I really enjoyed coming upon this picture today:

pliskin

I see it like a painting, and find it a very satisfying image.

(I posted this, and Lindy/Artbug left a comment that she liked it too. then it showed up TWICE on the forum page. I tried to delete one of the two topics, and BOTH disappeared. so I'm posting the topic and link a second time.)

yes I did like it ..I thought is was lovely and that some work I had seen like this looked cartoonish but that this had so much depth

Thanks Julia. I like this approach of sharing work that we really love; it gives others an opportunity to see work one may usually miss out on seeing...

ShangriLa, your interesting comments [since deleted] inspire me to elaborate.

Pliskin's 'A Subway Ride Can Be Exhausting' image is beautifully complex. Each of the faces visible in the image have an archetypal quality. the colours in their subtle richness, the echoing of the orange chair and the colours in the advertising above, the vertical poles and the lines of the car ceiling - all of this falls together richly and with a feeling of inevitability.

The blur of the foreground hand holding the paper is a part of the image I have mixed feelings about. that out of focus quality brings the image fully into photographic picture style, and partly interferes with the image. However, the tension is interesting too.

I think this photo reminds me of a style of painting that has itself been influenced by the use of photos as references. I don't know enough about painting to verify or explain this well, but I often feel the presence of photos as reference material in contemporary paintings. so this is like a photo influence by painting that is influenced by photography.

It feels like what works here is much more then a good post processing technique. this work feels 'big' - like an image I could return to many times, look at many times and find satisfaction in. A subway is one of my least favorite places to be, and a place I've spent so much time in as part of my urban life. It can be such a deadened place. this is a human and humanizing image. I feel that the people are seen truthfully and yet gently.

that's a lot of words about the image. i find this a challenge - to talk about a picture.

you raise an interesting question. I have printed so few images of my own - just a handful. and I wondered about that.

ShangriLa, your url is incorrect - you based it on the image editing url instead of the final entry. I think you wanted to show us this. an interesting image. this relates to the phainting/photography combination in a completely different way. I had wondered about this, though: about printing an image in a way that would allow me to literally paint on the image itself. Picture 5 in this set of mine is one I thought of adding paint to. Because I have been working on my own and not had any photography training, I don't know enough about what others have done or are doing with painting, post processing and photography. your comments make me aware I'm missing out on a dialogue, and I would love to go to art school for a while.

photorealism - that's the word I was looking for. thanks.

I like very much your snow fx, Julia. I had not seen that earlier. And I'm so glad you introduced me to pliskin's subway ride, but even happier to follow along as you indicated what you like about it. Helps me to educate my eye and to learn what I like.

Good idea, this. Here's diane varner's technical info on using photoshop to create her unique look. I found it interesting.

I looked at that too! I found her technique interesting and used very beautifully. the photos themselves were impressive, but for me, too perfectly pretty. there is something where pictures can be too beautiful in a way that is safe and not exciting to me. I'm way off topic here.

Julia, thanks for sharing that link that was a cool cool shot

I don't think you're off-topic, Julia. I'm interested in this subject -- how a picture/photo can appear too perfect.

In looking again at Varner's site, I think what really appealed to me initially was her website. Although she makes it a bit tough for her readers by using white text on that sort of semi-army khaki (#3b392D -- what is that color on your monitor?), I like her layout overall.

So, now that I love pliskin's bus and parke harrison's whimsy, what other photographers/ artists? I just discovered that I like Kim Marcucci's acrylic. (Because it's a painting, I realize I am in dangerous territory. But it said something to me when I first saw it, and still does.)

I love the Kim Marcucci acrylic painting on the left in the link you left Jan.. lovely ..I paint some abstract like that myself .. but those were outstanding ...

Hi - You can see more of this kind of work at Dave hill's website. He will knock your socks off, check him out here

Pilskin - I have only had chance to look for a few mins, but Dave Hill's work is very cool - I will have a proper look this evening after work. Thanks for sharing the link.

LastFrontier wrote "I just discovered that I like Kim Marcucci's acrylic."
Did you get to meet any of those paintings in person? I'd love to see them full size in real life. Yes, I really like them too. Thinking: what sort of photos do those paintings inspire you to take?

Pliskin, wow. Dave Hill is a super talented commercial photographer. He's got his style down, and it is obviously bringing him huge success. I see the connection between his technique of post processing and yours. With a few exceptions, his images are super slick - which is intentional and expressive. Your image is not based on an artificial lighting setup or slick, muscled performers, and it has a gentleness and naturalness that I like. so similar and very different.