Suicide is a devistating, selfish decision that hits close to home for a lot of us who have lost loved ones that way. Although a teen (my non-suicidal step-brother, Alex) is depicted in my photo, sucide is a problem that effects all ages, genders, races, etc. Even when you are in the darkest hour of your life and you feel burdened by lonliness, please remember there is ALWAYS someone whos life is better because you're in it -- YOU can't be replaced!
(The title is the last line in Hamlet's Soliloquy.)
Statistics
Place: 92 out of 275 Avg (all users): 5.2336 Avg (commenters): 6.7083 Avg (participants): 4.8762 Avg (non-participants): 5.4221 Views since voting: 1535 Views during voting: 577 Votes: 304 Comments: 37 Favorites: 6 (view)
I wish I was around when the vote was going on for this challenge. I would have given your pic a 10 for thought and meeting the challenge and a 9 for composition, quality, lighting. You make a very stark point that is important and well delivered in your image.
looks like your camera focused on the background instead of the person. either that or your subject moved.i like the lighting but maybe excluding the bulb from the picture might have been a little better. and lastly you seem to have tilted your camera or your lens suffers from either pincushion or barrel distortion. these can be corrected in ps or some other imaging tools
Thanks everyone for comments, positive or otherwise. I didn't take this picture to appeal to anyone, to get points, or favorites, nor did I take the picture to offend or be insensitive. I took this picture because suicide is an evil, terrible, tragic thing. I took this picture for my grandfather..my Opa...who killed himself with a gun 3 years ago. He was a good man but unexpectedly made a terrible desicion which was hard hitting to me and my family. The results of such a selfish act are horrific, but the memories still exsist and you can never forget them. Because of his dry wit humor and kindness, his funeral was not sorrowful, but full of happiness and jokes. He would have wanted us to see it as him going out with a bang-- that was just the kind of man he was.
As a teenager, I know countless instances of suicide attempts and the real deal from my peers. In my brother's graduating class, there were 15 suicides in the school from that year. My step-sister had 3 friends kill themselves in her senior year, and I had a best friend end up in the hospital 2 times- that was in 8th grade. Even my sister had a classmate take her own life in 6th grade. It's terrifying what an epidemic this is. It effects us all. Always remember to be nice to one another, that makes all the difference!
Hey NightShy ... when I saw this one, I knew it was you. Even though this is only your 2nd entry, I can already see your style, and even though you are only 16 (!), I can really see the maturity in your work. Keep it up, and don't let people get you down. You're like me, in that you use your family alot. I use my kids most of the time. :) This photo is awesome, and you give us a point of view in a way that most "older" people can't seem to remember seeing. I was 16 once, I had terrible thoughts, as have a lot of kids. You got the tone, the lighting, the imagery and the emotion, all in one shot. Keep up the good work ...
And when you're trying to take a cool photo of a bird, and you end up with a 4 point something, don't give up. :) The harder I try to do something neat, the worse my score is. But knowing that some people appreciate my work keeps me going!
Good luck! I've got you marked as one of my favorites so that I can keep my eye (0) on you!
I am commenting on this image in a reaction against the attempt by some to limit the content of DPC to images that conform to their idea of acceptable.
This image succeeds _far_ better than most at actually conveying to me the agony of indecision itself, rather than simply showing an object about which someone presumably has to make a decision or the action they have taken as the result of a decision.
The expression on the face is excellent because it's not caricatured in any way. It's a simple hint of emotion that conveys the idea that a suicidal person is internalising their thoughts and emotions and oblivious to the wider world for just a moment. Their depressed state may well be related to people but the decision and the moment is theirs alone. In the selfish act they are on their own.
And I too know that selfish and extremely tragic act personally. I lost someone close to me when I was 12. It was a very hard thing to accept for those of us who were left behind.
What else works about the image? The lighting is very good. I like hte limited but harsh lighting and the equally harsh shadows. I like the hard texture of the wall behind. I like the way that there is nothing much to focus on other than the moment itself.
A really well executed study of a difficult issue.
I went looking for this image after the challenge ended. I gave you a 9, and think you should have ended up much higher than 92 - especially after reading your thought-provoking comments. Please stick around at DPC, and keep up the good work.
Strong reaction provoked, and that's a good thing. The image "quality" I'd say is much better than 92. I don't think I'm alone in thinking this, and the folks who rated this higher than 7 or 8 would agree. It's too bad there were also plenty of people who obviously were either BLIND or couldn't get passed their own filters to see the image as a good image, and the topic as a provoking but VALID topic.
Yessssssss! Excellent. Love the lights and darks, the title, and the fact that the photo is--unlike the many at which I've gazed--on target. . .decisions. YES!
Nice photo. It's not a decision though, suicide is most often a cry for help, so while well shot and powerful, for me it doesn't so much suggest a decision, at least not from the perspective of individual going through it.
I think this would be even better if the focal point were on the man's face rather than on the back wall. But I do think the stark lighting fits the subject well.
It really would've really been a great photo without the gun, because the gun is so fake in my opinion, nobody decides to kill himself in front of a camera. It just doesn't look right to me, but I love your lightening and B&W. 6
Nice picture that meets the challenge. Technically very good. But, I just don't like picture of people killing themself, we are seing lots here. I still give the pic a 6 for technical qualities and meeting the challenge.
Second suicide picture ive seen in this one so far. Yours is technically better but I think the other one was more interesting to me. Good picture though.
Beautifully captured...amazing detail. Sad, too. I'm sure you've heard this - DON'T DO IT! I care! People care! The world is good - well, sometimes...some people...sigh.
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