I admire the incredible photography of Eliot Shepard at slower.net. I think it is a beautiful project, the images are little masterpieces and having more than a thousand of them on one well designed site makes the experience even better.
I visit often, I leave amazed, to the point that I would feel silly leaving any comments... What happened just minutes ago let my jaw drop for another reason. Please click on the following image:
and now do not close the pop up window and take a look at a recent image on Slower.net.
Who would have thought that there would ever be such a coincidence of time and space... Eliot Shepard was obviously in the same room, at probably the same time, I might have actually noticed him, as we take pictures with the same camera...
Are these two, obviously related photographs a good illustration of Villem Flusser's theorems of us humans being mere operators of more and more intelligent machines?... Did not Eliot and I take the image, but did our cameras take them?...
I actually think that our photographs are very different. He managed to capture the situation better, I was really trying to emphasize the reflection...
(His composition is better...)
When did we take the pictures? How did we get there?...
oh, and the best effect is achieved when my photograph is on the left hand side... then the wall becomes a backdrop that continues through both of out photographs. Stunning.
oh wow, that IS incredible.
Posted by: louve on November 22, 2003 05:12 AMHello Witold. Thanks for your too-kind words. I like your version of the photo more than mine.
I am in England at the moment - are you following me around here as well? :)
Best, Eliot
Posted by: Eliot on November 22, 2003 06:58 AMOh, thank you Eliot, you never know, these days...
(Thank you for the compliment on the photograph...)
: )
wow
Posted by: 990000 on November 22, 2003 10:27 PMThis is amazing but as a science fiction fan, i am frightened what may happen when parallel universes colide. please stand back.
Which photo is better? A question that I hate to ask because it is not a contest, but asking forces the viewer to look deeper into the photos which most viewers never do.
I like Eliot's because of the point in time at which i am viewing it. In the past (and hopefully in the future) I would have said Witolds.
I think Witold is right, they really are very different. To me the bright reflection (Witold's) is a commentary on how the american flag shines even when rolled up and placed in a corner.
Eliot's is commentary is darker, more shadow in the roll of the flag, little to no reflection. Eliot's flag has been purposely put away almost in a shamefull way. A commentary on current events and conditions.
Sorry for the unsolicited critique, both images are too good to not. Both of you have a fantastic ability to see what others would never notice. I would have walked past the flag never thinking to photgraph it.
(and Eliot also did not get his shadow into the frame, as I did.)
: ) tse tse tse...
That's so strange- although one of you is obviously stalking the other. My money is, for obvious reasons, on Eliot.
Posted by: jake on November 25, 2003 05:50 PMThey are both good, Witold, but I do like yours a wee bit better. I am, as always, a charter member of your fan club.
Posted by: Donna on November 26, 2003 04:47 PMMost amazing is that, if this is an experiment in parallel computation, you both have achieved the same answer.
Which would be the symbolism of the flag, all rolled up.
Wow, Donna!, this is so kind of you. I had no idea there was a fan club. (You just made me blush.)
... amazing...
For what it's worth, Wiltold's photograph gets my vote from a compositional perspective. Is that shadow on the left the silhoutte of Eliot cast by a third photographer's flash?
Posted by: Persistent Truant on November 27, 2003 06:34 AMFreaky weird. Both photos are excellent. Very nice.
Posted by: Beth Ringsmuth on December 1, 2003 11:55 AM