in a good job they say...

Classic B&W street shot! Love it! This image has a wide space between 2 different subjects, normally a composition killer....but in this case it works. Shows that rules can be broken. I have tried to decipher the composition but in this very rare case....nothing seems to add up. I look at the guy with the phone and then I glance at the 2 schoolgirls....there seems to be no connection between them or any visual link. The diagonals of the pavement are 1 binding element but not enough by themselves to hold the image together. What is crucial to this image are the specular highlights, (the white blobs), but I can't quite articulate why. Be happy to hear comments from other forum members. Frankly, this image should read as fractured or divided, but for some uncanny reason holds together as a unified whole. Go figure.

Well put Matt. What holds this together for me is the simple fact that the two girls are standing in what would appear to be a spotlight. The guy is the first subject I looked at but the girls in the light circle grabbed me next.

To me there is almost a divine element such that the spotlights are picking out random elements or characters on the stage that is the pavement. The man is either oblivious or indifferent to it and the girls seem caught up in it. I think that is what makes this image for me.

This image works really well compositionally. I saw what the title alluded to immediately.

Just beautiful.
At first glance it looked to me like the girls were whispering to eachother with one of them facing the business man.

I reckon ditch the title and let the image convey itself to the viewer, this image has the potential to be so much to so many. Compositionally a great shot, no doubt about it.

Thanks for the critique and feedback. Greatly appreciated.

One of my favourite things about this image is the reflection that appears just behind the businessman's head, further emphasising the higher value of being successful (tongue in cheek of course).

For me, the image can go so many ways - either as a serious image of needing a good education, or as a tongue in cheek observation of everyone is being fed in society.

Absolute classic! I can see this one as a large art print ...

What I think is the most successful part of this image is that we are all now discussing the narrative... not so long ago the discussion whould have revolved around the blown highlights, the lack of detail in the shadows and how sharp or not the elements are... Now we are talking about the narrative and the art... this is where education leads to

I think it works because the contrasts in the
composition light vs shadow and sharp vs blur
and also the two subjects are in within the
rule of thirds. One of the girl gives the
impression to be looking at the sharp subject,
but in fact she might not leaving the viewer to
figure out the story.