Good Evening,

Zeus Again...

the metamorphosis of the God

D

Hello, Davide Barzaghi 

Welcome back to our forum. Can you state your story behind this image. What was it that you wanted the reader to perceive? What is the metamorphosis in this story? If you can provide the information I could state the critique better...

Dear Cicek,

it s a pleasure to explain my concept of Zeus and my Olympus.

I focused all my project on the "human side" of the Gods,so I never represented them in a traditional way, with their classical symbols or like statues, but like humans, full of limits and emotions, as everybody of us.

So I published Jealousy, that's Hera, Curiosity that is Hebe, She flows/Euribya and now I ll submit metamorphosis, of course Zeus, the king that becomes human, abandoning the mask, symbol of static, old, classic interpretation of divine and revealing him naked in front of us

this is my Olympus.

D

I forgot other examples...

lost Hopes is Hades and Love of course Eros

Hello Davide,

Welcome back to the forum. I just want to mention that I did respond to your previous post but it was the following day and you may not have realised.

Thank you for sharing these two photos; I agree with Cicek that it would be helpful to have some information about the story, but thinking of your other recent shots I presume it's the metamorphosis of the god Zeus into man. Please correct me if I'm wrong. I can't see a great difference between the two photos, although I think the second one is slightly lighter. I like the fact that we see the mask (presumably a representation of the god) as a frontal view and the man from the rear in contrast. I also like the way the curve of the left leg follows the curve of the side of the mask. The textures and also the reflections in the floor add visual interest. The composition works well for me in that it's simple yet bold. That's my reaction to the image, but if there is more to the story please let us know. I have a slight preference for the second version, but as I said, the difference is not very noticeable.

Have a nice evening,

Elizabeth

Thanks Elizabeth,

yes this is the metamorphosis, the king interpretation of my creative project 

I hope the image will work well in curation, this is the key of my Olympus 

have a good night 

D

To tell the truth I could have an other image, but it s less dynamic, may be the representation of the end of metamorphosis...

Hello again Davide,

I prefer the first two images; as I said, the way the left leg follows the curve of the mask works for me and creates a connection between the mask and the man which isn't present in the third image. I feel the metamorphosis is more convincingly portrayed in the first two photos. I do like the shadow of the mask in the third one, but that isn't essential to the story.

All the best for curation,

Elizabeth

Thanks dear 

I think the same 

Good night 

D

Hello, Davide Barzaghi 

Thank you for your explanation. I have been following your images all along. Despite that fact I wanted to hear your side of the story of this image. I agree with my friend Elizabeth Allen that the first two images are better than the last one. They have more dynamics. The mask being big and strong represent Zeus quite fine. Being represented naked in the human form is a good complement to the metamorphosis. I prefer the brighter ones as well. There is one thing I wish were different in the presentation of the story. The wall in front of the humanized Zeus. It looks like a barrier built in front of him. As if his story ends there. Were there some vast open spae, I think the impact of the story would have differed dramatically. Have good light....

Cicek Kiral SC

Thanks for your reply 

I often use with wall in my shots , I imagine my pictures like scenes in a theater, where actors have all the relevance. I think characters must be strong enough to complete the picture and the white wall with imperfections or shadows underlines the conceptual value of the image.

Have a good night 

D

Good morning, the curation is not going well, I changed something, adding a ray of light and an architectural element... have a nice day 

D

Good morning Davide,

I like the hint of the architectural element, and the striking ray of light works well in my opinion. I'm not sure about the flecks of white, however. I (think I) understand why you used them, but I don't know if the majority will find them appealing. I don't know how far into the curation process you were, but sometimes things change dramatically before the end.

Enjoy your day,

Elizabeth

Dear... the curation is terrible, and really I don't understand why.. but this is the game.. I ' m working on an other elaboration... I send you 

Sorry.. about white flacks I used to underlines the dynamical moment of metamorphosis in opposition to the clear left side where you find the temple

have a nice journey 

D

I don't think any of us understand, Davide, and It happens to me as well. I never look at the figures until curation has ended. I personally like the white marks on the body, as if the man has just been born and needs a bath, but I think it might be better to remove them because people may just see them as a mess. But obviously it's up to you.

