Purchase Expertise, a photo from Lao Cai, North East

Photographer's Note

Can Cau market, a little bit further.

Flower Hmong women were congregating around the fabrics stalls, where the only pieces sold are the gloriously colored and patterned Flower Hmong dresses : for who doesn't know what the word colorful means, I suggest learning through the Flower Hmong book.

Of course, you'd then argue that this photo should be in color. It doesn't make sense in BW... Why the hell?

...Lemme explain...

We should be colorblind too, because all the Hmong clothes seemed very similar to us, just an incredible array of color with loads of patterns.

One of the first thing I said to Nono Fixed, meeting him the day after, was : "I guess most of the scenes are strictly BW photo ops". I might have sounded quite foolish at the moment, although Nono nodded (He's a good folk too) ...and rushed to his Holga+Tri X.

I suppose the eye and the touch of the expert Flower Hmong woman makes the difference between some fabrics you wouldn't dress your horse with (No dog left, all of them have been eaten), and the one that'll tear them down with jealousy, these old rantin' b*tches at the village...

I'm hardly joking : I have been witnessing for quite a long time what was a passionate discussion between a teen girl and her mother purchasing a new dress.
I didn't understand a word but it went like (imagine they were fighting on what I would have thought similar coors and patterns):
"- You're not gonna go out and dress like that!
- Aaaaah... c'mon, you're always trying to buy me old fashioned style clohes, you don't know anything about the new flower Hmong fashion...
- Me alive. I cannot let you dress with that flower pattern!"... and so on

For the record, later in the day, a rainshower surprized us while soft trekking around the hills. We we had to find a cover quickly before my cameras got all drowned.
Eventually, a Hmong Flower boy offered us to come into his thatched 3 rooms house, the earth floored dressing room was filled up with hanging women clothes...probably more than a dozen, I guessed there were even more in the other rooms, I then assumed it was a numerous family living in this house... I was surprised of his reply when the boy told me tht the only women living in the house were his mother and his sister.

I suppose the girls will also complain everyday they have nothing to dress on. Aaaaah... ladies...

brevbrev14, designsoul, avis2avis, AnimeshRay, Homerhomer, everlasting, luisafonso, CedarBough, ruisc_pt ha contrassegnato questa nota come utile

Critiques | Translate

RGatward (20108) 2006-10-30 18:03

Hi Luko, as you say curious to present this in B&W, but I see you've brought out your old Leica again, must be a hard thing to put to bed, but I think it works like this, maybe the patterns even more obvious in B&W. Nice touch with the shallow DoF just on the item of interest to both parties.

avis2avis (4264) 2006-10-30 18:37

Which issue of NatGeo was this? ;)

Perfect 10 on the choice of bw for this. Just a little bit more of the face of the girl in the foreground wouldn't have hurt for me.

s10001in (0) 2006-10-30 18:44

Again with your Leica..ANALOG..B/W with damn lovely grain..
A soft touch...When I see this grain..I start feeling like listening a romantic tune..

I understood your point & I do agree with you for the issues like COST/Processing of analog but this is the beauty what I am missing ....

Luko, this is wonderful exhibation of Daily life of CAN-CAU.
Patternes from various ways..
WOW..Just PERFECT for me.
& that damn cute GRAIN!!!!!!!

vapours (8264) 2006-10-30 19:28

Another fantastic piece of work Luko, and when I say piece of work I mean it, it comes across as much more than just a snapshot. Like a vinyl record, theres so much thickness and depth to this shot. Those three deep patterns are great.

AnimeshRay (9089) 2006-10-30 19:55

Hi Luko,
Who cares about color of clothes in a photo like this! It's all about patterns, the urgency of the seller's hand movement caught in the air, about the look of shrewd appraisal on the face of the buyer--subtley softened so we know she is secondary to the seller--and we don't see the seller because she is only an urge to recon with in our mind, a generic Hmong clothe-seller woman...all this would be lost in color which will duely dazzle us with the beauty of the fabric, and we will go away missing the forest for the tree. Terrific choice.

Furachan (0) 2006-10-30 21:38

Everything here depends on the point of focus which you wisely (IMHO) optede to aim at the cloth (and that IS the poiint!) and not the faces which would have been the more orinary temptation for a photog as in "Well at least I'll nail that face!"
It give sthe whole frame a whirling dynamism that I think is quite extraordinary.
Again I say: your choice of "pique" was inspired, and the excellent Summicron did as it was told...;o)
-F

Homerhomer (4080) 2006-10-30 22:17

who a hell cares if it would have been better in colour, textures are out of this world, is this scanned from negative or from print. Some time ago (although I concur you may have been drunk when you said that) you suggested a print exchange, are you still up for that?
For the colour part, well you are the only one that knows if it would have worked, the actual colour of the clothes and the light would have determined that, perhaps try a colour conversion in PS;-)
Apart from technical aspects and your pure craftsmanship I most enjoy the feel of it (I hate shopping, especially with females - yet still), the universal joy of touching, looking, checking out, the joy of wanting, the social aspect of leisure-shopping, and while the feeling is universal, your setting is very direct, showing us the culture, habits and beauty of other parts of this world.
Now for the nitpick, the line cutting through the eyes of the girl in the back, the line itself does add to the geometry, just as in your last pic, but here it is in the worst possible place, possibly the best place for the line would be across her chest, or possibly above her head, perhaps clining out the line would be an option.

Peter
PS 1 - I was joking with the print exchange
PS 2 - glad you have updated pbase with more underwater shots, amazing stuff going on down under, please more.

