Image softness storytelling

Following my thoughts on image storytelling (in this post) I now can reason why I like this image I captured the other day.
Would the photograph "tell the story" in the same way if the image would be pin sharp?
I don't believe so...


adapted X-Fujinon 50mm f1.6   1/8000sec

This image is a combination of slight miss-focus with a lens that is not that sharp to start with.
As I used an adapted old SLR manual-focus lens wide-open the view appeared slightly blurry and glowy. That lens renders a sharper image and much better contrast when I close its aperture a bit; but in doing that I would have lost the vintage appeal and separation of the main subject against the background.

Would I have been using instead my superbly sharp (comparable angle of view) modern lens done a better job?
Maybe.
If the viewer is bent on sharpness and precision, recording an event and place with minute details, then yes, by a long margin.
But if the viewer can create in his/her mind a story around that image then I am afraid to say that the super sharp lens would probably not help to create that look of nostalgia.
And that is why I burden myself with the awkward old glass from film days, where I can create "the feel" that my modern lenses can not.

Story telling through an image

I like the concept of story-telling through a static single image.

While beautiful landscape photographs do capture my attention and I often admire the location and the capturing techniques, rarely are those images remembered.

And then there are moments that are captured where the photograph goes beyond the initial visual appeal: an image that tells a story.

Alone

Cosmicar 50mm f1.4  1/320sec

These images however have limited appeal because each viewer perceives them on a different level, depending on his/her personal life experiences and cultural background.
Images that evoke a certain emotion are very subjective as individuals draw on their emotional precedents (and image memory-bank) to be stirred by the two dimensional representation of a feeling that might have experienced in the past.
To reinforce one's perception the title usually gives away the photographer's intention.

PS. If all you see above is a poorly executed photograph of an old park bench and a blurry passerby in the background, then this concept might be lost on you...