Classic Shot, nice atmosphere!

Contrast, composition, subject all work. Particularly like halo glow to her hair offsetting head from black window behind. Nice use of wide-angle lens and framing. Was this shot set up or candid? Either way it's quite wonderful...but like to know for future use. (~_~)

I can feel the air, can listen the sounds, would taste the lights through the photo. Serene yet powerful one that might wakes up those that are not here and now.

beautiful b&w photo. a masterpiece!

Bravo Daniele, questa è la mia favorita in un folder di grande bravura. I miei più sinceri complimenti ! Adelio

Interesing textures and a nice cool feel. The radiating patterns in the tiles are interesting and nice. Not dead center composition, not off on the edges either, the child is placed comfortably in the frame. The background may be a little sharper than I'd like but I can't be too sure. Some of the fun of this shot is the whole overall scene and the moods it is able to convey. If I may complain about one thing, the childs head. It is just a big black blob on top of her shoulders which really doesn't work for me. Its obvious she's not a silhouette because there is some texture to the rest of her, but her head has become a black spot which doesn't fit for me. At first I didn't notice it but when i did it was all I could look at for a bit.

Daniele, congratulations on having this photograph selected as Photo of the Week! I think you must be setting a record for achieving this so soon after having become a member, and this might be the first POW that was actually submitted in the previous week.

I agree with the elf on the composition, with the pavement bricks almost forming waves that lead the eye to the girl and the drain grate, which are clearly at the focal point of the image, with the cross as a secondary focal point. The lines of the building and the bicycles strengthen the composition further. The tonality is also quite pleasing with the high contrast contributing to the surrealism of the image.

However, on the down side, I feel that this photograph delivers less meaning and emotional impact than it promises on first glance. What is the idea behind this photograph? What is the significance of the girl standing next to the grate? I am left wondering what it is all about.

[Added later: Michael Walter's interpretation (appearing below) of the drain as the gate of hell, with the girl torn between it and the cross, is quite intriguing, and I must admit didn't occur to me. I would be very interested in hearing from the photographer on the intended interpretation. Or is the photograph just a set of mysterious elements upon which the viewer is expected to impose a meaning? ]

The idea is there, and it's an excellent one, but this looks very much like one of the failed captures. The girl's head clashes with the window and disrupts the entire balance of the right half, making it look incredibly unbalanced and stiff. It's terribly heartbreaking to get so close and fail, but that's part of the process. Unfortunately, this week's elf couldn't spot the difference between a preparatory sketch and a successfully completed work.

First, congrats for the PoW. A couple of things that IMO keeps this from being a top notch photo: A) carl mention the girls head is really dark, must be the backside. B) I'd like to see this a little larger. Composition is really good, as is the lighting and overall exposure. A little darkroom work to lighten her head area a tad. One thing I'd disagree with carl is I like to see a little more detail, sharpness in the background; also, same for the ground and manhole cover ,IMO , would benefit on being shrper.

Nice work... Now on to look at the rest of your folder.

I like the elements within the frame here, the cross and the bicycles, but the lack of detail in the shadows is culling the Photograph of any narrative. I think we are losing too much visual information because of the darkened tones. Is the little girl looking at the cross or the cycle rack?

Is there a supposed commentary here on the childish life of a little girl, or are we really just looking at a stylish working of shapes and tone?

I think this picture raises more questions than it answers, and not questions on the nature of childhood or religion, but questions of artistic intent.

What is this picture about? Why can't I clearly see the profile of the little girl,and what is she looking at?

Stylistically sound but the content suffers from an overcooked approach.

Congratulations and welcome to photo.net

It's the back of her head, she is looking expectantly or curiously or hesitantly to see what is around the corner. Great shot.

This image is fascinating me! I feel like rewinding a videotape slowly: all movements, the time itself, being reversed… I don't fully understand jet the picture, there's not only the composition, but more what this composition wants to communicate: a sort of contradiction, a tension, something that is reversed, I don't know precisely.

Some people here will maybe say to me "If you don't understand it jet, why do you write this comment?". I do it because I already have read a comment classifying this picture as "one of the failed captures", saying also that "It's terribly heartbreaking to get so close and fail", etc. Here's something unconventional, something challenging our capacity to built new significance. There's not a conventional aesthetically and/or technically challenge. Classic criteria of judgement are failing here - better forget them!

