74 thoughts on “cristina faramo – shower”

  1. Who doesn’t want some of that sexiness? Makes me want to…get all wet. Yeah, I said it. Wink, wink. Lovely and enticing. I love the vignette and the way that he’s enshrouding her and that you can’t even see her head…and the other handprint…nice.

  2. Although I suppose we should applaud their willingness to share hot water, thereby lessening the amount of heating oil burned to produce the hot water and thereby lowering their carbon imprint in these days of global warming…stop snickering out there, I can hear you, you know.

  3. Cris! :))))))….

    such a wonderful joy to see your pic and your name at burn…immediately, i think of the movies….Wong-kar Wei (especially Happy Together),…and the entirety of your work which is a celebration of physical lives…what i love in this photograph is the woman’s hand print…and the sliding cast of her arm….all that contained between these two, right there on the wall and evaporating….

    and god damned, that’s an incredibly big and ‘opulent’ (marble?) shower…you guys live large! :)))))))….

    Misteri

    I àusi zirà in alt i vuj
    su li pichis secis dai lens,
    no jot il Signòur, ma il so lun
    ch’al brila sempri imèns.

    Di tantis robis ch’i sai
    i ‘n sint tal còur doma una,
    i soj zòvin, vif, ‘bandunàt,
    cu’l cuàrp ch’al si consuma.

    I stai un momènt ta l’erba
    dal rivàl, tra i lens nus,
    po’ i camini, e i vai sot il nul,
    e i vif cu la me zoventùt.
    –Pasolini

    hugs
    bob

  4. This image is tame. Where do you work that is such a repressing place? :-)

    With regard to the image, I love the atmosphere, the passion, and the framing of two bodies merging together.

  5. There’s nothing like a hot shower on a cold February day..and I do mean HOT!!! Yes the figure of the man with his hand cupping, well, whatever, is positively luscious, but it is the dripping handprint that just about does me in. Wonderful work, Cristina!

    Patricia

  6. what the HELL is going on here..
    jesus, mohhamed, budha…
    It looks like a Religious gathering..
    Where the hell is Krishna????
    :))))))))

  7. Cristina,

    I remember David saying that your best pictures are about love… I agree… Very nice photograph. Love the “print” of the hand on the side…very soft and sensual. Well done!

    Eric

  8. mmmmm..
    I usually respond right away,
    right after I see the photographs posted..
    before reading text or any info about the photographer..
    but this image..
    has made me stop..
    …how to respond and not be influenced by other comments..
    I LOVE this image..
    but I didn’t see it as sexy or hot…
    rather full of mystery..
    there is quite a story here, for me..
    such a successful image, when
    one image can tell so much…
    LOVE the handprint..
    my eye goes to the left of the frame…
    and I wanna know..
    more…
    maybe a woman is crying out,
    “but I know there is a unicorn on the other side of the this wall, I know it…”
    “Shhh.. baby… you’re okay… you’re dreaming…”
    “but I know it was there, I saw it…” she cried.. as he nibbled her neck..
    “shhhh… it was just a dream baby…
    just a dream…”
    ….when one image can tell so much…
    **X

  9. Laughing..
    You guys made my night..
    And I had such a horrible day…
    Awesome… Who needs church when we got BURN..

    Ok… My critique??!
    Oh who needs that…
    But I have to admit that I agree
    with everyone above ( even Satan )
    except from ( yep you guessed right)..
    I agree with ALL except Jesus ( of course )…
    peace & hugs

  10. silken arms, cool rivulets of heat striping his back, the slenderest of fingers sliding but not yet clasping, digging or scratching, the passion i feel is in the palm print, like a ghostly third there with them..(no wait, fourth counting the shooter). But the third, the ghost of showers past, has despaired and slipped away. Pornographic not, a chick pic, sensual in the cleanest sense, pun intended. “A” for mystery, allusion and sumptuous surrender.

