Crazy Shadow Challenge

Batsceba Hardy/Robert Bannister/ Micheal Kennedy/ Fabio Balestra

Shadows

"The eye is always caught by light, but shadows have more to say." Gregory Maguire

It is true that the shadows have more to say and speak louder at different times. They have been used to great effect in cinematography, to make the hairs stand up on the back of your neck, as your mind runs wild with mortal thoughts and fears.

We wanted you to embellish your stories with those shadows, to set the viewers mind alight, leaving us in a dream evoked by your making; that was the challenge.

It was tough, especially for those who live in light-challenged areas. The response was amazing and we hope again, it will add to your armory of Image dramatics, to keep the viewers locked to your portfolio.

Thank you everyone for taking part, and enjoy the submissions that we feel were the best of the best.

Robert Bannister

Is a Shadow a Shadow a Shadow?

Every time I think of shadows, I remember Peter Pan losing his. I read the book at age nine, and saw the Disney film many years later.

I don't know if Disney's Peter Pan ballet with his Shadow is just a delightful double-step of animation, or prefigures of the eternal child who does not want to grow into narcissistic solipsism.

Not for nothing The Shadow by Carl Gustav Jung is the recess in which all sink their roots, a dangerous double, atavistic.

But the Photographic Shadow of People and Things is something more cheerful and comforting: we see the world as another watermark, absurdly lengthened or shortened, swelling or thin as a tower that will be erased in an instant, with the displacement of our axis, of our look.

Borges' Praise of Shadow is a colorful overview of a great observer, photographer of leitmotiv of literature and photography.

In the same way a good photographer walks a sunny day, skirting the fence of the park, and knows how to impress the blackest rituals of the shadows left by the rest on the diaphragm, starting with the gate, two passers-by, a tall tower, a tight tree.

The photographer does not have that fear that he could have if instead, he moved on to a set, and the shadow became the Shadow of Alfred Hitchcock, the figure behind the shower curtain before the scream.

One of the most sensitive film critics recalled that the great directors of German Expressionism, as soon as they filled the set of objects, announced a threat: but this Shadow of Expressionism has stretched all over cinema and photography, every time we split the real, as in the dance of the eternal Peter, they look at the trace of what is and exemplify it with their devices.

Do you think it is different in arts other than figurative, like cinema, photography, painting? Not exactly. Robert Schumann's Shadow is in his motivic convolutions another motif in a precedent and appears with the romantic double.

We listen to all this in the short piano pieces, 'Childhood Scenes', 'Wood Scenes'. Schumann's musical shadow is poignant. Gustav Mahler's Shadow will be terribly agonizing. Let's go back to the Disney dance.

But above all the restless and disturbing landscapes, as the word 'shady' means, the Shakespearean empyrean stands out: The Tempest has hit the Island, but the Shadow of the Spirit is magic, here it is made to appear by the High Bardo in a jaunty Servant's desk. It is he who, extinguishing any temptation to fall into darkness, restores to the Shadow the profile of the Dawn of Life, not Twilight. As in The Lux Fiat Bible.

Then everyone plays with whomever he wants. In the Italian Dictionary Treccani 'ombra' is: 'dark area, or less bright, of the surface of a shape'. As if to say, even the dark has its shadows.

Ah, I forgot, the Plato's Cave, and this closes the circle. Are shadows more real than reality?

Batsceba Hardy

Contributors:

