Protest.

[GriNGo]

Around April 2005, my city's middle class populace overthrew the then Ecuadorian president (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lucio_Gutierrez) after a series of large protests that happened over the timeframe of a couple of weeks. My stance was neutral in the dispute, and since I was taking basic photography classes back then, I decided to go & shoot one of the major protests that happened on the night of April 19th. It was interesting experience... but a video camera would have been better to capture the full scale of the protests. Maybe if you search in youtube you'll find news clips of the event, then maybe you won't. Anyways, after this I went to the dark room to process the shots, but somehow i made a mistake in the process and the film got partially ruined (mainly the contrast was lost in the film roll), The red color is due to the scanning of the film strip... it seems the aging process made the film take that color. Here are two of the best shots I could rescue from missrevealing. The first one is called "Untitled". The second one is called "Tear Gas".

[klips]

Yay, I get to be the first troll!

While these images are both emotive of the action, I would not call them finished images. The forum says 'finalised and well presented', and the red wash really makes them more something for photo of the day than finally finished. For good street photography that really should be in here, check out Eazy M's work.

[GriNGo]

I think they are finished because that's the way the negative turned out. I didn't add the red to it, it came out that way from the rool, Digitally unmodified. If making it black & white in photoshop makes them finished, then whats the importance of the color output? in the meantime, let me check out Eazy M's work... EDIT: I tried searching for his work, but I couldn't find it.. can you post a link?

[klips]

Hmmm, I think its a matter of interpretation of the term 'finished'. I was taking it to mean polished work of a very high standard which was how the photographer intended it to be. You have said that there was a problem with the film, making me think that it's not a polished work as you could have made it, and the red wash is not aesthetically pleasing, an important conceptual component or a deliberate inclusion and therefore would disqualify it.

Anyway, if it's how you want it then go for it, I really can't tell you 'this would make it more finished' as it's your work. I'd be interested to see some more work of yours with a more 'traditional' colouring.

Eazym's thread: http://www.conceptart.org/forums/showthread.php?t=69045&page=21

[Mr. Mu]

I think they are finished because that's the way the negative turned out.

That actually supports Klips' point. A negative (or a digital RAW file) is only halfway to a finished photo.
And as Klips correctly guessed the red cast was not a deliberate decision and therefore wondered if you put any thoughts into how you present the photo.

I would therefore like to add to the recommendation to mind a bit of evaluation for each image element so you put a decision behind each of those elements. Will only help to make the image stronger in the end.

[GriNGo]

Thanks for the suggestions Mr. Mu. But I have some doubts: half way to a finished photo? I don't understand that part... what do you consider finished? In my definition of photojournalism, photos are not supposed to be made of deliberate decisions, in fact i think they shouldn't be tampered at all, showing directly and without modifications what happened in that particular event... they are supposed to be spontanious. The fact that the damaged negative (turned to positive), was red, added to that spontaniety. Thus i defend my work, as of journalistic quality, because of it's spontaniety, it's untampered status, and the fact i was "recording" a major event in my country,

About Eazym's pictures, i found them of average to low quality. Slightly desaturating a picture, making it grayscale or making the gamma a bit higher in Photoshop, doesn't make it a good street photo... most of the compositions aren't even interesting, snapshots taken at random. I'm not a good photographer, but I do sure know when I see a good picture or not. To be honest i think his pictures are of "tourist" quality... Sharp details but "tourist-esque" shots in the end.

[purplerose]

To sum up what I think they're saying.... What makes them "unfinished" is that you never bothered to correct the mistake on the negative. Sure, the red cast was unavoidable, but in a traditional darkroom as well as in PS, you can print it as a B/W photo. I've had plenty of negatives that literally turned out blank. However, by simply changing the filter in the enlarger I produced a photo that was accepted into a juried art show.

It's all about presentation and that extra bit of muscle to produce a well presented photo.

You can learn a lot from Mike's (Eazy) thread. Especially those taken in Japan.


Attached a very quick edit of the first one:

[Mr. Mu]

Well,
I don't agree with your view on eazym's street photography, but is just a matter of taste and varies with each person viewing a photo.

I am sure you know James Nachtwey. If you happen to haven't come across his name, do a google or wikipedia search.
In short: one of the most important contemporary photojournalists and documentary photographers.

In the documentary "War Photographer" (about him and his work) there is a scene where you can see how him and his assistant do something like twenty or so large format prints of the same negative, with the assistant ever improving on the dodging and burnin for that one shot. That process took them hours.

Now, you're saying tampering with the negative (or actually editing it in any way) contradicts your idea of photojournalism.
That's a valid point, as it is your opinion which you are entitled to.
But there are other quite successful photojournalists out there who put hours of work into presenting each single shot.

And if all you have in order to justify a red cast all over the negative is saying "Ack! I won't touch it so the documentary character won't get lost" then the good news is: it won't ruin the documentary character. You shot what you shot when the shutter was pressed (and just to open a can of worms... there's a hell of a lot of manipulation going on with just pressing the shutter, choice of aperture, shutter time, point-of-view).
Now you got a negative. Turn it into something.

[GriNGo]

Thanks Purplerose for the comment & tip! I like how you'r modified version turned out.. what exactly did you do it in Photoshop? I have tried to make the same process, but the result doesn¡t come out as good as yours.

Mr. Mu, thanks for your comment again. I already knew of Natchwey, he really has been a true inspiration for me, specially in my other fields, (graphic design) and illustration. The scene in his movie kinda surprised me, because i really though his pictures came out the way he took them. But all in all, he is a famous photographer, with enough money and support to be able to do that kind of editing to his big ass pictures. Us lesser experienced folk have photoshop to do this kind of stuff, but in the end as you say, it's all in a point of view of how I want to present my pictures. Even if seems "unfinished" to some. Laziness or not, I think the "redness" of it was interesting for the time, and that's why i haven't bothered much to change it, despite what the "standards" are.

[purplerose]

I have Photoshop CS3, but I went to Image > Adjustments > Black & White. Doing this gives me the same amount of control I have in the darkroom when converting to B/W.

You could get the same results by just desaturating and adjusting contrast and brightness though.

[GriNGo]

I have Photoshop CS3, and I totally forgot about the new B&w features... thanks for the reminder!

[Gentile]

I have Photoshop CS3
Jealous.

[Mr. Mu]

to be able to do that kind of editing to his big ass pictures.

ROFL! Yea, I could use an assistant like that, too. Especially since big JN kept pointing out areas to improve on only and the poor assistant had to actually do it...:D
That would be my job, then:
"The sky could use a bit of darkening still, don't you think? Get me a coffee when you're back..."

:D

[scientuslatens]

Here are two of the best shots I could rescue from missrevealing*.

English note: misdeveloping, wrong developing. (desarollar puede significar tanto reveal como develop en ingles.) ;)

Perhaps in more useful information, Image > Adjustments > Channel Mixer or Layer > New Adjustment Layer > Channel Mixer is the same as Black & White feature, just requires a few more brain cells and may be sans presets (PS 7-CS3).

[scientuslatens]

I also took a 15 min stab at the 2nd one. I couldn't get a good crop figured out because those steps kind of threw things off. Also the protestors seem dwarfed by their surroundings. The interesting thing is that this pic may not be "street" but it definitely seems like it could be a good base for something surreal (Digging the unintentional, small "haloed" protester on right side)

http://i25.photobucket.com/albums/c78/elquenocamina/gringolocotest1.jpg

[GriNGo]

Hey Scientuslatens! Thanks for the correct translation of "missrevealing" .. my bad - gracias hermano!!! - Thanks for the comments and your alterings of the photo - i see your point about the haloed dude!