May 18, 2007
Photo of the Day: May 18, 2007
We've noticed Sexy Fitsum's candid party shots for awhile, a little bit in the vein of Misshapes, except, you know, classier and without all the dead-eyed stares behind frizzy mops of hair. This is an exceptional image, not just for the spot-on lighting, but for the perfect composition that puts action and personality into the shot even without the help of a facial expression. EXIF.
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Yawn. This is what you get when your photo editor is trained to be a lawyer.
what the hell are you people smoking?!?!
S.F. is a cool guy who spins great music himself. His sacriforce events have been pretty fun. I think he's mainly a DJ and less of a photographer, so just take it as it is.
Are you kidding me? Was this taken accidentally with a bad camera phone?
Perfect composition? Looks like a camera misfire to me.
At least you've branched out a bit and didn't choose another Andertho, Zack Stern, Oblivious Dude, or Skipping Hippy photo.
Yo thats me! Fitsum is doing his thing!
damn, y'all... it's a fine pic, in my humble. It's got color contrast, sharpness, & motion. So there.
don't know about all you haters, but i like it. forces you to look at a pretty ordinary scene with a different perspective.
Take this as either a compliment or whatever, but it looks like a shot for New York Times Sunday Styles. Like it's "36 Hours in Columbia Heights".
Wow, Heather really can't win. She picks more traditionally acceptable stuff and gets bitched at for not branching out beyond a certain set of photographers, who are really the only ones posting cream-of-the-crop quality material of that category on a regular basis. She picks something a little dissonant, a little off-kilter, and everyone yells that it's not pretty. You people remind me of the undergrad music major who just wants to teach "Hot Cross Buns" to first graders when she graduates, and who breaks down in frustrated tears during the second year of music theory because Shoenberg neither has a nice melody nor can you dance to it.
don't hate bc the shot was on purpose.
or let me put it this way: "Eat my ass on a sunday ya biatches"
I just ate lunch and I'm busy on Sunday, but thanks for the offer!
SF: You've got some great photos, but this isn't one of them. It's not bad per se, but words and phrases like "exceptional", "spot-on", and "perfect" do not describe this photo. If the other photos surrounding this one in your photo stream are any indication, I'd guess you'd had a few drinks in you and were just firing away without much thought.
Anyway, congrats on getting the POTD.
SF, don't hold back, tell them what you really think dude.
I liked the pic, and I agree with Heather's take on it, i.e., that it conveys attitude w/o even a facial expression, and that's neat.
"forces you to look at a pretty ordinary scene with a different perspective."
yeah, what she said. i'll take an artistic shot over a "smile for the birdy" photo any day. i also agree that the composition & color contrast are great.
I had alot of drinks in me actually which is usually the case. But the shot was composed purposefully - otherwise I would have left it out. There were about 850 shots taken that night so I did alot of paring down. It's one of my favorites; unfortunately it looks too close to being a "mistake". Oh well ...
I apppreciate the congrats and the extended comment tho, "Hmmmm"
I'm withdrawing my ass-meal offer to all and putting forward a new one to "Awww" for a hug.
Okay guys, I'm happy to let you all duke it out with the obvious passionate energies you put into my choice for PotD, but let's keep the verbal assaults out of it, please, or they will continue to be removed.
Damn. If you don't like what you see, shoot something, tag it and maybe you will be the subject of such harsh criticism.
Give the guy a break...it is an interesting photo, one that stood out to Heather...so here it is.
Personally, I don't mind engaging folks with negative comments or abusive verbage; that's life. It's just funny to me how some people like "Awww" use the Comments space as a platform to vent their frustrations. It's like, dude: have a drink, get laid, get happy about life.
It's
not
that
deep
Aww, the femme has friends...
whatever the HECK we may remind your haughtiness of...doesn't matter when it comes to our impression of this pic...and, PEANUT BUTTER, you are not the only one out here with an eye for art or the acumen there of... after all it's unto the beholder right...or did you forget that when God (it is ok to use God, right?) blessed you with supreme self-righteousness...and being forced to look at my DARK AREAS from the ground up as opposed from behind, does not make it any prettier, nor worthy of PotD.
