HOME | DD
cweeks —
a sad evening 4 xmas shopping
Published: 2004-12-10 22:43:57 +0000 UTC; Views: 18472; Favourites: 273; Downloads: 5954
Redirect to original
Description
i return to los angeles ... only to find rain.this was actually very early in the evening ... like 5.30p.
was shooting details of a new showroom featuring $60,000 bathtubs and $25,000 stoves for an architectural mag. when i walked up to the location i saw this guy. felt bad for him. alas, there's really nothing i can do for him. as with most of the homeless in santa monica ... they have internal problems that they must face and deal with before they could "really" accept help from any person in society.
this guy had a blank stare. i know he was fretting about a rainy night and no where to sleep.
the showroom i was shooting in had a sign on the door, "no sitting or sleeping in this area." guess that's not the image they wanted.
so i smoked a cigarette and just watched with my 70-200.
what i liked was that the guy was basically in the dark and although rainy there were so many christmas lights and store lights on illuminating the sidewalk and street. saw this happy little family juxtaposed with the dispair ... and knew this was the photo i wanted to make.
canon eos 1d mark 2. 70-200/2.8L. 1/6th second (thank God for Image Stabilizer) at f5.0. 800 iso.
i have two (2) versions. dunno why but the colour works better than a b/w version. i like both but i think for once the colour connoting xmas was good. further, i decided not to shoot wide open as i wanted at least some of the detail of the background to come out. only the homeless guy and the background blown out ... hmm ... not sure i'd like it. shooting at 1/6th ... hmm ... that was a challenge ... but it also allowed some walking movement of the family.
Related content
Comments: 167
I like it, thanks!
___________________Eyewear Daily - Fashion Blog
[link]
👍: 0 ⏩: 0
Almost 6 years ago... wonder where that man could be right now, hm.
Amazing shot, i think i saw your gallery a few months ago (or years, dunno), but just now i'm going over every photo, i love it.
👍: 0 ⏩: 0
Hey 
👍: 0 ⏩: 0
I love this photo.
The colors bouncing off the cement are awesome.
DONT PHOTOSHOP THEM OUT!
This photo works very well, and I love the fact that this man is homeless and he's looking at the family, possibly thinking of his own.
It works well. Very Nice shot.
👍: 0 ⏩: 0
I think that christmas is sad - and this picture is amazing - good job!
👍: 0 ⏩: 0
Loving the colorful reflections on the wet pavement...
👍: 0 ⏩: 0
I love night photos specially on rainy nights. Like the colors and the reflection of the lights on the sidewalk. Nice composition. Sometimes when the photo is not sharp enough looks better. Love it.
👍: 0 ⏩: 0
'would these look good under the tree? they would be nice wouldnt they'
my mother turns around and sees a woman holding a pair of old really beaten up size 12 mens shoes with a big hole at the end which was filled with card... this woman was homeless, she was in about her late sixties early seventies. She had her trolly with her and she was afraid that people were going to steal from it and kept checking on it every couple of seconds. My mother told her 'they would be lovely'... what really gets me about this is though everyone gets so hyped up over holidays and buying buying buying for loved ones and such. Then there is this woman who has no-one and she is buying herself a present because she has no one to share her holiday with. Oh! I got so upset when I heard that when my mother came back to the car.
sorry for the long comment.
👍: 0 ⏩: 0
Amazing picture. Gave me goosebumps and literally brought tears to my eyes.
👍: 0 ⏩: 0
To be quite honest, most of the time I feel emotionless... But this really touched me, and made me feel really sad... For me, this is an image with not much in the way of aesthetics, but the meaning is so very deep that it far outweighs the need for any aesthetics. I don't know if I'm making sense here, but I just want to say that this really touched me.
👍: 0 ⏩: 1
made me pretty sad as well. hope his next xmas is different!
👍: 0 ⏩: 0
👍: 0 ⏩: 0
yeah when u across X-mas alone is really sucky
👍: 0 ⏩: 0
This is streetshots at its best!! Amazing shot, works on soo many levels. I can feel the man's longing to be young again, back when things were easy and Christmas was a fun time, not a time to worry about freezing to death, or I guess in Santa Monaca, being soaked and misrable. The colors are incredible, the red looks like blood.
👍: 0 ⏩: 1
still this picture is probably better than the pictures you took of the 60,000$ baths....really sad...really
👍: 0 ⏩: 0
This is definitely a brilliant photo, as usual. But if I can add my very humble opinion, since the guy is looking the other way from the camera, I would focus on the family. It could create kind of nice "outline" of him. But that was just my two cents.
👍: 0 ⏩: 0
I like how it's friendly but sad all in the same holiday moment.
👍: 0 ⏩: 0
What a great picture! Lots of feelings to it! Great colors!
👍: 0 ⏩: 0
The reflection of light on the wet cement is great! I also love the detail that can be seen in the photo, such as the suitcase and sneakers.
Boy does this photo bring back memories! I did case management in San Francisco; we (the employees) had to sign contracts stating that we wouldn't give money to any of the clients. It's hard when you see someone you know out on the streets at night though. C'est la vie. We all do the best we can. I will say helping out people like this is one of the most rewarding jobs a person can have, but also can be exhausting emotionally.
👍: 0 ⏩: 0
Wow, even though this is an older picture, I don't think I've ever clicked on this one before. This is the first time I've seen it. It's very touching. It's such a simple shot, yet it's so meaningful. You captured true emotion here. Amazing work
👍: 0 ⏩: 0
Truth be told...I almost cried in this one. I know I cry way too much about pictures! But still...this one is just as if I was in my old neighborhood, where homeless walk the streets aplenty. Beautiful. Simply beautiful.
thats me
ahhelga
aka Pauline
👍: 0 ⏩: 1
hmm ... thank you!
sorry you cried though.
👍: 0 ⏩: 0
ah, one of my favorite things is light on wet pavement... so sexy.
👍: 0 ⏩: 1
i think color version is better for this one because of the simple fact that u are underlining u like the christmas lights and storewindows lighting the place up as contrast to the dark place the homeless person is in...i think it woulnd't be such an obvious contrast in b&w, because then u loose the "happy color" against the "shadow of a man" effect!
👍: 0 ⏩: 1
hmm ... i guess that's true.
the photo works better in colour ... trust me.
👍: 0 ⏩: 0
impressive composition, only the image is a bit blured.. a bit..
👍: 0 ⏩: 0
Great shot... the theme sort of reminds me of a picture I did, but you captured it far better than I ever could.
[link]
👍: 0 ⏩: 1
very close. i have another ... like ... i was just thinking ... that's the title...
even more similar.
cheers mate!
👍: 0 ⏩: 1
| Next =>