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One from the weekend, which I photographed for a friend's dance production. The theme behind the image was exploring relationships, particularly the fear, constriction, isolation and hope that comes part and parcel of any relationship..

This is one of the series but I won't be uploading the rest as yet.

Great image, and great treatment.

Well done.

A nice BW conversion, definitely needs a narrative since its too open ended for teh viewer to decide on the intent of the artist/image. The image invokes alot of emotion and I think a title or comment would really spearhead this emotion.

I guess my first thoughts, without reading the explanation, had little to do with relationships and your noted aspects.

I see a couple of key elements that really convey a sense of the image for me, 1) the prison slit in teh wall, which gives teh obvious impression of imprisonment 2) reaching/looking towards the light (from a dark place) 3) the covered face, this carries alot of intent and prejudice but also de-personalises the image/scene.

(don't read that twice, cause it won't make sense )

gstark wrote:Great image, and great treatment.
Well done.

any chance of expanding on that Gary, i for one am interested in why others think this is also a good image.

biggerry wrote:

gstark wrote:Great image, and great treatment.
Well done.

any chance of expanding on that Gary, i for one am interested in why others think this is also a good image.

You mean I have to justify what I've said? God help us!

First of all, Wayne has nailed the mono conversion.To my eyes, this looks exactly like what a good B&W image should look like, with a wonderful range of tones that runs the full gamut of the grey spectrum.

The background is full of character; it could be an old prison. Given the nature of the shoot, it might only be a stage set, and if so, all credit to the set dresser. Look not just at the graffiti on the wall, but also at the detritus on the ground. And yes, there's also the texture on the walls ...

Then there's the dress: the texture, the folds, the interplay of light and shadow here.

Finally, for me, there's the pose. Is she reaching for freedom? A helping hand? Or is she just a member of the Federal ALP casting her vote?

to me this is just a excellence shot the B W suits it to a T as Gary said with a wonderful range of tones that runs the full gamut of the grey spectrum. every part of the shot has something in it no blank space. it just great.

Conceptual photography is always difficult to pull off and this image hits the mark with what I think is beautiful technical quality and a sense of mystery. It's a rather bizaar image in that one can sense raw emotion, pain and isolation...yet those emotions are not clearly given a context. The viewer has to do some work with this image...for instance, is there any significance in the fact that we see only 1 arm and 1 foot...and what is the significance of the shroud. The image has a dirty, gritty character that would translate beautifully to a high quality, large very glossy print. The lighting is just perfect and beautifully controlled. This is 1 of the more interesting images to be posted of the forum for some time.

Thanks everyone for your comments. I must admit conceptual photography isn't everyone's cup of tea, and it's a challenge undertaking it as well. It's part of the process of pushing my own style and exploration as a photographer. But I digress.

From the responses so far, I'm more inclined to provide further context to the theme or concepts around the image. My approach and preference has always been create the initial interest, then let the viewer look more into the image and decipher the message for themselves. This approach is still under development as it's hit and miss

gstark wrote:You mean I have to justify what I've said? God help us!

Thanks Gary and the others that commented - i learnt something from this thread.