In the Shadowsby
karmatComment: ~~~~Critique Club Comment~~~~
*Composition (content)*
The composition is not ideal. I suppose that the picture reflects the title, the life in the shadows. But the position of the man in relation to the sun is far from ideal in my personal opinion. The difference between the dark and bright area of the jacket is too big and detail is lost in the shadows. The shadow over the eyes takes some of the emotional aspects away.
I don't think that is was necessary to change the position, this might also have been overcome with a bit of fill flash. Keep most of the shadows, but brings also some detail back.
As already mentioned by someone else: Shoot from a slightly different angle or position the subject in a different place to get a better position in relation to the traffic lights and to get rid of the sign in the upper right corner (or include more of it).
The position of the subject in the frame is good.
*Background*
The background is not bad, but it also doesn't tell much about the subject.
You might also want to try a wider aperture (F4-F2.x) to blur the background, to focus the attention more on the man. It also blurs the trees that are not very interesting at this time of year.
The lines in the background provide good perspective/depth.
*Camera Work (Technical)*
Already mentioned: Try fill flash (and perhaps exposure compensation in combination with the fill flash or on the flash itself). Try to shoot with a wider aperture to get a narrower depth of field, blur the background.
Otherwise the exposure is good, focus good, perhaps a bit oversharpened (could also be the result of post processing).
*Digital Processing (technical)*
Perhaps a little less sharpening.
B&W is good.
Compression is good, no Jpeg artefacts.
*My opinion*
Interesting subject, but the background is a little bit boring. Can be improved technically.
There is no direct story and the subject expresses little emotion.