Auschwitz Fence Line, Poland

I am sure this shot has been taken hundred times, but here is my take on it. I decided to leave the main point of interest in colour (even though its white) to highlight the electric fence, does the conversion work? I appreciate all comments good and bad
For those that have never visited, Auschwitz is a very sombre and harrowing place
Ricky

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That's an interesting and effective composition, and its simplicity to my mind enhances the sombreness of the place.

nice shot.

personally i'm not sure if the colour stands out enough for it to be worth being in colour ( if that makes sense )

the only other thing if i were taking the picture would maybe, and its only a maybe would be to have a larger depth of field so that you got just one or two of the barbs of the wire in focus or at least a little more detail. that way you'd really know it was barb rather than guessing.

when i first started scrolling i thought this is not going to be good, then it all came on screen and i thought wow, what a great composition and PP is fabulous. Sure picks out the emotion of the place.
Well done!

I have to say I love this shot... It's as though the distant past has been blurred but then we see the electric fence and everything is brought back into focus, Excellent.

That, my friend, is without a doubt one of your best. Like you you say anyone who has been there will know what a somber place it is and (IMO) you have caputired it perfectly.

"nie wieder"

John

lovely shot. they actually ask you not to smile when posing for pictures there... as if they have to ask....

Say Ricky,

It's me, John

Great background and the barbed wire...It's from a very realistic perspective...as the eye would see it...

I too visited Auschwitz back in 1965...some of my relatives were in there, or prisoners of war elsewhere...during WWII...

Very, very good composition and interpretation...Most thoughtful of you...it hits home with realism...

Congratulations on your awesome visit to Krakow and some more of Poland...

[QUOTE]That's an interesting and effective composition, and its simplicity to my mind enhances the sombreness of the place/QUOTE]
Rudjej thanks for that

Thanks for your comments donboyfisher I think they are fair enough and if doing the shot again I may have experimented with a larger DOF, the problem I had was it was an organised tour and I had no time to take several shots. I fired this one of at f6.3 hoping it would have given sufficient DOF to do as you have suggested, it didnt and it was the only shot I managed to take of the fence at this position so I had to work with it

sm1rf I am glad I managed to achieve the shot I tried to create, which was getting over the emotion of the place

MAH thank you very much I seemed to have got accross what I was hoping for...

Jock kind words mate thanks for that and I hope you are right "nie wieder"

tlc no one actualy said that to us, but the guide was explicit in making sure no one took any photos inside any of the buildings. I obliged with such a request and anyone not doing so should think shame on themselves (one or two did not obey this) I could not even bring myself to photograph the outside of the gas chamber and crematorium,even though photos were permitted to me it seemed disrespectful

Johnstoy thanks once again for your kind words on another of my Poland threads. I appreciate you taking the time to respond to them. With you having had relatives inside this dreadful place, I hope my shot managed to portray the place in a manner that was respectful but at the same time also got the grim reminder that what happened here must never be forgotten
Ricky

[QUOTE=rickydiver;2348​736]

That's an interesting and effective composition, and its simplicity to my mind enhances the sombreness of the place/QUOTE]
Rudjej thanks for that

Thanks for your comments donboyfisher I think they are fair enough and if doing the shot again I may have experimented with a larger DOF, the problem I had was it was an organised tour and I had no time to take several shots. I fired this one of at f6.3 hoping it would have given sufficient DOF to do as you have suggested, it didnt and it was the only shot I managed to take of the fence at this position so I had to work with it

sm1rf I am glad I managed to achieve the shot I tried to create, which was getting over the emotion of the place

MAH thank you very much I seemed to have got accross what I was hoping for...

Jock kind words mate thanks for that and I hope you are right "nie wieder"

tlc no one actualy said that to us, but the guide was explicit in making sure no one took any photos inside any of the buildings. I obliged with such a request and anyone not doing so should think shame on themselves (one or two did not obey this) I could not even bring myself to photograph the outside of the gas chamber and crematorium,even though photos were permitted to me it seemed disrespectful

Johnstoy thanks once again for your kind words on another of my Poland threads. I appreciate you taking the time to respond to them. With you having had relatives inside this dreadful place, I hope my shot managed to portray the place in a manner that was respectful but at the same time also got the grim reminder that what happened here must never be forgotten
Ricky

By all means...your photo is excellent...It's not too frightful and scary to the very young generation...and still portrays the powerful reality adults can relate to and interpret accordingly...

Sadly, my relatives passed away nearly two decades ago, at a much earlier age from respiratory complications, developed from exposure during the harsh winters in the concentration and prisoner of war camps...

That is a very powerful image. NIce capture!

