[manntax]

This is one of the very few photos of a street photography that I ever took.. after some battling I decided to enter this photo into the contest...

I wanted to show an emotion of this old long suffering man who was resting with his crutch on a bench on the side of a busy street. People were passing by and seemed not noticing him at all.
I took 1 photo on which you can see all his appearance but I didn't like it - it was too obvious and ostentatious. I decided to go for a closer shot where I wanted to focus on his face while he was sleeping there. What struck me was the fact that although he was napping - his forehead and eyebrows were lifted like he was going through some excitement or amazement. It got me absolutely hypnotized with all the deep emotions written all over his face so I got really really close...

When I was about to shot I realised that he was slowly waking up !! Imagine how devastated I was while composing as his eyes began to slowly open and they looked like someone's who has blinked in the shot !

I resisted the urge to click and run ( I knew he wouldn't be happy seeing me there !) and waited for his eyes to open wider. As the cobwebs began to clear from his eyes I took the shot above - and literally a split of a second he went ballistic realising that there was a fellow with the camera right in his face ( ok it was maybe 1,5 meters away ) .. so we immediately had to run... When I see this photo I am fully aware that I sort of not only composed the frame but also the look in his eyes. The reality was : had I pressed the shutter a 1s earlier - and his eyes would've been closed while sleeping; would I click 1/4th of a second earlier - and his eyes were half open.. .This was either to NOT have the shot at all ( with him napping with deep emotions all over his face ) - or to wait and get a different look

I know I was a bit naughty back there :P - but I really wanted to talk to the person! Sadly it was not possible immediately after I snapped the shot, so I took a nice sized print of this photo and went in the same place next week - hoping that I would meet him and talk to and hand the print over and somehow clear the air so to speak :P - but sadly I never met him again .

The title is reflecting what I saw in his face while he was sleeping and I am very happy that this photo I eventually took is actually showing all these emotions also through the look of his eyes.

>>-manntax-->

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Last edited by manntax; 05-10-2014 at 03:47 PM. Reason: moved the story behind this shot form one of the posts below up to the OP

[MightyMike]

I nominate this photo, an effective portrait

[r_squared]

Lots of character and mood....I wonder what he is thinking?

[6BQ5]

Nominated! That is very expressive portrait and the texture of the skin and tones in the beard is very broad. Nice!

[manntax]

I nominate this photo, an effective portrait

Nominated! That is very expressive portrait and the texture of the skin and tones in the beard is very broad. Nice!

Thank you guys for the kind words !

Lots of character and mood....I wonder what he is thinking?

EDIT: I moved the story up to the opening post.

>>-manntax-->

[Stan Friedman]

Hope you two cross paths sometime in the near future. I think he might be pleased to see himself as you saw him. Stay thoughtful! I enthusiastically nominate this image.

[manntax]

Hope you two cross paths sometime in the near future. I think he might be pleased to see himself as you saw him. Stay thoughtful! I enthusiastically nominate this image.

I also hope so for that - was actually going to plan a visit to the area and ask for that fellow some of the local people
Thank you for commenting !
--manntax

[Pentor]

Nominated!

[manntax]

Nominated!

Glad you like it - thank you!
--manntax

[Iberia]

I nominate this photo.

Finally a black and white portrait that has not been overprocessed!
You say that you don't shoot street but this is a very fine effort.
I really like the tight composition and the facial expression…it's the kind of image that interests me most.

Cheers,
Ricardo

[manntax]

I am really grateful for your in-depth comment - thank you !! I had an attempt to street photography just after I got the very first digital camera but shortly after that period I somehow got distracted with other things. When I think about it now I realised that having a friend with the camera by my side while wandering streets of London was emboldening me somehow :P - sadly we lost contact shortly after our professional ways got apart. But comments like yours makes me want to go out and try that again - it was a fantastic and enriching experience...
--manntax

I nominate this photo. Finally a black and white portrait that has not been overprocessed! You say that you don't shoot street but this is a very fine effort. I really like the tight composition and the facial expression…it's the kind of image that interests me most. Cheers, Ricardo

[kirkmahr]

This is one of the very few photos of a street photography that I ever took.. after some battling I decided to enter this photo into the contest... enjoy
--manntax

I vote this up! Exceptional shot. The story that goes with it is good too.

[manntax]

I vote this up! Exceptional shot. The story that goes with it is good too.

Thank you for the kind words and your nomination !! --manntax

[Crux]

Nominated great expressive shot.

[sam-joseph]

I nominate this one as a great portrait. Maybe the mods will nominate this one too?

Regards