M-4 Movement Range

Waw !

I'm not at all into photojournalism myself, so I'll try the exercise of commenting from an artist's point of view.

This image immediately caught my eye. And looking at it a little longer, I certainly find it powerful and evocative. I believe that's the most important thing, from both a journalistic and an artistic points of view.

I like that the character is so off-center. In its lower position in the frame, it is dwarfed by that concrete wall, which is a nice effect. I like the association of the gun firing and the concrete wall, because is evokes consistent oppositions : explosive, penetrating velocity of a tiny object (the bullet) vs. blocking stillness of a gigantic inert body. And also, of course, a living foreground, in focus from head to toes (to muzzle), against an entirely out-of-focus, inanimate background : This perfect focus separation between subject and background underlines the effect even more.

That, and then the clothing, the several guns, and that ominous wall, all evoke one same simple idea : force. (The viewer is then left free to like it or dislike it, depending on her personal views and sensitivity about the matter. I suppose that's a fine journalistic quality too.)

That the character is lit and (almost) seen from behind renders him impersonal, as soldiers should be. We see just enough of his lower body to suggest him moving in the same direction as the shot (yes, I know, he's probably standing his ground, but you don't necessarily see that), adding to the impact of the scene.

It appears after a while that the real subject is not the character (pushed out towards the lower left corner), but the muzzle flash (right in the center of the frame). Nice, subtle composition.

I'm left somehow unsatisfied with those flash and smoke : I understand that this is very difficult to capture, and that this is about the best you can hope to achieve with a still camera. That's why I gave you a 4.5 stars. (Heck, I can't even provide a good reason why I'm not giving you a 5 !). But I hunger for those spectacular extreme slo-mo shots of guns firing you can now see on Youtube, and their almost-CGI grandeur and perfection. Well, I suppose there's not much to do about that here...

A very nice shot, if you'll excuse the pun, leaving very little to criticize.

Now just out of curiosity, so I know what I just commented on : is he shooting blanks, or people ? What's the story behind that pic ? (I see "range" in the title... I don't know much about the subject, but doesn't that mean exercise rather than real action...?)