Hi sprintist, I enjoyed looking at that series of pictures!
It was certainly interesting and all of them were technically well executed.
But I would like to make some honest comments that go vaguely against the "this is the best sequence of pictures ever" general consensus.
I will also preface my comments with the acknowledgement that I couldn't do better myself, but hopefully this doesn't disqualifying me from being able to react to the images.
I am going to refer to them by numbers, which will be chronological from top to bottom and left to right where appropriate.
I feel that as a whole the series of pictures are technically very sound. They have a polished, professional feel to them and there is not a lot I would change and certainly nothing I would criticise.
Also given the circumstances, you've done a very good job and there are things that are probably outside your control. So I guess my quibble really is about the images and the reaction to them rather than the photographer.
I feel possibly the problem is you have done the pictures very much in a commercial style, so for example they could be used for a marketing campaign in a magazine or as posters. Looking at them as such, and the constraints of having to work semi-surrepticiously and with Joe Public start to stand out.
Image 2 for example. My mind just processes the great potential of the shot, which in this case I feel is let down by the cluttered background where her jeans are. To reiterate again, this is a lot let down by the fact that the photograph suggests that it is a finely controlled and constructed image, for which the photographer was in control of all elements. I know this from the text that accompanied the image, but I don't just from looking at the image. And just from looking at the image it looks like you've had time, setup, model(s), and just made a mess with the separation.
Another example is image 5. I think the pose is absolutely spot on, it's natural, it's spirited and it's joyous. Personally I might have considered a different angle, and again personally I wouldn't have wanted the attache case cropped. It is possible that that you intended the angle and intended the crop, but similarly I suspect it might also have been down to the fact that you were working without the co-operation of the SMRT.
There are some shots that work for me. I think image 1 and image 8 stand out for me. They are excellent as they are and they haven't suffered from the circumstances under which you've had to photograph.
Hopefully I'm not coming across too negative because I think you've done an excellent job given the circumstances.
But the question I have to ask the people that say that it is the best series of pictures ever, is... how much of that is influenced by the fact that photography is prohibited on the MRT? How much are you influenced by the fact that you haven't seen these types of images very often before, if at all (partly down to it being prohibited)? Does the fact that it is a new subject make it more appealing? How much of that is influenced by how difficult it was for the photographer to get the pictures? Should we be influenced by how difficult it was to get the picture? Should we make excuses for our pictures?