Elizabeth

I leave only ones on the body

As I said, Davide, it's fine for me and makes sense as a part of the story, but I can't foretell what the curators' reaction will be.

I m beginning to ask myself if my pictures don't work well or the curators don't work well... my shots are rather different from the ones we usually see in this gallery, but I m sure that there is a reserch inside, a passion, the attempt of doing something that force to use the brain.

I try to develop concepts and translate its in images, not only takes a pic.

i hope you appreciate what I m trying to do, sometimes the quality is not perfect, but for the rest I m sure that in every shot there is passion and ideas, and this is what I like to do, and I will continue.

I tell you a bit more of my story: I have a doctorate in psychology, I m the owner of bulk wine trading company, I added 2 managers in my staff for having more time for photography... I discovered 2 years ago This great and I m sure it will be forever.

thanks always for supporting 

regards

D

If you look at the latest published photos, Davide, there is always a wide range of genres so it may be a technical weakness rather than an issue of the content. I know that there is thought behind your images and that you are developing a theme, but because of the volume of photos passing through curation here, an image has to have immediate appeal or impace, I would say. In your case this would be a disadvantage. 

Thank you for sharing something about your background, and I hope your passion for photography will win through.

Best wishes,

Elizabeth

David,

Let me put it very frank, so my normal communication style. A picture that needs words to explain what we see is a failure. I follow your doings for quite a while now, but I see no progress in bringing a message across. The team spends a lot of time helping you out, though you never expressed your expectations of this forum clearly. If I took it from the very negative side I'd assume you enjoy the attention here, while in the regular part of 1x you don't get much. If I need to guess why, it's because your message isn't clear in your photography and you don't work on improving that lack of impact. 

What I see, again very blunt, is objects and some people. No special light, no environment making clear we should see gods. The first picture here looks like the guy is peeing on the floor, the wet floor probably supports this impression.

I would like to encourage you to test the impact of your work in real life. Print your latest, ask 20 friends or simply people you consider educated enough to know your subjects, what they see.

If noone gets it right, we won't either, firget your photo.

If it's just 1-3, well it shows you need to change the concept to reach out to a wider audience

If it's 10, congrats, I would be very willing to help improving and raising the impact to achieve even more.

You probably guess what score I'd predict this has. I might not be alone with my blunt interpretation about the first shot.

Please try to improve rather than discussing with always the same people. Every photographer has a goal. Either he wants to impress, be admired, convey a feeling ot visualize a message. What is the sense of your work and do you feel you succeeded achieving your goal? 

Best regards,

Mike

Dear Mike,

the problem is that I like my works, and also a lot of critics.

The first image was committed and choosen by a important company for its advertising project, two images not selected by 1x were used for the first pages of books, one of its wrote by a Nobel candidate.

I have had 2 exhibitions with good commercial results... do you want to know how Mike?

Because my pictures are different, hard to understand, not patinated, rought and real as life is.

you as everybody are free to reply, appreciate or hate my works, but for sure they are not usual, comfortable.

i see everyday pictures all similar that leave me only the emotion of something already seen, I m not looking for this. My photography is research, not emulation.

I submit in curation or to the critique sometimes my works, if this a problem for you or for the staff nothing matter... i ll stop.

I love photography and I 'm sure to be on the right way, my way.

