A few dozen eclectic b&ws from Austin, Texas.

www.slackersbrigade.com/photogallery/v/
The pics are taken by a long distance friend of mine, and your harshest criticism is welcomed as the gallery is being built.

Look at that electric lightbulb hanging there with a flank of artificial flowers in relation to the simplistic utterances of some negligent god.

Not sure if some of the really jittery handheld pics work (though some of them do). The stark overall feel is impressive. All the religion-themed pics are excellent.

Thanks for the link!

I'd ditch everything that came before the Scooter guy pic.

I like Lamp Post, but more for the building architecture than the post.

Consider reshooting Nowhere, Apartments, and some of the signage in the last dozen or so pages in color.

Consider upping the contrast in Fire Escape.

(You did say be brutal.)

but "brutal" will do just fine. :)

bicyclist, smokestack, and ten commandments. I generally like black and white photography. Otherwise, the photo style doesn't match my personal tastes - I work hard at not jiggling and getting good exposure and contrast.

the out of focus stuff doesn't work for me. But some of the other photos are dynamite. Love the fire escape and the smoke stack. Mostly good stuff that makes you look twice. Thanks for posting.

There is some really great stuff here: the biker, fire escape, smokestack, nowhere. There are some pics that are on their way to being great stuff but have contrast or lighting issues: apartments, bicyclist, ten commandments.

And then there's the really mannered, affected stuff. The out-of-focus trick is badly overdone. One or two in a gallery like this might well work, but by the third pic or so it registers as bad technique. A lot of these also suffer from an attempt to be atmospheric and moody that comes across as just too dark to see very much.

Is your friend shooting digital or film? From the flattening of contrast, I suspect it's digital.