November 2007
The story behind it
01/11/2007
On a journey to India, Varanasi is one of the important stops. At dawn, seeing the action along the shores of the Ganges is something really worth for the tourist traveller, making contact with the local people. Our “captain” was a good companion and didn’t fail. In this photo he prepares his chewing tobacco for a pause. We hear bells, prayers and the water. It smells smoke and other things.The traveller and writer Gonçalo Cadilhe chose a photo like this for the cover of the book "À Volta do Mundo por Terra e Mar".
Comment
Technical issues
01/11/2007
It is a photograph taken with the Kodak 100VS professional slide film. It is known to saturate colours, being very much used for travel photography to these places, where colours are so rich.For this type of photo a fixed 24mm lens is the right one, catching the boat’s details and the horizon. There is a slight barrel distortion, but not severe. The flash helped providing global lighting of the boat/rower and to bring up contrast in respect to the background.
Critial review
01/11/2007
It may be a photo of a common situation, for the tourist, ok. Anyhow, the photo is unique: two main planes - the rower/boat, with their weight and presence, and the arched horizon, from close to far in the distance; the boat lines start from the corners, providing dynamics; the two lines along the margins, in arch, converge towards the left; the rower is at the middle, starring at us, with a dominating and penetrating presence; in between his rows, the boat and the background are his life; the use of lense and flash were fundamental.Where you should place it
01/11/2007
You should place the right photograph in the right place.This photo is normally demanding in terms of lighting, for its contrasts and coulor richness. Without good lighting you loose its particular visual content, inspiration and presence, transmitted by the central character. I advise hanging it on a monochromatic, light or dark brown, dark grey wall. I don't think that a colourful wall is a good idea. It's a dinning-room or a special office photo, as a large print. It's a strong photo, but provides balance to the place, turning out to being visually light.
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