Photo by Petrut Calinescu
Petrut is a 34-year-old Romanian photojournalist based in Bucharest.
Consider the above just a sample, although I think it's a great shot—I love that water-on-the-lens blur on the middle figures with the figures on either side still sharp, with the figure on the left in shadow and the one on the right in sunlight; note also how the picture seems to have more visual "weight" on the left side because of a subtle angle and the reinforcing reflections in the water. (Sometimes, pictures just work.)
...But I digress. As I was saying, in his case I think his whole website is of interest and is well worth exploring at leisure on a Saturday. Not overly much of the usual "dire distress and poverty porn" so beloved of picture editors (and hence p-j's) worldwide; he seems to have a nose for interesting places and a nice balance of humanity with honesty. Some lovely stuff. Too bad he can't stay home more—his work that's most interesting to me is of Romania.
Larger versions of a few of the pictures here.
Mike
(Thanks to Dan Matiesanu)
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Featured Comment by John Camp: "Two famous American paintings. The first, by George Bellows, is "Forty-Two Kids" (1907) in the Corcoran; the second by Thomas Eakins (1885) from the Amon Carter Museum in Fort Worth."
I dunno. Stuff on his website has badly digitally blown highlights (look at the skies) and noise, obvious even at the small size on the web site. I don't find these photos particularly remarkable, but to each his own.
Posted by: Jim | Saturday, 06 March 2010 at 12:45 PM
My naivety at looking instead of seeing may have led me to overlook this shot but your succinct paragraph of description made me see what you saw. Much appreciated. The idea of weight amazed me. Now I shall look at some of his other work with a bit more insight.
Posted by: steven House | Saturday, 06 March 2010 at 02:18 PM
Jim,
Sometimes you need to let go of the pixel-peeping and just look at the pictures.
Plus, you can never assume that online JPEGs are anything more than the very approximate representations. It's always wise to bear that in mind, even when the JPEGs look good.
Mike
Posted by: Mike Johnston | Saturday, 06 March 2010 at 02:53 PM
Perhaps the most fascinating image is #10 in the "Kabul after Talibans" series. I don't think I've ever seen a camera like that before.
Posted by: Paul | Saturday, 06 March 2010 at 03:40 PM
Can I suggest that there is something sexual about this shot? (I’m referring to the reproduction of the species here.) On the left there are a number of guys in, let us say, erect poses. In the middle some very ample and fecund matrons. Then at the right a lithe youth spurting forth. All that aside, I agree with Mike on this- a great shot and so are his others. I think that this chap captures the human condition.....
Posted by: Mike Jones | Saturday, 06 March 2010 at 05:21 PM
When it comes to photojournalism I don't like to discuss isolated images, it's better to see the hole picture, so to speak. Petrut Calinescu's reportages are intimate and vibrating. I like the way he integrates colors in his compositions. Cheers!
Posted by: Account Deleted | Saturday, 06 March 2010 at 11:47 PM
boys jumping into water: a theme beaten to death in the last century
Posted by: cb | Sunday, 07 March 2010 at 06:40 AM
Broken buildings and brandished guns is a theme that was also beaten to death in the last century. I agree with the Mike; photojournalism used to be about more than disasters and it's time it widened its scope again. There's way more to humanity that needs commenting on, or even just documenting than the oversimplifications that magazine/TV/web editors shove at us every day.
Posted by: Richard | Sunday, 07 March 2010 at 01:08 PM