In A World Of Their Own

[seamus finn]

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[Rob C]

In a way, the background action is more telling than the fore. All those cameras... just like the Ali funeral on another thread about the 'future' of photogaphy. Where the hell are we headed?

Rob

[stamper]

A lot to take in and it is pleasurable to look at.

[RSL]

A great shot, Seamus. It's a perfect example of what I said in "On Street Photography": "Unlike landscapes, Ansel Adams's "Half Dome" for instance, people change, and it's not just their surroundings and the way they dress that change. Their attitudes toward life change, and really good street photography can give later generations a revealing glimpse at the attitudes and the outlook of their forebears."

This is a "really good street photograph." I look at this picture and wonder whether or not later generations will see the huge detachment from our surroundings and the people around us generated by automation and our "devices." I wonder whether or not we'll ever come back down to earth.

[drmike]

Hang on Russ. One person is on the phone, several people seem to be looking at printed matter and in the far distance it's hard to tell but they look like the usual crowd.

I'm not disagreeing with you that people seem to be happy to detach themselves from their surroundings using moderb technology but I don't this photograph illustrates that. I too  find it mildly depressing that someone would walk down the street headphones on and perhaps looking at their phone rather than hearing life around them and lifting their eyes to see what the world has to offer today. Every day is different, even the same old street you walk every day.

Mike

[stamper]

The guy in the glasses - second from the right - looks as if he has seen it all and despairs at the chaos around him. This is the second or third time looking at the image and there seems to be something else to see each time. A first class street scene.

[RSL]

The guy in glasses. . . isn't that the guy from HCB's picture of the bullfight officials in "Valencia, Spain?"

[RSL]

Hang on Russ. One person is on the phone, several people seem to be looking at printed matter and in the far distance it's hard to tell but they look like the usual crowd.

Hi Mike, I didn't say they all were on devices. I suggested that being surrounded by devices has helped lead us to the kind of detachment I see on that bench.

[muntanela]

The girl on the left is glancing  at the photographer, and smiles..