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September 2011
The story behind it
01/09/2011
Kolkata, India. In the busy streets. The taxi driver is nice and enjoys being photographed. He boasts a shine in his eyes, happy with our conversation and empathy. Our clothes are brown already. There is a smell in the air of combined smoke and fuels that quickly goes unnoticed. I photograph, and photograph again. I communicate, and communicate again. (There is a more complete story on "Photographs with stories behind the lens", on the Oct/08 Issue of FotoDigital Magazine on paper! Title: In the backpack, a gleam in the eyes).Comment
Technical issues
01/09/2011
It results from the digital scan of Kodak 100VS professional slide film. I used one of my preferred lenses, the fixed 24mm. In post-processing, I only resorted to small contrast adjustments and unsharp-mask filtering. These were particularly difficult lighting conditions. The dynamic range is enormous, with the highs outside in the street and the dark shadows in the car and the man's skin. There is an important reflection that helped in the natural lighting - the street light reflected on the taxi's ceiling.Critial review
01/09/2011
This is a photograph that deserves some time for observation. Beyond the centre of visual attention, the gleam in the driver's eyes, there is a context (the studium) with many important details: the family photograph, the horn on the driving wheel, the other taxi outside and the street. The profile line of the driver is well focused, enhanced by the shine from his sweat. This is a photograph with especial lighting, indirectly and subtly coming from the outside. The driver is looking out of the photograph, towards the road ahead. Behind him, in this life-backpack, he has his family and his taxi.Where you should place it
01/09/2011
It should fit in the "travel photography" or "portraits of peoples" category. For that, it would go well in a place where travels and "other" cultures are valued. It has all the quality for a very large print, with best quality. Anyhow, as most, it requires light to shine, preferably localised.
