Adam Hemphill
Chronicle (Willimantic, CT)
Eastern Connecticut State University
Shadowed by a mural identifying his location, 15-year-old Irving PÈrez sets up a shot Thursday afternoon (May 5, 2005) during a game of pool. While the Willimantic Teen Center, located on Prospect Street, is a popular alternative gathering place for young adults like Irving, it is in danger of being permanently shut down due to lack of state funding.
Sometimes in the execution of an idea, photographers can use too much technique. This is one of those cases. In this photo of a teen center, the photographer over lit the background and created an odd juxtaposition of light and dark. At first, I thought the subject was photographed in front of a window but upon closer inspection, I realized that the photographer blasted a strobe upon a painted wall leaving the subject mostly in the dark. As a positive, the illumination of the wall actually casts a very pleasing and moody light upon the subject and creates interesting rim lighting on the billiard balls, but unfortunately, the super bright background overwhelms that subtle side and backlight. Also, the sharp detail of the block windows behind the subject’s head draws attention away from the meat of the photo. As a possible alternative approach, it might have been more effective to let the subject go completely dark and silhouette the pool player against the signage.
As for content, this photo relies too heavily on words to make its point. We, as photographers, tend to give our viewers too little credit in the deciphering of an image’s meaning. We need to give them just enough information to let them figure out what a photo is about and avoid hitting them over the head with the message. Except in very rare instances, words in photos are crutches used by lazy photographers.
I do like the fact that the photographer is attempting to be creative with the lighting. The craft of photography is learned by trial and error. Although this falls on the side of error, this exercise in lighting will make the photographer better prepared for the next go around.
