Based On A True Story...: How To Lose, Part... Honestly, Lost Count At This Point

Thursday, May 18, 2017

How To Lose, Part... Honestly, Lost Count At This Point

Well, no surprise here- my street photo series was... rejected! To be totally forthcoming, I entered three categories in the Streetfoto San Francisco competition. One was Best Single Street Photo (entered 3 photos), really didn't think anything would happen there- and... nothing did. Then entered the suggested 9 photos in Best Series- and really did have hopes for my Naked in San Francisco essay. One of my consistent weaknesses in competitions is that the ties that bind are not always as obviously solidified as one would hope; this time- each and every one... solid as a rock; and not a weak image in the bunch- even if a couple may be just a tad difficult to look at. End result... the usual: Nada, Zero, El Zippo Grande!

Finally, I entered Best Single Photo San Francisco and am informed I'm a "finalist," actual award winners to be announced... June 10, at the gala opening. Which is kinda weird if ya ask me; but yeah, at this point, the suspense ain't exacting weighing heavy- I'm pretty damn realistic about my... chances.

Anyway, as promised- my losing essay (more inexorably to follow)...

Photo: © S. Banos

5 comments:

Eric RoseMay 18, 2017 at 8:54 AM
The second last one is the strongest one imho. The rest just seem to be weird guys looking for attention. Static, no tension. Just my ill informed opinion.
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Stan B.May 18, 2017 at 9:29 AM
Fair enough, Eric! That said, part of what I was trying to portray was the everyday banality still present in all the apparent craziness. I think part of the problem when most people photograph over the top subject matter, is that they then try to present it in an over the top manner resulting in overkill- my 2 cents.
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Stan B.May 18, 2017 at 2:43 PM
Eric, you bring up a further point prevalent in the "street photography community" who I notice are more biased to the kinetic, stop motion capture of serendipitous events. My stuff tends to lean more towards "environmental portraiture."
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Eric RoseMay 18, 2017 at 4:33 PM
Check out Arbus's street or weird people shots. Not to much in the way of stop motion but still very powerful story telling images.
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Stan B.May 18, 2017 at 8:01 PM
Had her book since the '70s, and again, though enough of her stuff was shot on the street- she's known as a portraitist. Conversely, Maier is very much a portraitist- and yet, is known as a... street photographer.
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