For me to comment much, would be too contrarian. Did not work for me at all., as is. Too out of focus..... without explanation, I would have little idea what in the heck the picture was, and w/o the b/w comment, I wouldn't have noticed, as the rest of the pic looks like it could still be in color anyway.

Wonderful image, and helps evoke the sheer horror of the place, I hope you don't mind, but I've included a passage from the 'Rough Guide to Poland' which describes ones person's experience of visiting Auschwitz

'When you go in there's a sign in five languages that says, "There were four million."

I broke down about halfway around Auschwitz, walking away from the wall against which 20,000 people were shot. There's a shrine there now; schoolgirls were laying flowers and lighting candles.

But it wasn't that particular detail that got to me. And it wasn't the stark physical evidence in earlier blocks of the conditions in which people had lived, sleeping seven or nine together on the straw in three-high tiers the size of double beds.

It wasn't the enormous glass-fronted displays in which, on angeled boards sometimes dozens of feet long, lay great piles of wretchedly battered old boots, or children's shoes. It wasn't the bank of suitcases, their owner's names clumsily written on them in faded paint, or the heaps of broken spectacles, of shaving brushes and hairbrushes.

It wasn't the case the length of a barrack room in the block whose subject was 'Exploitation of Corpses', the case filled with a bank of human hair, or the small case to the one side of that, showing the tailor's lining that was made from it.

It wasn't the relentless documentary evidence, the methodical, systematic, compulsive bureaucracy of mass murder.

And it wasn't the block beside the yard in which the shrine now stands, in whose basement are the 'standing cells' used to punish prisoners, measuring ninety by ninety centimeters (3 feet x 3 feet). People were wedged together into these bare brick cubicles, and left to starve or suffocate pinned helplessly upright. In other cells in the same basement, the first experiments with Zyklon B as a means of mass extermination were conducted.

It was all of these things cumulatively crushing you, a seeping evil from every wall and corner of the place, from every brick of every block, until you reach your limit and it overwhelms you. For a short while I found myself crying, leaning against the wire. Like they tell you--the birds don't sing.

Pete Davies "All Played Out"

johnstoy thank you for your reply, I need say no more.

Azpic thank you very much it means a lot to me that my photo can pass on the emotion and importance of this dreadful place.

joegolf68 I respect your comments as this type of photograph will never work for everyone. I was not going to post it as I was not totally convinced myself that it worked, the responses I have had have convinced me I have achieved what I tried to do. I am not surprised at all that it has not worked for many on here though as that is the joy of photography I have seen plenty of images by very famous photographers that without a descrpition I would not have had a clue what it was, not knowing what the photo was without the description should not detract from the image. Harry Benson has a very powerful image of Mark David Chapman (the guy who killed John Lennon) it does not show his face but it is a very powerful image and without the caption it could be anyone. Hopefully I am explaining myself here? On your comment about not noticing the white and B/W conversion I feel you may need to calibrate your monitor? as there is a big difference between the black and white portion and the colour (ok white) part of the shot. As I said at the start I do appreaciate your honesty and accept that this shot will not be to everyones liking.
Lesmac I do not mind at all,your post puts into words what it is really like to visit this place. Anyone who has visited will agree.
Thanks to all for the comments
Ricky

Hey Ricky,

The attempt you made at the shot, commendable. Going to Auschwitz is commendable. I've seen some of this when I lived in Germany during my senior year of high school and the following year prior to returning to the US for college.

To me, the setting would have worked better to have stood a little further back, take the picture at a slight up angle from the white electrical conductor thing, and have the background just a tad more in focus so it is more easily understood that this is a prison type place. I wanted to comment as I feel that too often others would refuse to give an honest CC due to the subject matter and appearing insensitive to the subject matter, instead of simply doing CC on a picture. I feel extremely comfortable that I have not one anti-Semitic thought in my belief system and am 100% pro Israel and pro-Jewish causes and their plight. I think your picture was fine, an A-, better than 99.99% of every one of my still rookie pictures. I can only express my gut feeling, which lacks background and expertise, but I think my opinions are not mandated to be as bad as my photography skills. If one looked at all my posts, they would see a person who tries hard to encourage others in their work, showing appreciation for their sharing, and only rarely giving negative responses, and even then, making a true effort to comment on the picture, not the photographer. I try hard to be nice, and hope that effort was evident here, even is not 100% complimentary. If everyone said what they felt here, you have a great photo, if a few folks held back due to the subject matter, I think they truly did you a disservice.

Thanks for being nice in your PM and for soliciting my input. You have real skills. I know in all of this, my opinions might be right on, sometimes right on or totally worthless since my artistic talents fall far short of my ability to be candid.

Peace.