Fortunately most people liked this picture (the closest to what I felt being J.O. Kim - comment no. 3 from the top - very well synthesized and beautiful expressed).

Now, as I have a week in front of me, I'll think very well to the message this picture sends, and I'll come back here later with my understanding. Meantime I won't respond to retorts.

Daniele, I've looked to your other pictures and I felt thoroughly maturity in almost all you've made. Thank you for sharing your work with us. It's great. Thanks.

Back, sooner than I expected, but not with a complete understanding of this picture, just with an idea: apparently the composition is a divergent one. But looking deeper, it seems that it's a convergent composition. Only that the point of convergence is not a figurative one: you won't find it neither in the picture, nor outside in an imaginative extension of this picture. The convergence point seems to be a virtual one, something like a memory: another image in another moment of a past (and why not a future) time. And there's the light in the composition that sends this message.

A great image, loaded with emotion and intrigue. I especially like the very dynamic composition, where the eye originally wants to go forward from the girl, but then bounces back hard into the cross and bicycles. The soft light behind the girl further adds to the mystique. Excellent photo and bravely done.

I don't know, but i feel very sad looking this picture (sorry my bad english)

Competent technique, but artistically? Pretentious, hackneyed, seen it a million times before. Yawn.

I think this is more than just competent technique, it is full awareness of a setting and what it can say. There are many people on this site with competent technique, but few photos this complete. I disagree that it is almost there, I think it as made it all the way.

The scene with the gothic cross on the wall, with the bikes cued in reverence, with the girl poised at the precipice between salvation and the unknown of the dark portal to hell, and she looks curiously into the dark window at some ill-formed object, without changing her posture, is masterful. I can almost hear the voices calling from beneath the street.

I think it speaks volumes and is beautifully executed, posed or not. I don't mind that it is sort of in your face and pretentious.

Congrats.

In contrast to some of the other comments posted, I don't find this photo pretentious, or lacking in artistic style. Photos of children have been done before. Photos of desolate streets have been done before. Photos of both in near infinite permutations have been done before as well. Does this negate the value of this shot?

To argue that a photo is pretentious is to say that it attempts to mean or say something beyond its stature. I don't think this is the case here. In my eyes, this is a very well done photo that can mean many things to many people. The lack of detail in her face/head/pose adds to the subjectiveness and allows one to interpret it as they see fit.

The blue tone also adds to the photo. Had it been rendered a stark b/w, it might have lost some of the child like perspective that the photo seems to project. At various glances, it appears foreboding due to the isolation of the child, at other times, it appears less sinister, due to the placement of the bikes in the background, and the street pattern and layout evoking a playground type environment.

Some photos tell a story (war journalism as an example), others require imagination to create a story...I think this photo is in the latter category. The photographer made no dramatic claims to exemplify "ART", simply titling the photo "little girl". Its up to the viewer to place that girl and the photo as a whole in a context that they see fit. More work perhaps, but more interesting to me as a viewer.

Daniele, congrats on the POW. This photo has a lot of mystery to it and everything about it contributes to that. So much mystery in fact that so many are trying to see in it things that just aren't revealed. That's why it IS mysterious! (For those who want all the answers in every photo perhaps they should look at a Sears catalog where every face is well lit and looking at the camera with detailed descriptions for every photo) The child's lack of facial detail is not a problem in this context and in fact I like it as is. The level of contrast and even the blue tone adds to the feeling of this image. While the pose of the little girl is not the usual "Kodak moment" I don't really see what is so unusual about the composition. It's actually quite basic which gives it it's strength and the deep tones and facelessness of it draws us into it wondering what it's all about. Interesting how some have deciphered the "symbols" even though there may be nothing more here than a good photo opp taken advantage of. If I had been there I would have just clicked the shutter, said "thank you" to the young model and gone on to checkout the buildings. Hidden meanings? Perhaps Daniele will come forth with the meanings to the riddles if in fact there are any. Until then maybe we could all just comment on what we DO see and not speculate so much on what we don't.

About the sharpness that some are looking for, this small jpeg weighs in at 48KB. Just how sharp to you expect it to be? I can tell even at medium size that the original has plenty of sharpness to it. If you want to see it sharper BUY a print. Maybe Dani could post some prices...