Regards

D

I close with the words wrote by Giancarlo Tonani, an important Italian art critique : 

"A good shot is a mental shot, far from the posing beauty of picturesques landscapes and reassuring portraits. It’s worth seeking, in Davide Barzaghi’s elaboration, the SCATTO-TROVATA, disruptive motto of visual spirit. In this way, in surrealist intuition, we find ourselves in decent postures and clothes, surrounded and invaded by empty containers of dominant words of use. If we know how little see, maybe there is a glimmer."

have a good light 

have a good night 

D

Dear David,

You never know what people are looking for when choosing photographic work. The approach to offer something different did work out for you, I'm happy for you. Obviously your subjects fiited some purposes. Here we struggled to understand their purpose, and everything I said above is stil valid for me. If your photos become the cover of a book, the context is simply given by teh book's theme. Asking for feedback without the theme being clear yet still does not lead to results here in critique. That's the essence of an open approach. Or did the book have something to do with Zeus or other greek gods? I'd guess your buyers simply saw something different in it. If you're happy with that result, then I begrudge you that with pleasure. It's just simply not my approach to photography, and it's not the one of my team members, too. 

Have good light (and I really mean that literally :-) )

Mike 

Dear Mike,

first of all good morning, I wake up now and I m taking a good coffee. I'm thankful to your team because I improved my technical quality since I started to discuss with members. I started to shot more or less 2 years ago and I have a lot to apprentice.

different situation is the concept: my ideas are very clear in my mind.

i sow during the night some of your works: congrats... excellent executions, great models, perfect photography... but I' m not looking for this.

When I decided to start the Olympus project I asked myself if I would emulate more than 2000 years of iconography or try to do something different... of course I choose the second way.

it's a difficult way: to describe a God in a minimal style focusing only on one aspect of his personality.

I called everyone with the name of a sentiment, to humanize them.

The photography of a building or a generic portrait don't need explanations, but the abstraction of a God in an essential portrait is something different.

But we for sure agreed on one point: we could always do better. Now I go to shot...I like the early morning light, and I hope it would be the good one, literally...

regards

D

Dear Davide,

I'm happy to read about your successes, and I wish you good light.

Elizabeth

Dear Elizabeth 

I'm thankful for your time and for your support, but I don't want that anyone loses his time, so I stop to submit to the critique forum my works 

I m honored to have heard your opinions and happy to have shared different points of view.

A lot of your advices will be always present in my mind.

Regards 

D

Dear Davide,

Let me tell you a very personal story that recently happened to me. It's about the meaning of a photograph, and how less control we sometimes have over it.

A couple of weeks ago a good friend married in her mid 50s.Since they are both very successful in their professional life, the type of people that have everything they need, I struggled finding a good wedding gift.

So I offered to shoot at their huge garden party. I set up lights, brought in a neat, antique bank to sit on, chose a good spot, did not bring any of these stupid accessories sometimes used in photo boxes. What I wanted to achieve is a good, pleasant, ideally typical or funny photo of every guest. Some of them I did not see for 30 years myself, which made it a kind of "revival day" for me, too. Most if them I did not know.

As you know, there are people feeling comfortable in front of a camera, others do not. There were several couples who participated and in most cases, one wanted the photo, the other only joined to do him or her a favor. These are the difficult shots if you have the ambition to deliver pleasant ourcomes.

There was one couple where she was open and motivated, he looked anxious, not amused, I couldn't tell what exactly.

I got that one okay-ish couple shot, but I tried to get better in the limited time you have then. I asked them to not face the camera, but interact with each other. Again, it was easy for her, he looked terrible. He wasn't there, he could not join in. I did not take the pictures of that, of course.

The very ugly and shocking part of this is: he shot himself a few days later.

He was disconnected to her already, and it became obvious when seeing the photos now. 

But only if you know, you have the chance to recognize that. 

It wasn't my goal to shoot the last photo of this man. It does not change much I did, I have no reason to regret. Actually I'm glad I captured a half-way good memory of him. But it changed the meaning of my work so drastically, without any chance to meet my intentions anymore.

I'm after the glory of skilled photography with my work here but I also chase and freeze moments for people, when I shoot weddings. Meaningful moments for them.

This time it was ugly, unintended, shocking, but also a part of my photography.

Mike

Thanks for telling this story... 

have a nice Sunday 

D

Interesting to read again this forum....thanks all for the support 

good night

D

Congratulations on the front-page feature of your exhibition, Davide. Well deserved.

Elizabeth

Many thanks Elizabeth... for all