There was an interesting thread about a month or so back in which we (the viewers) were asked to comment on and critique a photograph by Ansel Adams (Moonrise Hernandez New Mexico), but with the stipulation that we should treat the photo independently of anything we know about Adams, etc. That was a tough assignment since, among other things, Adams is a bit of a god here on UHH, and because the photo is so damn famous.

I'd like to try this again but with a far lesser known photo, by a photographer whom I've never heard mentioned on this site (so may be unfamiliar to many here). It won't be completely anonymous I suspect since I'm sure some of you will recognize the photo, or may recognize the style of the photographer (especially if you're a street photographer). If you do know the photo and/or the photographer, please don't drop a spoiler on the thread. I think the exercise of having a blind critique is a really good one and I'm hopeful we can learn from it.

You can see that the photo breaks many of the rules of photography that we've had drilled into us, but we also know that it's okay to break the rules if you need to in order to get the result you desire. How do you rate the rule-breaking on this one? Thumbs up or thumbs down? And why?

I think it will be great fun analyzing, dissecting, deconstructing this photo. Have at it!

Thanks for the spoiler.

Yes, it's Ernst Haas, from his book/sequence "New York in Color, 1952-1962." No doubt the photo is a bit more interesting in context. You should have a look if you find this interesting: https://www.exibartstreet.com/news/ernst-haas-new-york-in-color-1952-1962/

Haas was a very important part of a movement of the era to get color photography taken seriously. At the time, only B&W was considered the "artist's" medium. Haas and a handful of others (Joel Meyerowitz among them) led a movement in street photography that demanded that color be taken seriously. It's difficult from our frame of reference to think of color photography as dilettantish.