I don't like this shot. The way the head breaks the line of the window is irritating and although the lighting has been thought out, it just isn't interesting. It certainly wouldn't grab my eye in an exhibition.

I love this picture!! It has atmosphere, composition, nice lighting... everything you can expect of a PoW. Congrats!!

This is a beautiful shot conveying a strong feeling of lonliness. The empty street. The girl looking off the frame. The row of bicycles that seems to emphasize the idea that other children are missing. (Could this be an orphanage?)

As far as the girl's head contrasting with the window, I disagree that it detracts from the photo. The darkness behind her head draws my eye to highlights around her hair. Without it, I don't think she would stand out as much against the detail of the brick wall.

I also like the image dark. I don't need to see the expression on the girl's face to get the emotion from this picture. Her expression, obviously, is not the subject of this photo.

The only criticism I have are that the photograph appears "milky" overall, and especially towards the left side and bottom of the frame. Perhaps it is slightly out of focus, or it's been manipualted to emphasize the contrast. Whatever it is, with all the interesting textures, I want to see more detail. Maybe it's there, but the image is too small to see it.

...and that's enough for me.

I don't see the photographer making an attempt at an obvious statement. Nor do I see any particular clash or unworkability between elements.

Instead there is a riddle, a puzzle, we are invited to explore. Did the photographer create this problem, or merely capture it for us?

From that context I find any supposed technical flaws irrelevant.

I do like the blue tone and the mood it provokes and the brick patterns and shapes are pleasing to my eye. I also feel that the girl's head breaking the frame of the window is not working here. In addition, because the child is standing there at the manhole cover - it becomes an important prop in the image. It shouldn't be a focus of my attention - but it is due to where she is standing. If it were not there I'd like the photo much better.

I tried to stay away from commnets on POW, but couple of last ones were not exactly what I would choose for POW.

This one is too contrasty for my taste, if there would be some highlights, they would be lost and what should be +1/2 over middle gray is detail lacking white already, what suppose to be -1/f below mid-gray is already black.
It is not big enough to see details and to see if it would stand up when enlarged to poster size.

Graphically nice photo, but technically lacking I would say.

Really nice work. It makes me remember the work of Carlo Montuori in Vittorio De Sicca's "Ladri di biciclette" (1948). It represents something what we used to call neorealism. I will rate it at 7/8. (well I don't usually rate, only something worth of rating will be rated.) P.S. The presence of bicycles in the photo and the title of the movie (The Bicycle Thief) is purely coincidental, as to this opinion.

There's much I like about this image. The atmosphere, the location, the subject matter, the composition.

Dave and others... you decide. Take a look at the author's "Little Girl 2" (http://www.photo.net/photodb/photo?photo_id=659255); is she the same little girl on this image?

Once in the moment, or act of creation, and again inside the head of the viewer. It seems there are many questions inspired by this image, and therein lies it's value. That you inspire so many comments about it's "meaning" and force negative criticism to reach for technical issues, indicates a valid contribution to the discussion surrounding the "art" of photography, rather than the craft of print making or image reproduction.

Congratulations on your ability to (1) recognize and record this particular moment, and (2) to prepare it for presentation in such a challenging manner. Photo.net critique needs more images that inspire questions of interpretation and mystery to contrast with the many questions about color balance and lighting ratios. Very well done (and a big thanks to the photo.net editors who chose this image)... t

Mr. Nance's contribution above, shows the peril in being critiqued (criticised?) by photographers. It is also a pitfall many of us face when we strive to impress our fellow photographers, rather than concentrate on making powerful images.

This sort of criticism is a more valid insight into Mr. Nance's view of photography rather than any critical observations or appreciation of the work (as he says).

It is a debate that interests only photographers (I'm not sure why) and those who collect photography for academic reasons, rather than for aesthetic ones. I can only wonder how this same criteria might apply to other art forms, when contemplation of "real world" conditions inspires artwork that is wholly fabricated from the memory and experiences of the artist. Do they just "imitate" life?. I think they interpret it, and this interpretation or re-creation (if you will) requires as much skill as "capturing", but a different sort of skill... t

Whether this is posed or found, or a candid of a companion, makes no difference to me.

