abc1234 wrote:
Nightski, what bothers me so much about the other couple, crabby or otherwise, is they are looking out of the frame while our lady is right at us, drawing us in and engaging us. In other words, the two elements clash with each. For me, the number of people in the scene does not matter but the interplay among them does. The interplay here is pulling in different directions for me.
Contrast comes in many forms, and how it's used in a photograph is very important. This photograph has several forms of contrast, which together, cause the clashing and pulling in different directions. To me, these contrasts all work well together and make this an interesting photograph. I agree that there can be bad clashing elements in an image that undermine it. But in this type of street photograph, it seems like that tension is what we'd be after. It's like her smile and presence are pushing the scowling couple away while they pull us toward her.