Practical Photography
On a whim I printed a photo of the Cloisters in Washington Heights on a sheet of Ilford Postcard paper and mailed it off to Practical Photography, my favorite photo magazine. PP states that anyone who wants a photo sent back to them should include a self-addressed, stamped envelope, so I just wrote my own address on the postcard and stuck a stamp on it, then mailed the self-addressed, stamped postcard to PP inside of a regular envelope. I got a card back from PP saying that they were going to keep my photo on file, but I was pretty surprised to see it show up in the July 1999 issue. It appeared in the Photo Clinic section, in which two of the PP staffers critique reader photos.
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William Cheung: It's worth mentioning that
Willis' shot came in to the office printed on a sheet of Ilford Postcard
paper. A rather cool form of presentation, I thought. And it's
completely printed bearing in mind it's a contrasty scene; there's
good detail in the shadows and the sky which is great. [I didn't tell
them that it was a straight print.]
I think Willis has done right excluding people from his shot. Yes, they can add scale and interest, but I think in this timeless shot, there's the potential to spoil it with the 'wrong' sort of person. Given that the scene is Washington Cloisters in the United States [it's the Cloisters in Washington Heights] and Willis lives in London [I guess they didn't know that I'm a Yank], I think he should be reasonably happy with what he's managed to get. David Corfield: Willis has done all the right things in this shot. There's a nice sweeping wall in the foreground to lead the eye to the tower, there's framing going on with the tree at the top and the lighting's directional. [Thanks for noticing. I tried to point these things out to the RPS, but they didn't care.] But for some reason my pants aren't on fire. I disagree with Will because I think lack of human interest is the problem. People aren't required for every picture, far from it, but here I'd like to see a figure, perhaps sitting on the wall or walking in the background. That would give this shot the spark of life it needs. [Oh well, can't please everybody.] |
Last updated November 19, 2001