  11. Im glad you all love this picture, and are seeing things (and imagining things) that make you smile. Then I do not feel so bad when I say that It does not work for me at all. On any level. Glad its here though.
    Peace
    John

  12. Well, for me personally there is a slight difference and I was wondering about this: I love to see thoughts, themes, feelings, visions etc of a photographer expressed in photo’s, I think they are beautiful and very interesting, by directing a subject or using a technique which suits the mood of the subject etc. They can be even more interesting then reality “just” captured, a big extra in photography if you ask me, it’s smart, let’s you take a look inside the photographer etc. But it also is something I’m trying to figure out because reality, can’t be twisted too much in (semi) documentary photography, where to draw the line?
    In this case, this would still be a great picture and composition, but it is the real reality which would make the moment and picture/ composition even more beautiful for me. I think, see above;) What do you guys think in general on this, so not especially this picture I mean? This came to mind reading the great reactions on the picture…It’s almost too beautiful to be real.

  13. This image left me contemplating. No quick answer. My first reaction was some kind of bewilderment.
    The photo looks seductive, romantic, raw. The girl is in the rather passionate pose, the one who receives and the man looks pushing and is somehow protective, yet a bit aggressive. The typical roles that men and women are in? What would it be if the man would be the one stretching out his arms?
    This image is somehow new to my world of images. Nothing seen like this before.
    This image certainly doesn’t fit to the cliché like images of the bright, happy, pretty in pink, fluffy kind of love photography. This image is raw and surreal. It reminded me of the films shown on German tv on Sunday evenings at eight. On one channel you can watch Rosamunde Pilcher whose books and films usually play in the sunny green landscape of Cornwall. There are always beautiful actors who wear nice dresses and drive nice cars and who live in happy homes. But there is always a love drama. For some strange reason the beautiful couple doesn’t find it’s way to each other, but luckily in the end they do. On the other channel people watch „Tatort“ (site of a crime), a crime story about a murder. Both shows are very popular in Germany. I watch neither of them, but this image would fit into a „Tatort“ perfectly.
    The photograph is brillinatly done, but I wouldn’t put it up on my living room wall. It has a bit of a scray touch to me. Perhaps I’m a bit more the Rosamunde Pilcher type of guy when it comes to love. Oh no!
    I like the water print of the hand on the wall.
    Thank you very much for showing this image!
    Reimar

  14. Directed? Well of course it was directed. Few people are able to make passionate love in a shower with a person holding a camera looking on. I don’t think that detracts from the photo, though. Again, very well done.

  15. RAFAL…

    wrong?? makes no difference to me whether directed or not…i am just looking at the picture…period….i certainly assumed Cristina was, in this case, working with friends ….for certain magazines and agencies this would of course be taboo IF the photographer was trying to represent herself as a “bearing witness” photographer….i do not think Cristina sees herself as a photojournalist and in choosing photographs here for BURN i am open to all kinds of interesting work…

    cheers, david

  16. Damn David, you’ve really got some amazing connections…i mean i know you’re well connected and well loved, but to pull Jesus, Mohammed, and buddha in, that’s some amazing MOJO!….i guess all the credit goes to Chris….it must be that fine italian vine or grappa! :))))…

    cris, email on the way :))

    running
    bob

  17. DAVID ROZING….

    i am surprised you might find a photograph “more beautiful” if you knew it was a “captured moment”….hmmmm…can one not just enjoy a photograph for it’s own sake??

    even news magazines and purely documentary magazines who are selling themselves as journalistic publications often use what they term “illustration” photographs to make very strong editorial points…

    i.e. look at several of the most powerful photographs in the recent all China issue of Natgeo…the strongest photograph in the whole issue was a totally constructed photograph of arms holding a baby coming out of a hole in the earth to represent a written piece on population control…granted this was clearly labeled as being what it was from a respected “art photographer”, but it was the editor’s first choice of the thousands he might have used to illustrate this topic…

    your local book store i am sure separates fiction from non-fiction….but do the “labels” keep you from enjoying a book one way or the other??

    of course, we all choose at any given time our own parameters of appreciation…we are just as free to accept or not accept work as the photographer is free to do as she/he sees fit….

    cheers, david

  18. Hi Jim,

    I understand that it is directed in a certain way, as in those people at least know they are being photographed, what I mean is: Because it looks so “moody” and real, and that being a great part of the power of the picture, I was just wondering was the moment/ mood real or not, f.e. was the pose spontanious or not, or (fully) posed. And in that light, the question in general, does this influence the power of a picture (in general) positively or..the contrary?

