The Image: These are my dad's 80 year old arms. He is a sprightly 80 year old and he is a willing model. I should use him more often. I wrote the number on with a sharpie texta pen and used window light and my trusty 50mm 1.8. Dad is Italian and not jewish, so this was obviously a staged image for the challenge. He did live through the war in southern Italy and came to Australia 59 years ago this month. He is a great dad and sacrificed a great deal for us working hard to secure a future for his family.
The Edit: I grayscaled, duotoned, levels, USM, contrast, dodge and burn, changed the colour balance, sharpened and blurred. In the end I wanted a punchy contrast in the image. Duplicated a layer for linear burn and pulled back opacity.
Prediction: Haven't been close lately. Not going to guess :) Hopefully people will be moved as I find this an emotive image.
[Sep. 19th, 2008 01:45:21 AM]
Comments during Challenge: Currently at 6.9910 which is nice...I don't think it will ribbon as there are some great images in this challenge. I hope people will understand that this was not a Jewish person's arm, but a staged image, like most of our images are. I wanted to convey the drama of these numbers and the poignant imagery they represent. Thanks for the votes, faves and comments so far.
Post: My dad is going to be so happy that this ribboned. I am so proud of him.
Apologies to people who felt ripped off that this was staged, but I wanted to convey an emotion and remember something historically significant and poignant and I think I achieved that. While I was thinking about numbers, my mind went to this, so I had to be creative. Anyway, not apologising for it...I am proud of this image.
Statistics
Place: 2 out of 126 Avg (all users): 7.0526 Avg (commenters): 8.4167 Avg (participants): 6.9286 Avg (non-participants): 7.1429 Views since voting: 8601 Views during voting: 308 Votes: 133 Comments: 55 Favorites: 12 (view)
Ok, I'm a little disappointed your model wasn't a real Holocaust survivor. It removes some of the impact for me. However, as a Jew, I'm very much in favor of anyone who creates imagery that helps the world remember the horror. Congrats, Enzo!
Generally speaking I would tend to agree with Jeffrey. However since I didn't see this until now I didn't confuse it for anything that it's not. It is a very convincing portrayal of historical significance and a well photographed one at that. Congrats on your red!
Staged? Sure but it doesn't lessen its impact for me. I love the editing you've done here: it really adds drama to the shot and the placement of the hands works really well.
Just brilliant - am only sorry I didn't think of it as I know some 'real' survivors, but they are getting fewer on the ground each year.
I'm pretty sure Spielberg didn't use genuine victims or even exclusively jewish people when he made Schindlers List. It was the message that was important then ...as now....never forget! Thank you.
Ok, I'm a little disappointed your model wasn't a real Holocaust survivor. It removes some of the impact for me. However, as a Jew, I'm very much in favor of anyone who creates imagery that helps the world remember the horror. Congrats, Enzo!
So much story in those hands. Starting with the horror, but continuing to show that with strength, people can overcome that to have a marriage and a long life. And the hands could belong to anyone, so it tells the story of all survivors, not just this particular one. On top of that, the shot is lit and composed well. Thanks for sharing this!
Hard to comment on this. As a photo, I like the way the eyes are drawn to the hands first and then see the horrible number second. Nice tones, nice lines. 8
HOLOCAUST: The Irremoveable Nightmare
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