The skill of a Photographer should not only be judged by their ability to capture the world as it is found, but also by the way in which it is interpreted with their camera, posed or otherwise. Remember Robert Doisneau's famed 'Baiser de l'hotel de ville' (the kiss shot) well that was entirely set up, but shot in the style of a fleeting moment.

I still think that althought the above picture contains some wonderful elements; the cross, the little girl, and the architecture. As it stands it simply cries out for something a little stronger to tie these pieces together, something stronger than a dark little girl who's face is obscured and who's position within the frame is questionable.

Great composition and interesting elements that hang together well. However, the total lack of detail in the head irritates me. Instead of looking like a shadow that has substance in it, it looks blotted out. Also if we could see a little texture in the head, we would immediately realize where she is looking. As it is, it's a bit difficult to read. The image appears to be seriously underexposed.

wonderful shot - i personally like the lack of detail as it adds to the mood and nuances of this shot. the toning is wonderful, the composition is compelling, and i love the girl's back to the viewer, inviting us to look further and discover

In a way, the composition is traditional: the girl and the cross are roughly 1/3 & 2/3 of the way across the image. The "torn between church and the abyss" seemed a bit too obvious to me, but some people didn't get it, so maybe not :-)

I'm hesitant to criticise the tonality, since the jpegification seems to really hurt low-key shots like this. Yes, more light on the girl would have been nice, but without a lighting crew...

Now the intent/candid thing. It seems odd to me that people give greater credit to a photo which is a) the result of artistic intent rather than chance, and b) candid rather than posed (ie chance rather than intentional). If I was deciding whether to give the photographer a job, I might want to know how likely he was to be able to re-create an image like this, but if I just want to admire the image, I don't care. Is a sunset less beautiful for being the chance interaction of planetary alignment and atmospheric particles?

Similarly, if the photographer is sufficiently skilled to make a staged photo look like "a slice of life" (and I'm not using it for forensic purposes) again that's fine by me. Others may wish to judge the achievement against some set of rules (no cropping, candid, Tri-X, whatever) but in the end any set of rules is arbitrary. Personally I don't see the value in reducing photography to a game, but others may (and will :-) disagree

The question of whether the photo is candid or posed is like thinking of photography as a sport rather than an art.

This is a nice photo, but I guess that I don't understand all of the conjectures (orphanages, gates to hell etc.) in the comments above. I think that the composition is OK but it would have been more interesting shot more from the right, getting the girls head away from the window and toward the cross. As for sharpness and detail, I can't tell because the image is so small, a larger sample would have been better. Also, at least on my monitor, it is a bit too dark for my taste but I seem to see lots of that in the latest "high art" photo magazines.

Remember Robert Doisneau's famed 'Baiser de l'hotel de ville' (the kiss shot) well that was entirely set up

Yes, but it's the random spectacled beret wearing passerby that makes that photo for me.

Posed shots are now bad, are they? Whether a picture is posed or not shouldn't be at all relevant.

But on with POW....I like this one a lot. A little contrasty perhaps, but I love the variety of lines in this picture (cobblestones, windows, brickwork, manhole), the timeless quality of the child's clothing and the crucified Christ. A lovely, lonely picture.

Don't quite know what it's trying to say, and it doesn't quite work, but who cares?

I really enjoy this photography because of how the tones make up the mood. Tri-X are great films for portraiture like this. The burning around the edges really makes you eye go to the girl first then pan around at the environment. I like when there is priority of the subjects of how important each one is. It seems as though you have them in order. Great!

Great Tones...Great Textures...Great Image! Congrats on POW.

hmm. I like this photo. Fits right into those that make me want to take more photos. I didnt read the caption info but then again I like to think of the photos out of context first and then see what you were getting at later on( kindof like watching tv with the volume off) Great final image and composition. NIce work.

Whether a photo is posed or not is essential in some contexts, and irrelevent in others. One problem with the POW is that there's no context. I don't think this is being presented as unposed, though, so I don't care. <p> Here again we have a photo I might like better if I saw it larger. I don't know. I mostly wonder what the girl is looking at. The window behind her, it looks like, but that makes me want to see it too, and I can't. Maybe that's the intention of the photographer, or maybe it's an artifact of low-res web reproduction.

Well, i think this is a masterpiece...i would like to know if this was just a casual shot even if i think it was carefully planned...The composition is unusual but very effective, lighting is exceptional. I really like it.