    Bye, David

  19. David,

    Agreed.

    Are you back yet? Did you ever find my email in the millions you have? Lemme know.

    Hope all is well.

  20. PANOS…ALL

    you by now have noticed i deleted the comments from Jesus, Buddha, Mohammed and Satan…as you, of all people,certainly know, my FIRST CHOICE is to keep things wide open here, and i think we are all totally open to any kind of discussion pro or con to the work published…and nobody but nobody loves a good “revolutionary” more than i…. but i finally decided that “unidentified flying objects” just have no place here on BURN…

    also, as you well know, my door is wide open at home and on this site, but out of respect to all who take our forum seriously (but not religiously!) i owe all here a “clean well lighted place” (yea, Hemingway)….

    most of the UFO’s are just plain silly anyway and i always imagine these are the same folks who write on bathroom walls as their means of self expression…hmmmm..i mean, get a life!!!

    as i have said many times before, life is too short to pour wine on the ground…

    cheers, david

  21. I’ve always thought that this is the distinction between ‘editorial photography’ and ‘documentary photography’… ‘editorial’ often (but not always) being directed, contrived, pre-visualized.
    While I of course agree with David (how would I dare not?) that we should be able to enjoy photos for themselves without concern for labels, I think the distinction between ‘captured moment’ and ‘directed scene’ remains important, both for the photographer and for the viewer (though of course I realize that in the act of actually taking pictures, the distinction is often not so clear).

    By the way, the commenters on this photo have really waxed eloquently… with writers like Carrie Roseman, Bob Black, Patricia, Wendy, and Kathleen Fonseca caressing us with their emotive literary elegance, who needs my crude and ponderous efforts at appreciating this evocative photo?

  22. That’s a truly fine photograph. A beautifully captured image of what has to be one of our most precious human experiences. Wouldn’t you say?

    Deliciously sexy.

  23. “…but i finally decided that “unidentified flying objects” just have no place here on BURN…”

    Uh oh, I’ve got a problem, I can tell.

  24. AKAKY…

    you, my friend, have zero problem….i am going to e-mail you when i get back home and make a suggestion to you for a written piece to go with your submitted photograph…up for it??

    cheers, david

  25. SYDNEY…

    i hope that you, or anyone, would feel free to disagree with me at any time..you and i have had some spirited discussions, not always agreeing, and i have found it to be all in good spirit…..hmmm, i have pretty much always viewed “editorial” and “documentary” as having the same or similar meaning…but, yes, i suppose some do translate “editorial” as being more illustrative….

    i should be seeing you soon as i travel to the Northwest….

    cheers, david

  26. DAVID, ALL…

    good decision.

    might i add one thing: if you ever come across a UFO post, please don’t react to the offender. just ignore…

    this for when the UFO’s comment is deleted, the thread won’t show (in retrospect) “strange” conversations of people reacting to things that aren’t there anymore.

    cheers
    anton

  27. a-men.

    BTW are there anti spam filters? just posted a long reply to bobus in bones which ain’t got through..

    wondering is all..

    anton – good luck mate
    dnbntx

  28. Sure, I guess (yeah, that’s definitive, isn’t it? Which one are you talking about? And speaking of Jesus, I had a dream the other night. I don’t usually remember my dreams; they slip away almost as soon as I awaken, leaving not a wrack of wribs behinds; but this dream has stayed with me. For one thing, the dream occurred in a church, which even in my sleep I know is a bad sign; it means a nightmare is on the way. Like a good many Irish Catholic boys who have drifted away from the strict observance of the Faith with time, I know that deep in my psyche there is a level where I know that I will have to pay for my sinful ways and that the Lord sends me these nightmares as a way of returning me to the bosom of Holy Mother Church. These nightmares, which look like the cinematographer who did The Godfather movies was moonlighting, all take place in extremely Baroque churches complete with hooded Spanish Inquisitors who have never heard of the comfy chair chanting Gregorically as they prepare to pop my arms and legs out of their sockets with what looks like a very complicated clothesline. At least, I think it was a clothesline; that would explain all the laundry hanging from the thing. So even in sleep mode, I knew I was in for trouble, a lot of trouble.

