Photo Critique #158
tuts workshop

Photo Critique #158

on Oct 12th 2012 with 10 comments

Friday Photo Critique is our weekly community project, where we publish a photograph submitted by one of our wonderful readers, then ask you all to offer constructive feedback on the image. It’s a great way to learn more about photography, express your viewpoint, and have your own image critiqued!

Quick Ground Rules

  1. Play nice! We’ve deliberately chosen photographs that aren’t perfect, so please be constructive with any criticism.
  2. Feel free to offer any type of advice – composition, lighting, post-processing etc.
  3. You can also link to photographs that you feel offer a great example of this type of image shot exceptionally well.

Without further ado, here is this week’s candidate for Friday Photo Critique!

The Photograph

Photo Details & Inspiration

  • Panasonic DMC-FX12
  • 5.8mm
  • 1/800
  • f/2.8
  • ISO 100

I shot this in downtown, central Lima, Peru. A dog resting in the sun oblivious to the authority cast by the police in full riot gear, stationed alongside. I wanted to show another side to the scenes normally captured with the police in South America.

The capture can be interpreted in many ways, and I leave these open to the viewer. But for me, I wanted to provoke thought and forge some humor into what is normally a scene of fear and violence. I liked the way the dog’s appearance seems to subvert and discombobulate the work of the armed police. The dog’s meditative or sleeping posture represents a force of peace and non-violent behavior against a backdrop of oppressive elements.

Photographer: Larry Hallegua

Please let us know what you think in the comments – how would you have approached the scene or taken the photo differently? A massive thank you to everyone who commented last week.

The most constructive and helpful comments will be featured on the site. Interested in submitting your own photo? You can do so here!

 
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By

Rollover to read this author's bio or click through to see a full list of posts by this author.

I was raised in the suburbs of Cincinnati, Ohio. After high school, I left for Western Kentucky University where I obtained degrees in photojournalism and cultural anthropology. I am currently employed by CityBeat, an arts and entertainment weekly in Cincinnati. The work I am doing here is very rewarding and I suspect it will continue to be. I am available for freelance work in all areas of photography.  

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  • http://yashmatunited.blogspot.com Tom

    This picture has great contrast and composition, and the scene is incredibly interesting with the police alone and then you add the sleeping dog. Good shot.

  • omega

    what i don’t like:

    i see no relation between the dog and the police officers.
    i see a little of distortion (which is easy removable in post).
    shadows in the right side doesn’t contribute with the picture.
    theres a lot of grain for an iso 100 shot.
    framing is to wide.

    what i like:
    lines in the lower part of the frame.
    symmetry in the shields (which “imho” must be the main subject)
    the shiny floor.

    regards,

  • Bryan P

    I like the picture, good contrast as noted above. My only gripe and I’m not sure what you can really do about it, the guy on the left kinda sinks into the background.

    I didnt realize that was a dog sleeping infront.

  • http://artvsaccounting.tk Ajith R

    I’d have asked the second policeman from the right to lift up his hands to achieve a sense of balance in the composition :) otherwise a good shot.

  • Mona

    I really love this shot and the idea that lays behind it. Personally to me, it’s like embodying several important matters (peace, order, humanity, animal care, etc.) into just one great piece of art. On top of this, the work was done with Panasonic, which is one of my favourite ‘best friends’ (aside from Nikon and Kodak). I’d really love to see the colour version this great photo.

  • Fernando

    I really like the shot. It juxtaposes peace and violence exceptionally well. I would lighten up the shadows on the left to balance things out since they don’t add to the photo (and probably take a bit away from it).

  • http://morointeractive.com Jeff Moro

    I didn’t recognize that the lump in the middle was a dog until i read the description. I Love the picture itself and what it means regardless of that fact.

  • http://dianaeftaiha.wordpress.com/ Diana Eftaiha

    very nice documentary shot. i love the shadow on the right and i think the dog is a great addition to this photo

  • Albert

    I like the photo and is well composed considering it was taken in the street in a Latin American Country.
    I like it.
    The only thing that I’d do would be to crop the small window above the big one, I fill that would center the interest inte policeman and the dog. Good work.

  • http://twitter.com/JT__photography James Tarry

    I like it a lot. It’s a strong image already and it’s clearly a street shot so I’m not going to dissect things like distortion or grain, because some of the worlds best are heavy in both. I applaud you on the spot, and I realised it was a dog although I can understand why some would miss it-and I feel that’s down to the crop, there a lot of wasted space on the side I’d love to see this cropped right in make it all about the interactions of the police and the dog do that and I feel you’d have a winner