This has a feeling of mystery, a surreal placement of elements in the frame. It is able to evoke questions, a wonderful attribute. I agree with Tom (Meyer), it is what is in the picture, not how it was made or what the technical attributes are. That's classroom stuff, this is a photograph.

Regarding "posed vs unposed," I don't think it matters. I find people often think unposed shots of mine are posed and vice versa. It doesn't really matter then, does it?

Posed or unposed? I do think it makes a difference: observation/recognition of something that's occurring and the imagination and construction involved in setting up a shot are completely different things. I don't think that one approach is inherently better than the other, though I do have a preference for the former. Observation is more perfectly a photographic approach.

In the current picture, I can't tell if it's posed or unposed, so it doesn't really matter very much. I like knowing, though, because it's one of the things that helps me understand a picture or a photographer. (There are gradations between posed and unposed, of course.)

I like this picture, but I don't think I would have pulled it aside like this. (Are the POW's getting less provocative so as to generate less controversy and name-calling, or is it just me?)

Love the tones in this, almost metallic, as if she is a metal statue. Cold and dreamlike, it is left fully to the imagination as to what will happen next, and what has already taken place. This is much more than a single frame, it is a moment caught within a series of events past and future.

Posed? Who cares! In so many other art forms (painting, sculpture, architecture, musical scores) everything is worked out ahead of time to achieve a final result. Somehow, this is sometimes looked down upon in photography. Of course, a landscape photographer will wait hours on end for the right moment in time; in fact, the right "pose" of the landscape. What difference does it make weather a great composition is created by moving the camera's field of view OR moving subjects around within the frame? Either way, it's the result that counts and this one really works!

Old church/court yard. Young Girl. Alone. Looking Away - Tentatively. Where are the Others? Go or Stay? Anticipation or Dread. I assume the photo was/is meant to be thought-provoking not a drill for exact reproduction.

And that's the goal of any photograph, to take you into the scene and make you wonder. I love this photograph and I wonder what the little girl is looking at, or what she is thinking.

Breathtaking and a deserving of POW.

On my 2048x1536 screen, it looks like a stamp. Great lighting and contrast, but not sharp(both foreground and background) even at such a small size.

The girl stands outside the circle of light. She faces the darkness. Does she gaze through or into the circle of light? More specifically, is the crucifix-covered wall illuminated directly?

The lower portion of the wall appears to be illuminated directly; however, the upper portion of the wall (the area containing the crucifixes) appears to be just above direct illumination, placing it in a somewhat darker region.

Assuming that the crucifixes are outside the light (or at least contained within their own darkness): the girl looks beyond the direct (e.g., true) light and toward a lesser light. Consequently, she faces darkness.

Assuming that the entire wall is illuminated directly: the girl is looks into, not through, the true light. Why then does her body face the darkness.

Is she damned either way? Interesting.

i could start at this all day. wonderful work.

Of course I don't care about this question to judge the image, or to decide whether I like it or not... If one cares, I would tend to believe, that it can be for 2 reasons: 1) Simple curiosity (academic or in order to learn something); 2) People prefer what's " real " than what's set up, because they want to believe in the magic they see.

Are we asking a dream to be reality ? Should we ?

For any other matters pertaining to the composition of the photo etc, I believe what we all need to do is to read what Chris Battey wrote about it, then frame this POW and leave it on our walls. It is a nice image, but after a while, I bet all of us would honestly see a missing link that could have made it a really great photograph.

E' bella da invidiare... complimenti anche per tutte le altre!

I enjoy the feel of this picture. I'm not sure I can successfully read into the symbolism of the composition (girls turns her back on the cross? girl has the cross behind her while she contemplates crossing the hole over what's beneath?), nor should any attempt to do so on my part be of any real significance.

Photographically, however, there are some real strengths in the lighting and in the composition, with a mix of static and dynamic elements. Her position in the frame but looking right adds dynamic tension, and the various textures/patterns of the walls and stones in the street give us a sense of place while keeping open areas from being blank spots.

I agree that there's not a lot of range in the tones here, which renders the image more dreamlike than dramatic. The compressed tonal range doesn't bother me too much, but I do think it's a weakness with regard to the child's head. I don't wish we saw her face, but I do wish there were a little detail. My sense of Daniele's intentions requires that her anonymity be preserved, but a touch more detail wouldn't challenge that. It's hard for me to get beyond the black hole of the subject.