    And yet. Yes, even as I prepared for the worst, I knew that something was different this time. First of all, the deeply Baroque cathedrals where I suffer for my waking mind’s casual disregard for the dogmas of the Church wasn’t. Instead of the Baroque, I got the parish church in the Bronx where I received my baptism, my first Communion, and my Confirmation. Now, this church was big and gloomy—at least I thought so when I was a kid—but Baroque it was not. And then there was the pizza.

    Non-Catholics may not believe this, but Catholics do not, as a rule, eat a lot of pizza in church. Strange but true. Pizza plays no part in the Mass, which is not as strange as it sounds—chocolate ice cream, salt-free potato salad, and orange Jello with chunks of pineapple in it play no part in the Mass, either; and so the sight of me and several of my classmates eating pizza while we stood in line near the confessionals hinted at an outcome somewhat different than the usual, and by now somewhat hackneyed floor opening up beneath my feet and me, like Faustus, repentant too late, hurled downwards flaming in adamantine chains and penal fire into the darkness visible of hell. I think that may have been the oregano talking and yes, I know, I am mixing Marlowe and Milton there.

    Then there was the wedding. This, strange as it may seem, was not at all out of the ordinary. I can remember any number of times when my classmates and me lined up at the confessionals along the church’s walls while a wedding went on in the middle of the church. Our presence always seemed to confuse the ushers, who usually wanted to know if we were with the bride or the groom’s family, and when we told them neither one, that we were here to go to Confession, would then try to shoo us out of the church. This never worked; there was always a nun nearby ready to disabuse any power-drunk usher of the notion that the life of the Church was going to come to a halt just because someone they knew was getting married that day.

    And finally, there was the congregation. They were black. I realize that some people might regard my bringing up the racial composition of the congregation as something shocking these days; African Americans have as much right to pray in a Roman Catholic church in one of my dreams as anyone else. I bring up the matter up because at that time I attended this particular church that church was still a bastion of Irish Catholicism. There were many Italians and some Poles and even the occasional Puerto Rican or two, but the church did not accommodate itself to them. This church was of, for, and by the Irish, who turned out in droves every Sunday in their best clothes and often nursing (ethnic cheap shot alert!) their best hangovers to praise God and damn the English and all their nefarious deeds. It’s not like black people couldn’t pray at our church, but as most African Americans are Protestants, why would they want to? But in my dream, there they were. Even in my slumbering state, a phrase that sounds like it ought to be the state nickname of North Dakota, I could tell that this was a bit out of the ordinary.

    The groom arrived in full male marriage rig, including the top hat and morning dress, I think it’s called. He went down the aisle slowly, shaking hands and saying hello to everyone like he was running for office. He took his time getting to the front of the church, and when he did, his pockets looked like the congregation had stuffed them with ballots and campaign contributions. I don’t remember much about him; he looked like the plastic groom on the top of a wedding cake, to plagiarize Alice Roosevelt Longworth, which is something I haven’t done in a while and neither have you, I’ll wager, and because I don’t think he had a face, but that may be my memory playing tricks on me.

    Everyone stood up then, and the bride and her father came arm in arm down the center aisle as the organist played Mendelssohn’s Scherzo from A Midsummer’s Night Dream; not a piece I would have chosen, of course, but then there’s no accounting for tastes. The bride looked as happy as any bride can look in a wedding dress made from white heavy duty plastic garbage bags, but the dress did fit her very nicely, even to my admittedly inexpert eye. They reached the altar, where the bride kissed her father and then stood next to the groom. The minister came out of the sacristy, something you don’t see every day in a Catholic church, and then began the service with those well-known words, ‘dearly beloved,’ as mandated in the Book of Common Prayer, the prayer book of the Church of England, something no good Catholic schoolboy expects to hear in his parish church.

