In the middle of somewhere, a photo from Midlands, West

Photographer's Note

I remain in Musume, a village – or maybe it was a district – in southern Zimbabwe in January 1984. I had never heard of this small place before I arrived in the country, and walking along the village roads I really thought I had ended up in the middle of nowhere.

But how wrong I was! Passing by the bus station I was very surprised to find that no less than eight bus companies had daily services here, four of them providing daily connections with the capital Harare, more than 400 km away.

This was far from the middle of nowhere, it was clearly at least the middle of somewhere.

Here you see a bus from the Shu Shine company preparing to leave. Plenty of passengers were waiting for a bus to another destination.

Two more photos from a walk through Musume are in the WS. They were all scanned from Kodak TRI-X negatives, original B&W.

Fis2, Royaldevon, pierrefonds, jhm, PaulVDV, ChrisJ, COSTANTINO, ikeharel, ktanska, adramad, jean113, clic ha contrassegnato questa nota come utile

Critiques | Translate

pajaran (114971) 2021-03-11 0:35

Pozdrav.
lepi pogledi i trenuci, dobar tekst ...
Dobar rad sa crno belim fotografijama, dobro pokazano.
lepe fotografije u radionici i secanje.
Putnici se spremaju za svoje putovanje.
Zelim vam lep dan, sve najbolje.
Paja

Fis2 (169791) 2021-03-11 0:35

Witaj Gert my neighbour today :)!
Today I made it!
Another interesting set of photos from your archive.
Excellent pictures from daily life.
Wonderful B&w photos.
Well done.
Have a nice day.
Krzysztof

Silvio1953 (220665) 2021-03-11 0:45

Ciao Gert, nice B&W scene with beautiful bus and a lot of people, excellent clarity, splendid light and fine details, very well done, my friend, ciao Silvio

Royaldevon (85638) 2021-03-11 2:41

Hello Gert,

In the middle of somewhere but still sparsely populated by our standards.
I wonder how often the residents travel to Harare, or how often to more local places. The loading of boxes onto the roof of the bus suggests maybe, taking something to sell.

It's a fine, sharp photograph, as are the w/s. Those round houses look very pristine. I wonder if the womenfolk are still used like slaves! Let's hope Women's Lib has made progress!

I looked up the place on Google and was directed to the Sweden Mission, amongst other things. I was looking to find which other destinations for these buses.

Thanks for these,
Bev :-)

pierrefonds (113634) 2021-03-11 6:17

HI Gert,

You have captured well a daily life scene. The point o0f view is showing the details of the bus. It is clear and sharp. Have a nice day.

Pierre

jhm (211734) 2021-03-11 7:59

Hello Gert,

A lovely black and white panorama view with the bus as subject.
But all the people remain very quiet, wait on the access on the bus.
Very well composition, good presentation too.
Excellent done, TFS.

Best regards,
John.

everlasting (19680) 2021-03-11 8:03

a great PoV and daily life image. Lots to look at and wonder about. Nice storytelling

jmdias (114318) 2021-03-11 8:11

gert

the three images are nice, but I liked the main post more. nice details of the local daily life with clothes and usual aspects of the life in a rural zone in those days. once I used such specie of bus in bolivia with the luggage above of us. nice images telling a moment of the past.

take care

jorge

Tue (91612) 2021-03-11 12:12

Hej Gert,
Et godt indtryk fra busstationen i byen hvor det var klart at man godt havde brug for de mange busforbindelser for der stod og sad jo mange mennesker og ventede på en bus og også bussen i baggrunden synes at være ret travl. God timing med de tre personer der var i gang med en kuffert.
Lars

lousat (138655) 2021-03-11 12:17

Hi Gert,3 beautiful black and white showing daily life moment from this village,not so "desert" beacause a lot of bus to the capital,so full of life..ehhee..i like the 2 WS too,especially the bar, good life for men as i can read in your note..ehehe..well done! Have a nice weekend and thanks,Luciano

PaulVDV (62804) 2021-03-11 14:50

Hello Gert,
It happens that places in a country have nothing special for a foreigner and are therefore unknown, but are not unimportant in the country itself and are therefore quite easily accessible.
The waiting room in the bus station, however does not look that luxurious.
Beautiful name for the bus company.
Interesting round houses in the WS. Probably not that comfortable to live in.
A man's life in Musume is not that bad, I read in the WS :)
Best regards, Paul

ifege (47013) 2021-03-11 20:12

Hi Gert
So this is the bus to nowhere! 3 good B&W photos from the village.
cheers
Ian

ChrisJ (171280) 2021-03-12 1:16

Hello Gert,

It's always nice to explore somewhere well off the beaten tourist tracks. Good tonal range and sharpness. The very long rear of the bus without wheels is unusual. Tfs!

