From my digitizing project, this is a film photo taken (I think) with my first SLR camera and processed as part of a darkroom course (for amateurs). I can't remember the circumstances, but the 'benched player' was a friend of mine when I was a grad student. I must have been looking for photo ops even back then.
@30pics4jackiesdiamond What's interesting to me looking back are the consistencies: interesting in lines, geometric images, architectural elements, wildlife. The big differences are how boring most of my travel shots were - very much 'documenting' the scenery with few images worthy of saving for their own merit. More people pictures than I'd remembered and I'm glad to have those! But nothing about them is artistically pleasing, no sense of composition in the people shots at all. And of course, my technical knowledge has greatly improved!
I really like this, it has so much in it. You clearly already had an interest and an eye for shape and line. I have hardly any of the early pictures I took. They were only on film and the negatives and prints were mostly long lost in frequent house moves when I was single and renting rooms. I am not sure how they would look if I saw them again now......probably would have similar thoughts to you!
Good shot- yes I see the artistic style beginning to emerge in your photography even in this picture. Another consistency- telling the story. It's very strong here with the lone man sitting on the bench and the documentary style of black and white. I have gone back and looked at some of my older shots this past week and seen some similar things- attention to detail, strong compositional elements, and the always present attraction to rust! Good shot!
