Oldschool photochallenge: Response No. 2

Thanks to Paddy at Pozdrowienia z Ursynowa for this 1970s/80s style image for the Oldschool photochallenge. The idea is to capture today images that would not look out of place in the communist era.

I love this photo, taken in Warsaw last Tuesday. Click to enlarge. The resoluteness in the face of the woman contrasting with the resignedness in the face of the man; the composition - the gap between them; the bloki in the background; the feeling that the viewer is clearly separated from the two people by a sheet of glass - alienation in proximity. A stroke of luck, captured.

The key to great street photography is to take 100 images a day and whittle down the best two or three - and keep doing this for years. Here, Paddy has managed to snap one image in which so much is said about Poland and mankind. The middle ground between New York's glamorous rich and starving Sudan.

No penalties for photoshopping the pic to B&W. Stand back! Now it belongs to the ages.