Chan Chun Ming, Eddie Mac, Theodoros Topalis, Adriana TB, Ian Ben Yahuda, Bogo Pečnikar, Jay Gadong, Roxane Atlan, Jurgen Warschun, Yer Nevilos, William Henry Reodica, Hila Rubinshtein, Dave Casundo, Batsceba Hardy, Marco DM, Mario Spedicato, Pacho Coulchinsky, Masaki Kasai, Niklas Lindskog, Orna Naor,Yulia Olshansky, Elpi Juan, Greg Scott, Orlando Durazzo, Yael Gadot, Raymond Tanhueco, Randy Arisgado, Richard Keshen, Rey Maglasang Pelayo, Roberto Bon, Pierantonio Brianza, Mike Perez, RJ Galgo, Ines MadDel, Karlo Flores, Daniel Albea Camino, John Bauer, Andrea Ratto, Luis Picon Carrasco, Stefania Lazzari, Harry Aaldering, Ivo Ferigra, Gerry Orkin, Dzung Viet Le, RJ Galgo, Charles Lafrance, Bertil Nilsson, Jim Darke, Don Scott, Johny, Elisabetta Merlo, Keef Charles, Laurent Penvern, Nuno Vasconcelos Branco, Robert Bannister, Melvin Anore, Roberto Bartolini, Roj Jaso Bag-ao, Takashi Tachi, Vehbi Dileksiz, Shlomy Evron, Mark Joseph Requioma, Dominic Melly, Gabi Ben Avrahan, Liviu Ionita, Mhelz Catamin, Eduard Benaid, Bogo Pečnikar, Oliver Ferreras San Juan, Eduardo A Ponce, Neville Fan, Shlomy Evron, Ateneo Sta Ines, Yuna Jay Emilee, Gianni Boradori, Roland Groebe

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The Crosswalk by Takashi Tachi

Notes on the Osaka Train Station photos

Notes on the Osaka Train Station photos

This crosswalk is on the eastside of Osaka Station.

This is perhaps the busiest time of day for passengers of the Osaka Train Station.

The place in the balloon (in the google map) is the crosswalk where I always take photographs.

There is a pedestrian bridge above this crosswalk, so I can take photos as I look onto the crosswalk (the picture taken from this pedestrian bridge is 01, 02 and 11.)

This pedestrian bridge connects to the second floor of Hankyu Department Store (the photo taken from this are 14, 17, 18, and so on.)

Other images are taken from ground level (the photo taken from the position of this are 08, 09, 13, and so on.)

My name is Takashi Tachi, and I am 65 years old.

I have lived in Hannan, a city in Osaka Prefecture, since I was 12-years-old. Following high school, I lived for six years in Shizuoka City - where I attended college in Shizuoka prefecture, famous for Mt. Fuji and traditional green tea.

My passion for photography began with documenting life with my growing family after college. I bought a camera when my first child was born, and started taking photographs to record this wonderful stage of life. In time, my interest in photography expanded and I started taking photographs on my way to work.

Photography enriches my daily life, and allows me to become acquainted with many people. As a result, I’ve had many meaningful experiences as a photographer - too numerous to mention, which have all made me very happy when I work with a camera.

Street photography is my hobby. I have no formal training, just trial-and-error. My sensei - or teacher, has really been photography magazines. For street photography, my go-to camera is the easy-to-use Ricoh GR II - which is truly stealth. Yet I also use the Fuji XE 2, which has superb optics and produces very clear image quality.

The population of Hannan City is large and so there are people of all ages in motion: walking and talking, people going to work, people enjoying leisure time. Like all cities, there are crosswalks, buildings, alleys, arcades, stations, restaurants, trains, cars ... countless backdrops related to people. And the light of the sun, rain, snow, and darkness further attracts people, and all this activity becomes a source of fascinating potential for photographs. And these combinations vary widely. So the changing street is very attractive.

Most of my photographs occur between Hanan City - where I live, and my office in nearby Habikino City. Points of interest for me are the platforms and the staircases of the various train lines that operate between the two cities.

When photographing, I care very much about composition, and how to frame my subject - plus the direction of the light, and matters related to background. As much as possible, I try to pre-visualize the photograph before even touching the shutter release.

The greatest compliment for me is when viewers connect to my photographs on the strength of composition and the beauty of light - even if the theme is every day life.

The shadows of businessmen waiting for a train are arranged in a rhythmical pattern on each of the benches in the morning platform. I think that this sight is seldom encountered. By chance, at the usual time, the weather is fine and the angle of lig… — The shadows of businessmen waiting for a train are arranged in a rhythmical pattern on each of the benches in the morning platform. I think that this sight is seldom encountered. By chance, at the usual time, the weather is fine and the angle of light is right, and businessmen are lining up in order.
This picture is a sight that I could not achieve if one of these elements were missing.

Perhaps my favorite technique is a slow shutter speed. With this technique, I am not so concerned whether the medium is color or B&W - simply a well-executed photograph that connects with viewers. For post-production, I use 'SILKYPIX Developer Studio pro 8 (Ichikawa Soft Laboratory). Some times I will spend a half-day, perhaps longer to achieve results that are true to my vision.

