Looking at this portrait, the first thing that happens, is it puts me in doubt. Am I looking at a man or a woman. The beard is not that visible at first sight and both the fingers and hair do not distinguish as male or female. Then you see the hair on the forearms and you know for sure it is a man. I wonder why this man hides his face. Is he in pain or in grief? Without having any more context, I have to guess. Technically the photo is well executed. I like the fact it is in b&w, so you fully focus on what's there to see and don't get distracted by color. That would not have added anything to the photo. Curious to hear the thoughts the photographer and the man had at the time of the shot.
I think it's an intriguing photo that does draw your attention. You can use your own imagination to interpret the image, what happened and why are the hands covering the face? You can create your own story. If it is part of a larger series, more of the story will be revealed. At first I also thought it was a female due to the hair and reading Marcel's comment I saw I had not looked long enough to see the beard! Curious to hear from the photographer later today.
Firstly, I wanted to thank once again everyone who’s been actively participating to this thread of comments by leaving their own takes and guesses about the image.
Like I said earlier today, I’ve taken everything on board as I’ve been pleasantly surprised by the constructiveness of these feedback (which is quite hard to find on social media nowadays).
Now, a bit of context.
This portrait is part of the project ‘One of Us’, which was a short series formed by 3 different people’s stories that I’ve recently worked on (I’ll spare you the detailed explanation of it all).
This one image in particular portrays Willy, who is an extremely talented pianist who makes his living as a pizza chef in a restaurant in London.
The emphasis on his hands, like someone in this thread has noticed, is purely descriptive of his persona, of who he is, and the significance of this unorthodox portrait sits into the absence of his face, covered by the most important tools he’s been given, and lets the viewer imagine his whole story through the emotional journey they’re taken while looking at this image.
The way I personally see it, the context of an image sometimes isn’t really out there to be detected and analysed right away.
Sometimes it’s all about how an image makes you feel and where it takes you, which can be anywhere with no right and wrongs and as a photographer, I guess there’s probably a bit of pride and joy when someone who sees your work is able to identify the message and possibly feel the way you as an artist wanted to make them feel.
In the context of the series there are other
images which put Willy in a clearer musical and food making environment, as well as one clearer environmental portraiture, but for personal choices and based on previous reviews and feedback I often prefer going with this image rather than others from this series.
Hope that this has given a bit more of an explanation to it and I apologise for the essay.
However, I’ll be happy to answer any question regarding this image, the series or anything else you feel you need a more thorough explanation of.
Hi everyone, it’s Gianluca, the photographer who took this image.
Like Marcel has mentioned, I will give more context to the photograph later on the day, but I’ve got to say that it’s so nice to see the engagement my image is creating along to some proper constructive criticism.
I am taking notes and will be more than happy to answer any question (if Marcel is okay with it) later today.
Have a lovely rest of your Saturday you all and we’ll adjourn later!
I have some difficulty with the language, but I try.
I really like the portrait, it seems well executed on a technical level and well thought out, and I like the impression of uncertainty at first glance, man or woman? playfulness or desperation?
As I always say (and not just me) a good photo shouldn't give answers, but create questions.
I agree with most of the comments. It's a well-executed photo, technically and artistically.
To me it's not a photo of someone who's grieving. The hands and the face seem relaxed. I noticed a tuft of hair on the chin, so I knew it was a man right away (a perhaps a woman who wants to be a man, but let's not go there yet). The hands look masculine but the hair -- feminine. The photo says, "See if you can guess, or better yet, what difference does it make? Man, woman, transgender. It's a human being."
I am in agreement with the other comments here. The photo on its own lacks context. I did take a look at Gianluca’s Instagram account and saw that this image was posted along with two others. The caption said that the photos were part of a project called One of Us. However, the two other photos in the series were of hands with some context from the background. Good photos and they worked well together. I really liked them. This one, on its own or as part of the project, just doesn’t grab my eye.
It's a very well done and presented photo but I think in this instance, the viewer needs more information for context. I can't really comment beyond the technical ability of this photo and this shows how complex photography can be at times.
Great initiative Marcel. Will you reveal more about this photo soon? Or an q&a with the photographer?
i think it is the wrong choice as a photo to be presented on it's own. technically is well executed and i can see that the photographer put in an effort and did work with the subject. but on it's own, the photo is just a photo. if this photo is part of a series, than looking at the series it's a different story. on it's own, it doesn't send a message
So, for me - technically it's fine. But it feels like a stock photo to me. I can imagine it making more sense in the context of text or other visual elements, but as a standalone imagine it feels too obvious for my liking. Part of this is a feeling that the photo is staged and that it has a very neutral background - I don't have any sense of place of where this is supposed to be, which makes the person in the shot feel like they could be anyone.
I hope this response is in some way meaningful and helpful.
This photo doesn’t resonate for me on its own because it is removed from context. Maybe if I’d seen the photographer’s commentary before seeing the photo, it would have been better. However for me, even with the commentary, the meaning is a bit on the nose. I feel it would resonate more if there were more context in the photo somehow, leading me to wonder why his hands are so prominent
I like the picture, I think it's well done, the only thing that I don't like is that is not centered, it's not symmetrical, but I know that it's my problem and I put too much attention to it. I think that not know who it behind that hands is the point of the picture, not know the gender of the person or why is not showing up, very good job, thank you for sharing!
