Oh the Noise!, a photo from Victoria, East

Photographer's Note

25 JANUARY 2004, LITTLE BOURKE STREET, CHINA TOWN

If there's one thing Chinese New Year Celebrations all share in common across the world it's fire crackers- specifically very noisy fire crackers. I spied these two girls blocking their ears and smiling whilst squeezed in the crowd of spectators, lucky for me they were at just about the right distance to fit into the frame- I couldn't move. The haze in the background is the smoke from the exploding crackers- you can see the chain of them just dangling between the girls' heads.

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Critiques | Translate

agarcia (393) 2004-02-06 4:16

A very well seen moment of the parade, Michael! You captured the atmosphere created by the firecrackers in an excellent way, as well as the expression of the two girls…On the other hand, I wasn’t sure about the inclusion of the cell phone in the composition. At first I thought it was a distracting unrelated element. But then I realize that adding the cell phone to the way in which the girls covers their ears, express in a powerful way the noisy environment of the parade. Well done!

AdiAdar (2500) 2004-02-06 16:49

I think that that pic deserv much more critics.

Steely (895) 2004-04-03 4:39

Good Scene, the girls covering their ears but smiling, the smoke, all showing that its noisy but enjoyable for them.

The cell? no big deal; part and parcel of photographing life as it happens.

PS Not everywhere. Here in Sillypore, firecrackers had been banned for 25 years or so; we still have the noise though, its the Techno and Rave music at the CNY liveShows.

Luko (14000) 2004-04-03 5:17

With a little more brightness on the faces that would be a fantastic shot, it's ONLY an excellent range shot as it is now.. ;-D

BTW I like very much the cell phone, it takes us back to reality and adds a fun feature : just to remember that noise once in a year is not a big deal on it sown.

maciekda (19895) 2004-05-21 9:45

and this one is funny, living in HK most of the time passing a group of chinese people I look like those two girls, such a noisy nation ;)
anyway, it is a very nice picture, nicely composed, and seeing this mobile phone there is just incredible... cool.

AnimeshRay (9089) 2005-05-08 22:40

A very pretty shot, Mike! Excellent close focusing on a wonderful moment that captures the characters and the mood very well. But the really mysterious thing is the cell phone. I wish it were just a bit inside the view, but this also works minimally.

tongapup (0) 2005-05-08 23:06 [Comment]