As a photographer, both Kineo Kuwabara and Nobuyoshi Araki have influenced me. Kuwabara’s work has been especially important, and I was captivated by an image of his from the photo collection: Tokyo. Recently I have become interested in the work of photographer Kisei Kobayashi.

The following books and novels have also influenced my work:

-桑原甲子雄 Kineo Kuwabara

東京1934～1993 (Tokyo 1934～1993)

荒木経惟 Nobuyoshi Araki

東京物語 (Tokyo Monogatari)

東京慕情 (Tokyo Bojyo)

冬へ Tokyo:a City Heading for Death

新倉孝雄 Takao Niikura

Wonderful Street

ハービー・山口 Herbie Yamaguchi

LONDON Chasing the Dream

小林紀晴 Kisei Kobayashi

ASIAN JAPANESE 1,2,3

Days new York

Robert Frank -The American

And Robert Frank’s photo of two young African-American men attending a funeral during the era of the Civil Rights Movement has influenced me the most.

Batsceba Hardy feature:

the self-portraits in the street photography

The self-portrait is one of the favourite visual motifs for artists, often giving us a glimpse of reality and the creator.

It has been said “That in every image, there is a little piece of the artist”. Certainly there is no truer statement, when we see the reflections of the artiste entwined amongst the imagery.

El Greco

Leonardo Da Vinci

Pablo Picasso

Rembrandt van Rijn

Frida Kahlo

Vincent Van Gogh

The painters have always produced self-portraits in the photography of old. Nearly all of the classic photographers have created self-portraits, whether accidentally or on purpose.

Edward Steichen

Cecil Beaton

Diane Arbus

Eve Arnold

Ilse Bing

Helmut Newton

Today, in an era in which exists a tremendous amount of “Selfies” every day, it is natural to wonder if the artistic self-portrait still makes sense. Where is the line drawn between modern vanity and art?

So let's talk about ‘self portrait as a concept’ and within street photography. To me it is something very special, it always draws a smile when we see an artisan at work. The street photographer is often found accidentally at the scene of the crime. We tend to lean into the image, probing for more clarity of the image and shutterbug. So is this what the artist wants?

Stanley Kubrick

Mary Ellen Mark with Marlon Brandon

Weegee (aka Arthur Fellig)

The self-portraits of Vivian Maier immediately come to mind, but she was not the only one. Often her self-portraits were conceived as casual, but wanted, staged...

street self portraits

Martin Millar

Mircea Maieru

Boy Jeconiah

Bernhard Wasem

Andrea Ratto

Bogo Pečnikar

Boy Jeconiah

Charles Lafrance

Davide Dalla Giustina

Debby Masamba

Dino Morri

Don Mercs

Enric Mateu

Fabio Maddogz Balestra

Gerri McLaughlin

Kevin Lim

Lior Faust

Mahesh Krishnamurthy

Nor Razi

Orrab Cire Nob‎

Pacho Coulchinsky

Robert Bannister

Roberto Bartolini

Rudolf Filip Pavlík

Simon Gradwell

Stefania Lazzari

Takanori Tomimatsu

Teresa Trzcińska‎

Terry Robinson

Tony Keyworth‎

Tülin Erturk

Veska Saeva‎

I am not a psychologist, I do not want to talk about narcissism, but I can only say that photographers or artists who have never portrayed themselves, are a rarity.

With the advancement of digital technology, it has never been easier to incorporate ourselves into the story.

I would just like to express my doubt: selfies are no longer self-portraits, but rather images that people realize of themselves by chance. I put it to you that it is nothing more than a perennial presentation and identification, without a real meaning anymore.

But this is something we can all reflect upon…

FROM THE PROGRESSIVE STREET SELF-PORTRAITS CHALLENGE JANUARY 2018

Self Portrait Challenge

With this challenge, we are looking for street images whereby you the photographer are a part of the story.We want you to produce a piece of art in which you the creator makes an appearance, that is the challenge!
We do not want your images reflected in unlikely places, your artistic shadows. We want you in the story you are telling!
Incorporate ourselves into the story!

Many classic and street masters have done this to immortalize themselves and to give the viewer a tantalizing glimpse of the artiste.