A homeless fellow in Austin, TX. I gave him some change after taking a photo. He returned me a smile. (Not the best for the desolation image, but he isn't having fun out there in 100+ degrees)
Applied some grunge.
---------------------------------------
post-challenge:
The reason I went with such heavy post-processing was to hide the imperfections of the image. It was not to increase the blur on the background (it was pretty blurry originally anyway) but to hide the softness in his face.
Statistics
Place: 83 out of 197 Avg (all users): 5.7092 Avg (commenters): 8.0000 Avg (participants): 5.6136 Avg (non-participants): 5.7870 Views since voting: 4188 Views during voting: 390 Votes: 196 Comments: 12 Favorites: 1 (view)
I already voted a while ago, now I'm back for commenting. I gave this picture a 9. I think it conveys the meaning well. I often wish I was rich enough to gather these people up and create a community for them where they could try to get their self respect back and start over. My other thought is "but for the grace of God, that could be me".
moving picture.
i live in TX, and in Lubbock we don't have very many, but everytime I go down to Austin I see them and can't help but feel sorry for them all.
for some reason, i normally have an automatic knee-jerk reactionary aversion to obviously, overtly political, morally just, message laden photos. which is odd, given the way i am politically. anyway, this, on the other hand, is unique in a number of ways. principally, you haven't just relied on your subject conveying the emotion or message (or getting the votes). your skills as a photographer/artist are evident here, as both pre and post processing is superb. composition is faultless. the post shot treatment works incredibly well, and adds sufficient interest that invites extended viewing. i love the background, the levels of noise, the playing with the dodge / burn tools. this is a great example of PS filters being used to great effect. and your subject himself is subtle to be really effective - the sign, his manner and posture; there is a warmth and a sense of reality here that you don't get from shots of the more unfortunate sections of any population. you feel sympathetic, but hopeful too... it's an excellent capture. last comment; your title. very specific, factual and not remotely condescending or patronising (which is sometimes the case with photos of similar subject matter). all in all a very likeable, moving, stirring image. 10.
Add photograph to your favorites
Add photographer to your favorites
Photographer found comment helpful.