Overall, a neat, timeless feel to a shot that has elements any of us can identify with in one way or another.

Enjoy.

this image really speaks to me... makes me want to return to Italy... i love the atmospheric blue/black feeling this shot has, and the many possible stories it lets the imagination run with.... thank you for sharing your vision :-)

I can't emotionally access this shot. Perhaps because its too dark with too much contrast and not enough detail / information. As well the blue conveys an artificial feeling rather than any emotion. It leaves me cold, which may be the intent, but at the expense of no interest, and no emotion. I do admire the imagination of some of the above commentators in their attempts to give the picture meaning. I can't make the jump - there is nowhere to go.

I ABSOLUTELY Love your photography!!! Not just this one, but ALL the ones on this site. Hurry and get your homepage up so I can more of you!!!

What can I say? It is wonderful, wonderful! Congrats!

Minus one point for such a small image, but otherwise a nice photo.

Too dark. Too small. I haven't got a clue what the elves mean by "unusual composition" except if they mean so bland as to be unusual. I can't tell whether the face is looking towards the viewers, or away from them. Words like "wonderful", "masterpiece" and "brilliant" (as well as copious supplies of exclamation marks) must have been on "special" down at the word market this week. What are you going to say when you see a REALLY unusual photograph, fellas?

This particular POW really caught my eye when I first saw it, and I have enjoyed looking at it for the last couple of days.

Is it deserving to be chosen for POW of the many thousands of pictures on photo.net. Yes.

Does it create a mood and a feeling, does it make people think, and comment, and stir their imagination. Yes.

Did the photographer think carefully about the picture, about its composition, contrast, color cast? Yes.

Without apology, I find this inspiring work has succeeded in every way. I look forward to seeing more of your talent, Daniele. Congratualations on a wonderful, captivating masterpiece. I hope that is hung on your wall.

Peter Christoph

Simply put, though I don't personally find this composure much more than a well 'exposed' shot, the responses surrounding it certainly contribute to it's successful allure. So many interpretations for a shot of a child facing away from the camera offcenter and facing the tension side of the image... conflict, negative space, contrast - argumentively these all compete against most 'norms' of composition but here they work. The tension generated by the placement of this child (abeit her innocent dress) provide questions as to her (or the photographer's) intent. I don't care for the image overall but only because it does not get a response from me... I don't see anything that provides theme, subject or point of focus... it's all interpretive... these are the things that make museum displays.

Congrats.

I like this photograph because, to me, it defines simplicity. And though the little girl appears to be the focus of photographer, one's eyes cannot help but be drawn to the doll lying on the street near her, abandoned for the moment.

it could have happened like this; (maybe not but it COULD have...)

photographer: "ok little girl, stand over there and look at me. Now I want a BIG smile ok?"

little girl: "no! I'm tired of taking these stupid pictures!"

photographer: "Please? Just one more and then we'll be through...ok?"

little girl: "I said NO!!! I'm tired and I want some fries. You said I could have some fries!"

photographer: "We will get some fries, just ONE more picture and THEN we'll go get some fries...ok?"

little girl: "I want some fries NOW! (throws down doll in the street)

photographer: "Ok young lady, pick up that doll or no fries for you!"

little girl: (looks away from camera and says nothing)

photographer: (oh great, it's starting to rain now!)

photographer: takes photo, grabs little girl and says; "You can forget those fries now, were going home"

little girl: "I want my doll!"

sometime later...

elf 1: "dude, check this out! POW for sure!"

elf 2: "right on dude! We're done. Let's go get some fries, I'm starved!"

I think a lot of us may be interested in hearing from the photographer.

(Perhaps it WAS it the french fry thing?)

For me the thing that really adds the interesting compositional balance in the circle of the manhole cover within the square brick outline. Nice.

Very nice picture! Yes the manhole cover really adds to the picture. When i first went to the photo's of the week page i saw where this picture was supposed to be and it wasnt there. i placed my mouse over it and it said "little girl". Which is a name for one of my pictures. I thought "did my pic get photo of the week??!!!" but i looked at the picture and this one is VERY nice! the composition and the way the center is bright but the edges are dark really adds to the photograph. NICE WORK! Take a look at some of my pics!

Bravo! complimenti per la foto

very good