COSTANTINO (115583) 2021-03-12 22:16

Hello dear Gert
every photo of yours brings your personal
stamp..I like your thoughts describing
what we see here...
....this was far from the middle of
....nowhere it was clearly at least
the middle
of somewhere......
regards
Costantino

ikeharel (112475) 2021-03-13 1:04

Hello Gert,
Thank you for the critique to my latest post, well distinct description you wrote.
As for this picture, a middle of nowhere - is always somewhere...
Old pictures which superbly scanned, as always, people are the main subject, daily life par-excellence pictures.
Wish you a nice qweekend,
Ike

ktanska (44492) 2021-03-13 3:15

Hej Gert,
Wonderful daily life picture. You have an excellent angle showing waiting people and the bus. The big tree on the corner is well placed too. It is a long bus. And Shu-Shine is a funny name.
Kari

foxy (3447) 2021-03-13 4:00

Hello Gert,
I was wondering, how on earth ....you could ended up in the middle of somewhere or doing in the middle of nowhere...
Unless, you were on 'mission' spreading good news along with the two fellowmen :-)
A bus station like this, I would never imagine I could ever see one like this before. It's very busy with the locals :-)
I do like the name of the bus company. 'Shu Shine'...well, if it was meant for 'shoe-shine' advertisement then the company will definitely goes bust.
Tbh, I do like the bus - one old reliable mean of transportation.
Ha!Ha! in the WS1. All I could say is 'welcome to the Man's World'. But things are changing.....'Equality' for all.
The children in the WS2, a school ? where a snake found in one of these huts !!! I feel safer playing on a swing :-)
Thanks for sharing this 'remote village'.
Loong

adramad (72564) 2021-03-13 9:47

Hi Gert.
I think about how difficult life should be in this place, especially for women and after reading your note, what men did,? ... just drink beer.
You were very determined to travel alone to such a secluded place, but without a doubt you were visiting the authentic, without any preparation for tourism, despite the poverty the place has an important positive thing and it is quite wooded, at least this is not a village between semi-desert areas.
Good management, both of brightness and sharpness.
Very well done. I like it.
Enjoy the weekend.
My best wishes for you.
Luis

GyurMaster (24672) 2021-03-13 11:40

Dear Gert,

It's a nicely composed photograph, I like how the bus and the passengers are arranged. The human activities - like those packing the luggage at the end of the bus - make the photo more interesting.

Best Wishes,
Gy.

jean113 (27639) 2021-03-14 15:39

Hello Gert, a lovely shot of these people at the bus stop.
Well composed. No-one is taking any notice of you which adds to the charm of the picture, daily life just going on.
All three are very interesting but I do like this one the best.
Kind regards, Jean.

clic (76) 2021-03-17 7:59

Hallo Gert
You had successfully combined two pictures of daily life in one: First, the action shot showing the bus driver uploading personal goods on top. The frenetic line up of people 'breaking the door down' with the hope of having room 'in there' is also part of the commotion!
My second impression is related to the peaceful behaviour of travelers determined to stand up with the help of canes in the 'waiting room' while luckily the kids have seats, according to the new behavioral attitudes!
This picture wins renown for the true-to-life exotic ambience.
Halsningar

mcmtanyel (67709) 2021-03-18 19:17

Hello Gert,
I like the old bus and the trees in the background. It looks like a small village in western Turkey in the 70s.
Regards,
MT

kasianowak (17672) 2021-03-28 14:02

Maybe it's true what I heard that in less affluent societies, where people can't afford cars, public transport is better than in more developed economies? I never really believed that but here we go...
As for the second WS - looks like the segregation of duties within families are similar to many other places in the world.
Have a nice week
Kasia