As I was walking the streets of Denver one evening, I came along Ed who was sitting on the sidewalk with a "please help" cardboard sign. Where he was sitting was not a very conspicuous location. Only close pedestrians would be the only ones to possibly stop and give him some money. The primary purpose of my afternoon/evening walk to to find potential street portraits. So, I stopped to talk with Ed for a few minutes. He was already the 4th or 5th person I had stopped to talk with that evening. He was not drunk, he was not on drugs. He simply wanted money to buy art supplies so he could continue creating his paintings. He is a native Denverite. I did not ask how he came to be on the street. I gave him some money and he gave me permission to take a couple photos, but he did not change his posture at all. He left his arm on his leg and did not move. I immediately felt that he was surely in a depressed place. It made me feel helpless and depressed myself.
So for this challenge, I came away with two meanings for "Obscured"
One is the physical meaning of something in front of something else blocking the view. In this case, his arm is doing the obscuring of part of his face. But, the other meaning is also his arm, but this time is obscuring himself, his soul. I believe Ed has a lot of pride and was not so happy to be on the street. I don't know if the word "ashamed" is the appropriate word, but I think he was. I have never had to beg for money to survive. It must be an extraordinary thing for a prideful person to be forced to ask for money.
I don't know if Ed was telling me the truth about the art supplies. Nevertheless, I would have no basis to not believe him.
Oh, 800 pixels is dark ages compared to full details in this image. PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE can this site come into the 21st century and go to 1200?
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Place: 8 out of 63 Avg (all users): 6.2973 Avg (commenters): 8.2500 Avg (participants): 5.7576 Avg (non-participants): 6.7317 Views since voting: 1167 Views during voting: 181 Votes: 74 Comments: 15 Favorites: 2 (view)
A fascinating character. Well exposed, excellent composition and just the right blend of sharpness and softness.
I might have suggested a little dodging of the whites of his eyes, very subtly, and maybe some burning on the right side of the frame to match the excellent contrast between his shoulder and the wall behind him on the left.
But it doesn't really need it to be a very strong photo.
Quite beautiful. You demonstrate great respect and affection for the photograph as well as for the subject. 10. Thank you. You're also stuck with an Order of the Thumb, and no returns allowed I'm afraid.
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