a photo from perdido.

This is an image from an Occupy Wall Street march in Denver. It was captured using black and white film and my Pentax K 1000. Its composition is definitely questionable, but I think there are some cool things going on. I'll let you find them yourself. Feedback is welcome and criticism is expected.



and for good measure, here is a picture of a masked anarchist doing a double take at a zombie that is eating a cheeseburger.

How...Interesting. Definitely lovin' the cheese-burger-eating Zombie. That just made my day, so thank you for that.

The b/w film does really make the picture look... real. The first picture is of a typical protest atmosphere and I like the composition in it. the faces and the signs and the mood along with the b/w effect give that sort of 'epic' feel.

The second one is quite amusing and the reactions from the passerby and the 'zombie' is really funny.

Nice job! And keep clicking.

Murtuza

Hey there, perdido!
I don't normally critique photography, mostly because I'm photographically challenged myself, but I just had to comment on this. I love your topic. It has a common thread in the masked people, but showing a complete contrast.

So, the first photo:

I don't know if you can do anything about this, but the lighting in the top left corner seems too bright. The tops of people's heads are swallowed by the light.
Now, I'm not sure if I should be giving this as a praise or criticism, but the picture doesn't seem to have a focal point. This is either a) good, because the theme of protesting is a little chaotic and has no center of focus, or b)not so good because there's nothing that really captures the viewer instantly. Personally, I kind of like how nothing stands out, because in a protesting "mob," usually there's a group mentality. I don't know. Maybe I'm reading way too much into this.
I'm really curious about the girl with the tambourine.
See that guy standing between tambourine girl and the guy holding the bandana on his face? See him? I want his hat.


Second photo:
*can't comment at first until the fit of giggling laughter has subsided.*
Oh, where to begin? The zombies expression is hilarious. And no, I can't see the masked guy's face, but it is hysterical as well. You captured a brilliant moment right here.
The fact that the zombie a) is eating a cheeseburger of all things and b) is standing next to a building for rent, makes the whole thing perfect.
Again, the light on the right side is really contrasted to the left, but I like it in this one because it keeps the main attention on the zombie and the anarchist.
This one did catch my attention right away because of the zombie. My eye went immediately there.

Sorry if this wasn't much of a review. I know absolutely nothing about photography, but I wanted to thank you for brightening my day.

-Sea-

Your framing is awful in the first picture, and gives us a level eye view of what is happening so it is moreso documenting rather then photography.

There's a distinct difference between the two. Let me explain:



Matthew Brady (1822 - 1896) is credited as the father of photojournalism, the above is a document of the Battle of Gettysburg (it's a little cut off because I'm too lazy to resize it.). People were incapable of making a distinction between the documentation of the war and photography. In fact, Brady dragged and placed dead bodies of soliders in specific positions to convey a specific mood. Note how lined up the dead are. This dramatically changes how the photo itself should be viewed, not as the captured moment of an event, but an actual photograph.

Next, this:



is Aaron Siskind's "Chicago 30". It's in fact the letter R turned on it's side. It changes the something we percieve easily into something new and interesting. It has us wondering for a moment, while in your photo tells us exactly what it is. There's a certain demand for ambiguity in photos. It's the interest, that room to wonder what, how, who, where etc.

Also, the sepia tone/black and white mix is not quite contrasted enough to make it visually appealing. Black and white works best (even when yellowed slightly) when there's a heavy difference in the picture. You can manipulate that online now, so I recommend you bump up the contrast a bit.

The second photograph made me giggle.

Kamas

yeah I actually had no control over the prints this time, but next time I'm going to print them myself with an enlarger so I can fix a few of those problems. And yeah the composition of that first one is terrible. I'm aware. Also I'm never buying this film again because it came out funny. I'm going back to Ilford. That never let me down

I've never shot protesters before, barely even shot people. I felt really green, so hopefully next time I can get some better shots. I still have more from that day I need to develop