Retrenched

[papaho]

1. in what area is critique to be sought?

I would like to sought critique in any form for this photo with accordance to the title I had in mind when I took the shot..


With this shot, I would like to leverage on the inverted chairs that signified retrenched workers and the mrt behind with a 'city location board' signified that they are returning to the suburbs..


3. under what circumstance is the picture taken? (physical conditions/emotions)

it was drizzling but the sun light was good.. no edit done to the photo.

4. what the critique seeker personally thinks of the picture

I am a newbie to photography and have only gotten my 450d for less than a month. But this is one shot where by I had the theme in mind and am felt satisfied with.


thanks

[teoelisha]

just a thought.. the picture was taken at the soon-to-be-opened MRT station (Bras Basah), so my first impression was that it's more of a furnishing of an upcoming MRT station, so doesn't give me the "retrenched" feel.. however, if i'm not singaporean and don't know about the soon-to-be-opened station, the picture could work for me as "retrenched". imho, if the picture was taken just a little higher, i would be able to see more chairs and get a better feel on the number of chairs out there..

[skazwan]

If I haven't read ur writeup, I wouldn't get what you're trying to say with ur photo.

I would prefer a more DOF and I would like to see more of the chairs.
Just my 2cents

[Patryk]

a pretty interesting shot if you're considering only the lower half, the top half (with may too much headroom) i feel doesn't add much to the shot.

you say this shot mirrors the retrenchments that are going on.. however you have to remember that the shot has to speak for itself. without your writeup, in no way would i have thought that you would be talking about retrenchment.

remember that viewers may not think the same as you, especially if the shot is too abstract, which would make it hard to relay your theme to them. so remember to always put yourself in their shoes before appending any theme or title to a shot.

as i mentioned already, the bottom half of the shot has interesting elements to it, especially with the lines and geometry created by the legs of the chairs. consider doing a crop and get a more suitable title for it.

just my 2 cents, cheers.

[lightsabre]

looks more like refurnish than retrench....

[Slyanius]

Definitely no retrenched feeling here, and with that, the photo loses its purpose.

[rocfreaks]

when i first saw this picture, i thought someone's office got flooded(since there are dots of water on the chairs)

maybe you should set the focus on the 'bras basah' sign instead of the front few chairs....

i think this shot is good enough for photo journalism though...

[HTCahHTC]

hi,

IMHO, it looks pretty messy to me.
maybe you should have tried a smaller aperture so as not to blur half of the chairs in the background?
maybe you should tried taking this picture with one chair as the foreground interest, with the rest in the background.
good concept though, something different.

[papaho]

Thanks alot for the valuable comments

I have been opened to thoughts i have not had before.

[cabbySHE]

Agreed with post no. 3 In this case, the title seems to be an important link to the photo, without which, viewers seems to be lost.

[cheguthamrin]

Impressed. Alternative perspection here. Was expecting someone's expression / body language, but I see overturned chairs instead. Chairs arent meant to be overturned; usually they are for ppl to sit on [duh] - but some restaurants would overturn chairs at the end of the day to clean the floor; the day's over, chairs no longer for use, so can be overturned since no one's gonna sit. I can relate the title to the photo.

1- agree about too much headroom, can crop further.
2- no doubt its messy, its a crowd out there. how would a crowd not be messy?
3- Strong, if not intersting but minimum colours, blue white and black, with a dose of green and red.

[cabbySHE]

I would say, ( see..different viewers has got different opinion ) getting retrenched ( has anybody get retrenched here before ), I had.
is a very down mood and sombre feeling ( one had to experience to get the feel ) no time for joyous, jubilant, colourful celebration. Plenty of bills to be paid, and bank accounts is dipping with every atm draw. Red, Purple and Yellow ? Yes, when received letter from bank saying...we are to repossess your....the face will difinitely turn RED.

[dingzyangz]

from a viewer perspective, it took me a while to notice that they are chairs. A wider view might work. this is too tight. and the chairs are too new thus does not portray the feeling of being retrenched.

[cabbySHE]

If given to me as an assignment, I would have done it in this way.

Get a male model to dress like an ordinary white collar 9 to 5 worker, with laptop bags and whatnot..mobile phone, today paper. Location, OUB tower at Raffles Quay. model sit on the floor and leans against the building, head droop down (depress mood) rest on folded hands which in turn support by both bended knees. One hand holding a spectacles ( dangling), the other hand holding a letter, ( the letter head, if possible belongs to a bank which actually retrenched staff recently ), close focusing on the letter head with bold type font ; Retrenchment Notice, and following with Dear XXX, We regrett to inform you, with immediate effect...then the rest will be blurr.
Background showing, a lot of people walking around, and are rendered blur, some are talking to each other, some are talking on handphone.
Media : B/W Technical info : 35 or 28 mm wide angle, which able to focus on letter content and include people of surrounding. Shutter speed : Shoot a series from 1/8 sec down to 2 sec. to pick best motion effect. Lighting : Dull overcast day, to match the theme.
Message : While someone is being retrenched, others works as usual, the earth doesn't stop because of you.

The approach could be view as more down to earth comparing to the posted picture which is more abstract. Mine would be more geared towards newpaper article title..Retrenched

[lincolnchan]

Originally Posted by cabbySHE If given to me as an assignment, I would have done it in this way. Get a male model to dress like an ordinary white collar 9 to 5 worker, with laptop bags and whatnot..mobile phone, today paper. Location, OUB tower at Raffles Quay. model sit on the floor and leans against the building, head droop down (depress mood) rest on folded hands which in turn support by both bended knees. One hand holding a spectacles ( dangling), the other hand holding a letter, ( the letter head, if possible belongs to a bank which actually retrenched staff recently ), close focusing on the letter head with bold type font ; Retrenchment Notice, and following with Dear XXX, We regrett to inform you, with immediate effect...then the rest will be blurr. Background showing, a lot of people walking around, and are rendered blur, some are talking to each other, some are talking on handphone. Media : B/W Technical info : 35 or 28 mm wide angle, which able to focus on letter content and include people of surrounding. Shutter speed : Shoot a series from 1/8 sec down to 2 sec. to pick best motion effect. Lighting : Dull overcast day, to match the theme. Message : While someone is being retrenched, others works as usual, the earth doesn't stop because of you. The approach could be view as more down to earth comparing to the posted picture which is more abstract. Mine would be more geared towards newpaper article title..Retrenched

Nice idea... but with the current economy... just wait at OUB, some body will have a letter like that for real. Real expressions, real fear.

[jym]

Interesting. How about cropping off the top a little more? The top portion seems to break the "perspectiveness".
The picture does have journalistic feel to it.

[Anson]

Look more like office relocation to me... just my 2 cents..

[cabbySHE]

#15 refers,

save the trouble to get someone to pose ( just for laugh ).

[marvintheroundone]

Hmmm, Interesting photo nevertheless.
But it doesnt have the impact of retrenchment.
Would have been more interesting if a guy in a suit was posing in it..
But still very interesting