Quentin (5280) 2006-10-31 3:24

Hi Luko
The choice of B&W was a very good idea! The closes of these girl
gave very nice design and it fits perfectly with a B&W shot.
Your composition looks like an old one and I like it very much.
Regards
Quentin

brevbrev14 (140) 2006-10-31 3:28

Hi LUko, in BW in BW !!!absolutely!!!!
i love the pattern and the games of the particular dresses!
i love the 3 levels of human elements with different blur!
YOUR COMPO JUST GREAT!
Beautiful and very intersting note!
This BW, as your last shot has a particular feeling to me...it seems a shot so old..!
Every time great emotions from your shots!

CIAO!
Valeria

p.s. what is it the white line on the top?

everlasting (19680) 2006-10-31 3:47

Food for thought,....... now I would never have thought about B&W for this, I hardly think about B&W for anything. But, I can see how the textures and patterns have a power of their own here. It is so well composed that the zig-zag form runs through the frame. The well chosen DOF and grain make it timeless.

luisafonso (862) 2006-10-31 3:55

To be honest Luko, I can't imagine this one in color. I mean, it would be another rainbow photo full of shiny reds and it would throw it to that overpopulated bag of pretty travel pictures we are becoming fed up with. Sorry, I know that I am also in the pot, but sometimes I become full of so much blazing color. Here you gave us that relief and boosted the mood focusing on the action itself and what is really important: textures. One can still imagine the colors and that act is by itself enough here. Love your point of focus. Both women eyes must be converging to that spot and making us part of that scene is also making us concentrate in that hand. Love the b&w and your wonderful control of light. Thanks

jasmis (58653) 2006-10-31 4:34

Really amazing shot. Interesting DOF, fine composition. To convert to B&W risky but proper decision. Fine note, too. Regards.

battousai (827) 2006-10-31 4:37

Wow... that's THE quality...

m_s_s (1691) 2006-10-31 6:03

Hello Luko.
This photo reminds me Henry Cartier - Bresson. this would be perfect composition - all the lines, people are in order - no mess in the background. i love this b&w grain. well done.
regards

nerve (10231) 2006-10-31 7:26

an excellent example of a vertical composition. her arm and hand position are crucial here. kind of HCB feeling in it again..grains are lovely..would be interesting to see how it would look like in 'Reala' actually..

white rope ('robe' is corrected, sorry!) bugs me here i have to confess.
cheers.

delnaja (2056) 2006-10-31 7:31

Bonjour Luko,
encore su grain et ce n&b... Ils sont délicieux et apportent le p'tit côté arty de la photo. La compo, n'en parlons pas... elle est très bonne.
Je vois que certains sont gênés par le "fil blanc"... moi, non, au contraire ça aide à bien balancer la compo. Une de mes amis, qui est peintre, utilise souvent un trait dans ces toiles pour équilibrer l'ensemble.
Du Grand Art.... Respect...
Fred

rowanb (864) 2006-10-31 7:59

i love the texture of that hand on the clothing, its what i zero in on when i look at this picture.
never mind the lack of colour, its all about the patterns and textures here.

ALSOM (6616) 2006-10-31 8:04

La texture et les motifs de leurs tenues sont magnifiques. L'absence de couleurs nous amène à diriger notre regard sur les lignes et courbes, le travail de tissage minutieux sur les tneues et étoffes ... Un vrai travail d'orfèvre. Etrangement ces courbes me rappellent les strates rocheuses d'un coin célèbre des Etat-Unis, sauf qu'ici c'est de la fibre naturelle ...

Oppps il y a un fil d'Ariane qui prend sont envol ...
Merci, Alain -

designsoul (17843) 2006-10-31 9:39

I much agree with your choice of bw, Luko, the shapes, the patterns' contrasts come out even more. The shot is tremendously composed, forming a formidable zig-zag pattern from the back, the arm, the hand of the front woman through the bewildered face of the other to the clothesline in the back. I love the grit, this amazing grit that no digital camera can produce, truly... the wonderful tones from dark to light, and of course these intricate patterns. And all capped with a sensuous shallow depth!
thanks for the story too,
sasa
ps will be back

naxius (16685) 2006-10-31 16:32

Salut Luko,
Toujours un grand plaisir de découvrir depuis les vignettes une nouvelle photo signée Luko ;o
Et celle-ci ne déroge pas à la règle..
L'ambiance est vraiment extra..j'ai l'impression que c'est une photo que tu viens de sortir du grenier et qu'il y a encore la poussière sur le scan!
Vraiment très belle atmosphère.
J'aime beaucoup.
Alex

maciekda (19895) 2006-11-01 10:39

and this one is very nice, dense composition, beautiful bokeh and nice effect of shallow DOF, beautiful B&W. i didn't find this cable distracting first, but now it is a bit annoying. nice work

recepyuksel (18640) 2006-11-21 17:01

Great bw compo,patterns and asian face r superbe,
congrats

CedarBough (74) 2006-11-25 7:20

I love this photo. The woman who is facing us is clear enough and the sharp focus on the shopper and her potential purchase plus the eyes of the other woman focused on that same item really bring the photo together. The star of the shot, I think, should be the lovely fabric both on the women and in the one woman's hands. I love it, if you were still there, I'd be asking you to send me some! And it works very well with B and W because of the texture.

Great photo.

ruisc_pt (11594) 2007-04-07 11:34

Luko .
Great story and "eye"
I like this mood particulary.. who knows the colors absence made the diference,, tought
R