Bruce Flamenbaum
January 2025 - Oradour-sur-Glane, France
About the Image(s)
The best of the new year to you and yours. My January submission is a sad one.
Oradour-sur-Glane, France. 1/160 at f6/3, ISO 320
On June 10, 1944, 643 inhabitants, including 247 children were killed by the Waffen SS in retaliation for helping the Resistance. The German commander and his aides sat in the local tavern sipping wine while his troops shot all the men and herded the woman and children into the town church which was then burnt with the woman and children it it. The remainder of the town was destroyed. All but six survived.
A new village was built after the war, but on the orders of then president, Charles de Gaulle, the original was maintained as a permanent memorial.
5 comments posted
Hi Bruce. Happy New Year! Your image does a strong job of conveying the bleak, somber mood which appropriate to this location's history. I very much like the leading line created by the rails, sweeping into the mid ground and around the corner. Aided by the rails, but in general, there is a tension created by wanting to see around the corner but not being able to - again I think this adds to a feel matching the story. The colors are muted in the broken buildings and sky - everywhere except the small grass weeds along the rail in front - as if that was the last sign of life and beyond is only destruction. It is a powerful image.
I think there is some further editing that can make it even a little more powerful. I took a cut at that below. First, I think having the sky showing in the upper left corner is a distraction and pulls my eye up there. So I cropped to 8x10 ratio to exclude that. Then both to give it a more 3D effect as well as to further heighten the mystery around the corner, I darkened the foreground and lightened the buildings right before the corner (in the back). I think the front of the image in particular is a little soft (depth of field issues maybe), so I used a tool to enhance the sharpness (Topaz Sharpen AI) and selectively applied the result to the foreground portion of the image. Finally, I increased the contrast a bit, but protected the whites in the sky from blowing out (and reduced them some) as I did that. Oh, and I brightened and increased the saturation of the grass along the track in the foreground.
I think these little things help strengthen the amazing mood and story you already had. But it is powerful as is, so again, just some things to think about.
Posted: 01/11/2025 14:20:59
I think there is some further editing that can make it even a little more powerful. I took a cut at that below. First, I think having the sky showing in the upper left corner is a distraction and pulls my eye up there. So I cropped to 8x10 ratio to exclude that. Then both to give it a more 3D effect as well as to further heighten the mystery around the corner, I darkened the foreground and lightened the buildings right before the corner (in the back). I think the front of the image in particular is a little soft (depth of field issues maybe), so I used a tool to enhance the sharpness (Topaz Sharpen AI) and selectively applied the result to the foreground portion of the image. Finally, I increased the contrast a bit, but protected the whites in the sky from blowing out (and reduced them some) as I did that. Oh, and I brightened and increased the saturation of the grass along the track in the foreground.
I think these little things help strengthen the amazing mood and story you already had. But it is powerful as is, so again, just some things to think about.
Posted: 01/11/2025 14:20:59
Hello Bruce,
Happy New Year to you as well!
It is always a challenge to follow Robert's comments. :)
Personally, it my case, I also love the foreground with the tracks leading one's gaze. I would have liked to see a vertical format shot, revealing the tops of the structures with more sky. Your image respects and reflects the horrendous history you describe. Thanks so much for sharing.
Best, Rick Posted: 01/11/2025 20:49:22
Happy New Year to you as well!
It is always a challenge to follow Robert's comments. :)
Personally, it my case, I also love the foreground with the tracks leading one's gaze. I would have liked to see a vertical format shot, revealing the tops of the structures with more sky. Your image respects and reflects the horrendous history you describe. Thanks so much for sharing.
Best, Rick Posted: 01/11/2025 20:49:22
Hi Bruce,
Happy New Year!
Thank you for sharing.
Wow, this is very powerful message/documentally image. I like the composition, which emphasize the line dramatically, and the color is very unique. Very good image.
You might have tried this but my suggestion is to BW conversion. The clarity is a bit strong for me, so I might reduce the clarity and turned the image look a bit dull....
Posted: 01/16/2025 09:51:29
Happy New Year!
Thank you for sharing.
Wow, this is very powerful message/documentally image. I like the composition, which emphasize the line dramatically, and the color is very unique. Very good image.
You might have tried this but my suggestion is to BW conversion. The clarity is a bit strong for me, so I might reduce the clarity and turned the image look a bit dull....
Posted: 01/16/2025 09:51:29
Thank you all for your comments. I attempted to crop this image without success. The enormity of the horror was also diminished when shot with wide angle. There are several items in the village that are more personal, such as burnt cars or a bicycle or sewing machine, but photos of them are too close and the viewer loses the sense of the destruction. In short I am not certain any single image can convey what happened there. Posted: 01/16/2025 16:16:40
Bruce, to your comment about one image not conveying the enormity of what happened, I'd encourage you to create a set of a few images that speak to that together. It is not compatible with our one image format here, but it doesn't mean there aren't other opportunities elsewhere.
You don't need a whole portfolio devoted to this (unless you want to), but Lens Work magazine has long had something they have called Seeing in Sixes. As you can guess it is a series of six images speaking to a theme or topic. I've always thought that was an intriguing project format, with six not too daunting a number. That said, I admit I have not really tried to do such a six image project myself.
Posted: 01/18/2025 12:23:13
You don't need a whole portfolio devoted to this (unless you want to), but Lens Work magazine has long had something they have called Seeing in Sixes. As you can guess it is a series of six images speaking to a theme or topic. I've always thought that was an intriguing project format, with six not too daunting a number. That said, I admit I have not really tried to do such a six image project myself.
Posted: 01/18/2025 12:23:13