DottieboBottie... i don't think anyone is knocking the "artist", just the curator...i mean you all act like you have never walked into a gallery, an auction, or art house and been terribly dismayed by the selection...HECK, been to the Smithsonian lately... Basically, artists live and die by criticism. Is it fair? Not really, but if one can't stand being lambasted for what some might think is sophomoric work, then get out of the game.
and Fitsum... depending on what you spin, you can hug me anytime...can i please, please, please carry your records...pretty please.
laptop dj, here.
should be easy for your weak ass.
plus enough room so you can continue to carry yourself.
I think this is a decent shot. Like I said above, it has a journalistic feel about it. Is that good or bad? I don't know. I do like the colors.
But, really, 850 shots in one night? That seems a little excessive. I guess that's the benefit/drawback of digital. Personally I prefer the discipline that film forces on you. I frequently get seconds from taking a shot and decide that it's just not that interesting and move on.
Laptop Dj...
Just my 2 cents, but the removal of postings containing immature banter seems to be rather arbitrary, don't you think Heather? Fitsum seems to be, well, in a twisted Fit. He says, "It's not that deep" while frothing at the mouth and engaging in most futile cyber sabre rattling.(how hot is that)
Fitsum, if "Aww" doesn't give you a hug... i will, you seem to need one.
The ass munch invite was one line out of many that I wrote. And it was in response to the casual hating that made up the initial comments. I think for the most part my comments were way south of sabre-rattling, but, different strokes ...
Reid:
yes it is excessive. its more of a high shutter speed thing than a digicam thing. I feel you tho. the discipline thing is part of why I decided to shoot some nights entirely in B/W
oh brother:
yes. and proudly so. so ... what are you doing on sunday? (j/k!!!!!)
Great photo, great set... as one of the Party Bros., I can tell you with authority that Fitsum really captured the vibe. Which was basically playing stuff like "Born In The U.S.A." right next to house jams. I think this shot is brilliant for its color and mood... just look at the red bouncing off Chris's shirt and jeans...
For more photos, info, and stupid radio ads, you can check out the Party Bros myspace here.
That's probably true. I'm a lawyer and I really like this shot. Y'all act like POTD is the Nobel Prize. This is not a picture of a monument or a building, and it suggests that there's something going on in this city at night, and those should be reason enough to post it right there.
Gavin... the Boss with a splash of Cajmere (or are we talking a different kinda house NY, Philly, west, dub, deep, tech, etc...?)...sounds interesting...where is this? what is the crowd?
Oh Brother is Back:
I play the serious joints you want to hear. Some Cajual era chicago house was indeed dropped, as well as alot of Trax/DJ International ish, tons of paradise garage-era disco, 1980s NY style house/dance music, etc. The music programming at Selam is very DIVERSE (I do the bookings), see last week's review of it in the weekend section:
www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn?node=cityguide/profile&id=1133962&categories=Restaurants
I'm playing tonight at the Rock N Roll Hotel (free) where you can expect to hear more or less the same sound. I'm doing this thing somewhere in the city everyweek.
myspace.com/discocitysensation
And I'll be there taking torso pics again.
Yeah Brother Is Back, we definitely played Cajmere-sounding stuff. The music was varied, as I explained here in the Brightest Young Things interview:
"Gavin: It’s going to sound wild and loud, constantly. I told Chris that in the idealized version of this party, every single dance song we play would have a prominent guitar solo in it. We may not be able to achieve that, but we’ll aim for it. I’m definitely going to play “Tell It To My Heart” by Taylor Dane. I’ll play The Stooges and I’ll play N.W.A. I’ll probably play the song that goes “Girl, I’ll house you” at least five times. (It’s called “I’ll House You” by the Jungle Brothers… see how the name “brothers” equates to “having a really awesome time”?)"
The crowd was great; a lot of our friends came out, as well as people that had heard about it through the Washington Post and BYT write-ups. Everybody knew it was gonna be this "wild" dance party led by two "totally wasted" party bros, so the mood was just right.
Selam is at 1524 U St (between 15th & 16th), in a small Eritrean restaurant-turned-dance-club in the basement. Charming spot. Party Bros. is gonna be every first Saturday at Selam from here on out, next one is June 2nd... so drop on by!
I also do a party called Nouveau Riche at DC9 that's equally as varied, but more about current dance music, a la Baltimore Club, French House, dancehall, etc.