Looking at this portrait, the first thing that happens, is it puts me in doubt. Am I looking at a man or a woman. The beard is not that visible at first sight and both the fingers and hair do not distinguish as male or female. Then you see the hair on the forearms and you know for sure it is a man. I wonder why this man hides his face. Is he in pain or in grief? Without having any more context, I have to guess. Technically the photo is well executed. I like the fact it is in b&w, so you fully focus on what's there to see and don't get distracted by color. That would not have added anything to the photo. Curious to hear the thoughts the photographer and the man had at the time of the shot.
I think it's an intriguing photo that does draw your attention. You can use your own imagination to interpret the image, what happened and why are the hands covering the face? You can create your own story. If it is part of a larger series, more of the story will be revealed. At first I also thought it was a female due to the hair and reading Marcel's comment I saw I had not looked long enough to see the beard! Curious to hear from the photographer later today.
Good evening everyone.
Firstly, I wanted to thank once again everyone who’s been actively participating to this thread of comments by leaving their own takes and guesses about the image.
Like I said earlier today, I’ve taken everything on board as I’ve been pleasantly surprised by the constructiveness of these feedback (which is quite hard to find on social media nowadays).
Now, a bit of context.
This portrait is part of the project ‘One of Us’, which was a short series formed by 3 different people’s stories that I’ve recently worked on (I’ll spare you the detailed explanation of it all).
This one image in particular portrays Willy, who is an extremely talented pianist who makes his living as a pizza chef in a restaurant in London.
The emphasis on his hands, like someone in this thread has noticed, is purely descriptive of his persona, of who he is, and the significance of this unorthodox portrait sits into the absence of his face, covered by the most important tools he’s been given, and lets the viewer imagine his whole story through the emotional journey they’re taken while looking at this image.
The way I personally see it, the context of an image sometimes isn’t really out there to be detected and analysed right away.
Sometimes it’s all about how an image makes you feel and where it takes you, which can be anywhere with no right and wrongs and as a photographer, I guess there’s probably a bit of pride and joy when someone who sees your work is able to identify the message and possibly feel the way you as an artist wanted to make them feel.
In the context of the series there are other
images which put Willy in a clearer musical and food making environment, as well as one clearer environmental portraiture, but for personal choices and based on previous reviews and feedback I often prefer going with this image rather than others from this series.
Hope that this has given a bit more of an explanation to it and I apologise for the essay.
However, I’ll be happy to answer any question regarding this image, the series or anything else you feel you need a more thorough explanation of.
Hi everyone, it’s Gianluca, the photographer who took this image.
Like Marcel has mentioned, I will give more context to the photograph later on the day, but I’ve got to say that it’s so nice to see the engagement my image is creating along to some proper constructive criticism.
I am taking notes and will be more than happy to answer any question (if Marcel is okay with it) later today.
Have a lovely rest of your Saturday you all and we’ll adjourn later!
I have some difficulty with the language, but I try.
I really like the portrait, it seems well executed on a technical level and well thought out, and I like the impression of uncertainty at first glance, man or woman? playfulness or desperation?
As I always say (and not just me) a good photo shouldn't give answers, but create questions.
I agree with most of the comments. It's a well-executed photo, technically and artistically.
To me it's not a photo of someone who's grieving. The hands and the face seem relaxed. I noticed a tuft of hair on the chin, so I knew it was a man right away (a perhaps a woman who wants to be a man, but let's not go there yet). The hands look masculine but the hair -- feminine. The photo says, "See if you can guess, or better yet, what difference does it make? Man, woman, transgender. It's a human being."
I am in agreement with the other comments here. The photo on its own lacks context. I did take a look at Gianluca’s Instagram account and saw that this image was posted along with two others. The caption said that the photos were part of a project called One of Us. However, the two other photos in the series were of hands with some context from the background. Good photos and they worked well together. I really liked them. This one, on its own or as part of the project, just doesn’t grab my eye.
It's a very well done and presented photo but I think in this instance, the viewer needs more information for context. I can't really comment beyond the technical ability of this photo and this shows how complex photography can be at times.
Great initiative Marcel. Will you reveal more about this photo soon? Or an q&a with the photographer?
i think it is the wrong choice as a photo to be presented on it's own. technically is well executed and i can see that the photographer put in an effort and did work with the subject. but on it's own, the photo is just a photo. if this photo is part of a series, than looking at the series it's a different story. on it's own, it doesn't send a message
So, for me - technically it's fine. But it feels like a stock photo to me. I can imagine it making more sense in the context of text or other visual elements, but as a standalone imagine it feels too obvious for my liking. Part of this is a feeling that the photo is staged and that it has a very neutral background - I don't have any sense of place of where this is supposed to be, which makes the person in the shot feel like they could be anyone.
I hope this response is in some way meaningful and helpful.
This photo doesn’t resonate for me on its own because it is removed from context. Maybe if I’d seen the photographer’s commentary before seeing the photo, it would have been better. However for me, even with the commentary, the meaning is a bit on the nose. I feel it would resonate more if there were more context in the photo somehow, leading me to wonder why his hands are so prominent
I like the picture, I think it's well done, the only thing that I don't like is that is not centered, it's not symmetrical, but I know that it's my problem and I put too much attention to it. I think that not know who it behind that hands is the point of the picture, not know the gender of the person or why is not showing up, very good job, thank you for sharing!