June 11, 2004: Sara Delano Roosevelt Park 2
Like most of my work, these pictures are long exposures. Holding the shutter open for this length of time tends to erase most of the human beings from the shots. Contrary to what these photos suggest, Roosevelt Park is actually teeming with people. Homeless men and women can be found sleeping on most of the benches. Groups of kids play basketball at the hoops around Rivington Street. Further down, there are skaters, and finally groups of Asian guys playing cards or just hanging out. Apart from Clinton Street, I know of no other place that better captures the inhabitants of the Lower East Side. [Unrelated: good stuff at Surface, mylife2live, and DarkShapesProwl]
Comments
I love that last shot of the girl holding her arms out. Sometimes symmetry doesn't work and sometimes it's exactly perfect. I love that you centered her in the frame to reflect the centered pose she strikes. Now how did you get it?
mostly i center my camera on the subject- with architecture, i find that the straight-on shot is the most pleasing. it's also the most honest, i think- i generally don't like odd angles and things like that. in this case, i was lined up on the building when the little girl ran up, and she positioned herself directly in front of the camera lens- for about 10s of a 30s exposure.
So i've been meaning to ask you, do you carry a tripod around with you on these shoots or what?
how is the girl only in the middle of the frame if she ran up midway through the exposure? did she run up fast and stay there for the last 10 seconds (or first 10 seconds and then ran away), or did you 'shop it.
Totally inspiring me to do some night shot this weekend. Good stuff.
in this one, i was lined up but hadn't shot- she ran up, i snapped, and she ran off after ten seconds. if you move fast enough, you don't leave a trail on the film. in the first one, i was actually already open when she ran up- it was the last ten seconds- so if you look closely, you'll see it does look slightly different in each one.
the only photoshop i did on these was curves.
I love that last one - very well done!
Interesting effect! These all have a very ghostlike feel to them. The one with the little girl is amazing.
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