    I was deeply confused at this turn of events and I looked all around, trying to reassure myself that I was in the right place. I was: along the walls were the Stations of the Cross exactly where they’d always been, the stained glass windows were the same as I remembered them, and, above the altar, suspended by chains, was a cross bearing the crucified body of Our Lord and Savior. As I stood there, trying my utmost to trudge through the soggy dreamtime swamplands of cognitive dissonance while stuffing my face with my fifth slice of pepperoni and sausage pizza, something happened at the altar. There was a collective intake of breath from the shocked congregation. I stopped chewing—I knew something out of the ordinary had just happened—and started to pay attention to the proceedings. The bride had, in what can only be called an unexpected turn of events, just said no. I could see that the minister seemed a bit flustered by this somewhat unorthodox response, so he repeated the vows about having and holding and so on and so forth, and the bride said she’d heard him the first time and the answer was still no, not now, not ever with this chump.

    That was the last I heard from the bride; the church exploded in a sudden roar of shouts, insults, threats, recriminations, crying, and a couple of ushers beating each other senseless with the collection plates. The parents of the unhappy couple sat immobile in the front seat as the chaos swirled around them and the organist played “This is the end,’ by the Doors. The cacophony grew louder and louder and the church shook with the roar until I feared that the stained glass windows would come tumbling down on the shrieking crowd below and the walls would crack with the vibration. The roar reached a hurricane-like crescendo and only ceased when Jesus shouted down from the Cross, “would you people shut up down there, dammit? I’m trying to get some sleep here!”

    At that moment, I woke up, the dream having reached a completely unsustainable level of bizarrerie, even for an unconscious mind. This was annoying to the nth degree, I think; I really wanted to know what was going to happen next and the pizza was good, even if the sausages could have used a little more fennel. I was hoping to get another slice.

  29. DAVID

    I know how it goes against your grain to close the door on anyone, but I was hoping you’d come to this decision. BURN is too importtant to let it be dragged down by UFOs, trolls & other anonymous varmints. Thanks from all of us…

    peace
    Patricia

  30. David,

    If you come anywhere near Seattle ya gotta look me up. I’ll take you for the most killer Vietnamese food – ask Panos. And you can photograph me changing diapers! Ha!

    Best,

    Charles

  31. Lately, some very interesting contributions with a lot of dead space, or rather non-speaking (but so potent, so essential) space, as i did not mean the usual geometric vacuum one usually calls dead space in a photo. the Love rooms from Korea, the Chevron station, the subtle sensuality that comes from this whisper of a shot. The fact that it is posed rather adds to it, IMO. It escapes brazenness and leaves it much undefined, something the “blah” hue conveys masterfully.

    no !!! here, rather: …

  32. Lately, some very interesting contributions with a lot of dead space, or rather non-speaking (but so potent, so essential) space, as i did not mean the usual geometric vacuum one usually calls dead space in a photo. the Love rooms from Korea, the Chevron station, the subtle sensuality that comes from this whisper of a shot. The fact that it is posed rather adds to it, IMO. It escapes brazenness and leaves it much undefined, something the “blah” hue conveys masterfully.

    no !!! here, rather: …

  33. Hot, sensuous photo….don’t know anything about Jesus, Satan or Buddha….must have come late to the party but I do like images from the dark moist part of life where things begin to grow…..a homage to the vibrancy of the human condition….to life itself. Don’t know about the editorial or photojounalistic….Shakespeare said the world was a stage or as Elvis says, “Are you lonesone tonight?”
    David….Eric Burton said, “Spill the wine, take that girl”…..I say drink the wine, take that girl. peace and love.

  34. ANTON…

    good point…and thanks…honestly, we really have been spared much of what i see on some sites….please have a safe trip to New York and i will see you on Sunday afternoon…you might not have to sleep on the floor!!

    cheers, david

  35. Charles Petersen,

    I too am an Asian food freak. I don’t get to Seattle often, but when I do I MUST eat either Korean or Vietnamese. Where in Seattle do you go for the “most killer Vietnamese food?” Please tell me!! If you don’t want to publicize it here, click on my name and email me thru my contact info…

    Sidney

  36. I’ve come here for the comments/long analysis, I hope the noise and UFO’s are removed. I would hate for this place to turn into Flickr. Not trying to sound elitist but what I expected of Flickr can be found here, and I appreciate that.

