Body language, a photo from Geneva, West

Photographer's Note

Dancing in a night club is a social act. Dancing in the street, is a way of passing a message to people, an expression of a tribal status or simply the building of a group identity.

But what leads someone to dance in a hidden corner of a park, alone, with almost no one watching him? The eyes closed, each note and each rhythm running through every single inch of one’s body. The feeling of absence goes far beyond a simple status of nihilism.

May that be called ballet or smurf. You quit the earth through the steps you take. Lucky are those who can do it.

rudymalou, RGatward, Isabelle, elroyie, MKING, phd, Burnham, ale, robiuk, jrzufferey, smael, Edwin ha puntuado esta nota como útil.

Critiques | Translate

rudymalou (800) 2004-06-03 6:25

nice shot (bw is a good choice), great expression and your comment is interesting

RGatward (20108) 2004-06-03 6:26

This latest phase of yours with portraits is turning out very well. Good PoV and timing, the foreground looks a bit washed out though, could ou dropped it a little.

elroyie (2750) 2004-06-03 6:36

Very good catch and very good B/W version. The composition is very good, the bags at left frame give a good balance.

phd (177) 2004-06-03 6:38

Good framing, the bag in the lower left corner gives information about the context, and gives some balance to the picture too.
Your comment is indeed very good.

MKING (3054) 2004-06-03 6:39

Great play with shape and form-- just like your subject here one can step out of reality for a little while and look at this one very abtractly. The dancer stands out from the foliage behind him very well and, along with the tree to the far left, offset the horizontal lines of the pavement and the wall behind him. Well seen, well photographed, but most of all, a well documented slice of life.

Burnham (2428) 2004-06-03 9:08

Wow, you took a great picture of a unique scene, he looks so concentrated and at peace, it seems he been dancing like that for a while, since you can see him sweating. Thanks for sharing.

elihesamian (26149) 2004-06-03 11:11

Again,great,Gal!
I like it very much,excellent compositin here you managed.well done!you captured him in nice moment.You did great.

ale (1819) 2004-06-03 12:16

Hi Gal,
another beautiful example of your new style!
I like the pov and the contrast in this shot, and of course the position of the man, very well seen!

robiuk (10807) 2004-06-03 15:04

As many other in the series, this photo is an excellent example of simple, yet strong capture of daily life - 'park life' to be precise.
Wonderfully captured light both on the subject and around (including the background).
Nothing acts distracting as my view is firmly fixed both to the dancers arms and feet in full movement and his posture.
At first I didn't even realised there's another person behind him - farther in the background!
Trees behind form a lovely scenery and I can almost imagine sitting somewhere indoors watching him performing on the stage - does HE think he's on the stage as well? ;-D

jrzufferey (7305) 2004-06-03 15:13

Tu es vraiment le maitre du N&B ça me rappel les heures de labo avec mon vieux 6x6. Somptueux. Amicalement/jr

smael (2878) 2004-06-03 17:28

Great note and a pretty good picture!
Still they don't match eachother IMO...
Firstly I taught it was a man dancing for money, after reading your note it came out opposite. I wish you did underline where HE'S at; maybe by using some "experimental" twist like long shutter and flash to freeze his motions, panning or motion blur...
It's a bit too "straight-on" to give me the emotion in your note...

Terje

manny (22032) 2004-06-04 4:30

Cool...the picture and your subject. The BW tone makes the picture more powerful in tems of impact and message. Good shot.

lost (694) 2004-06-04 7:01 [Comment]

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Edwin (188) 2004-06-08 9:12

I really like your B/W series of people, you seem to have a great eye for the right moments to 'shoot' people ;-)
Love this, and regarding the compo I think it was very wise to include his ghetto blaster and bag, it makes it a very complete and interesting daily life documentary picture. Excellent work Gal! Congrats!