  37. Yep… I agree..
    For the best Vietnamese in seattle
    please call Charles P…
    :)))))))))))))…
    ( and ask for a table upstairs…)

  38. DAVID

    mmm… “not” the floor… does that mean the couch? really?? i have been upgraded??

    wow this IS good news amigo :-)))))

    running to pack my bags now… next time i log on it’ll be in the BURN offices :-D

    cheers
    anton

  39. Sidney/Charles:

    y’all must come to TO for Vietnamese….will knock your socks off :))))…though, im sure seattle’s got some great places…

    incidentally, 2 weeks ago, finished reading Andrew PHam’s extraordinary ‘The Eaves of Heaven’ his biography-cum-memoir of his father’s life in Vietnam…a kind of follow-up to his extraordinary Catfish and Mandala….i recommend BOTH books immensely….Eaves is just major major book!!!

    enjoy the Bún chả :))

    running
    bob

    The EEves of Heaven

  40. Seems like you guys are planning another BURN Top executives summit :):):). Have fun and I am sure a lot of creative juice will come out of this again. Wish I could be with you guys in New York.

    Eric

  41. Hi David,

    Thanks for your reply. Did you mean the mai 2008 issue of national geographic? I can’t find the picture on the webpage of natgeo. or the internet, can you let me know who shot that image you mentioned?

    I don’t think anything is wrong in using illustrative images and like both “fiction” and “non- fiction”, but I do think it can be important to be clear about which type of image is presented. I think in general one should know what they’re looking at especially if there’s that thin line, if an image tends to make something look like reality while in fact it is not. I think in that case the viewer should know this or shouldn’t have an image presented as reality, this especially in news and documentary.
    With this photograph f.e. I’m just not sure what I’m actually looking at, fiction or non- fiction, is that mood in the picture true or not? Am I not looking at a picture that is in fact not erotic, steamy etc at all? Could it be that the reality was very much different than what we see? So it raised a few questions to me about photography in general.

    To me it does matter if a picture is directed or not. For me a picture that represents a “captured” moment in real life is more powerfull then the same sort of image which would be directed, just because of the fact, for me, more truth is captured in it and therefore more pure.
    I think a less powerfull or more subtle image on the outside and at first glance, but with a strong story behind it which you can read in the caption can be much stronger than pictures that are more dramatic on the outside but with no real story or vision in it.
    Question that remains for me is, to what extend (and in which genre) is it ok to use techniques/ directions to create a strong personal image without twisting reality too much? F.e. colour-, saturation adjustments etc on images? Kind of a grey area to me…

    Looking forward to your (all readers) opinions on this!

    Best, David

  42. Georgeous image, but I read it as a bit dark.. The combo of the concrete grey (cell block) and the hand print (blood mark) and her without a head (reverse praying mantis scenario) makes me feel like I would not want to be in this scene…

  43. David and All
    Thank you for all of your comments on this photo and it is great to hear so many different responses, suggestions and questions about my photography.
    I am sorry that I have not responded sooner but I have been very busy recently with work.

    This image is part of long-term project that I am working on about couples in the mood for love is about the celebration of love through the intimacy of couples. Most of the couples who I photograph in this project are friends or people close to me so it is easier to interact with them. I enjoy exploring aesthetic mood, experimenting personally and researching life in many ways through my photography. I am not focusing on any specific style like photojournalism etc…but more focused on visually experimenting for myself.
    The subjects in these photos know that they are being photographed and I stay with the couples for a long time so they can become comfortable with me. I do not direct the activity. Of course they know that I am present but the moments that I capture occur naturally. I’m not interested to make erotic photos. This image portrays unique intimacy for me along with an almost unreal atmosphere
    which is very real.
    Usually I adjust the color of images before capturing the pictures and I do very little in post production. I do not like to change the photos – I do not like to create fiction. I enjoy spending time with the couples and I patiently wait to capture moments that are happening in front of me – in real life. I look for unique moments that explore inside.
    I am always open to different points of view and greatly appreciate all of the comments that you have shared about my image. Thank you again for sharing your thoughts and I look forward to sharing more images with you soon.

    cristina

  44. I find the responses to this photograph amazing. Either people ‘read it dark’ and it creeps them out, or they (like myself) find it erotic and charged with positive sexuality.

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