Critiques

  Iuli (838) 2008-04-25 22:38

Dear Johannes,
Around this time last year, while browsing through the TE photos, I learned that Christian Orthodox faithful do not use this word to refer to the celebration of Christ's resurrection. Instead they stick with the traditional word "Pascha". I obviously knew that we use it in Romanian and also knew that Catholics in France or Italy use the same word, but hadn't bothered to find out the correct translation into English. I was simply using what the media feeds us. Meanwhile, I checked that out and I got the confirmation. As an example, the faithful of the Orthodox Chrurch of America call this celebration Pascha.
All the best,
Iulian

Iuli (838) 2008-02-22 14:52

Nice one, Johannes, but, as I was telling someone who pointed your photo out to me, I feel like it lacks a subject, probably somewhere in the foreground. It looks like a beautiful background... We have a beautiful country, don't we? And I'm one of those who likes landscapes with trees in'em. But, as I said, in front of all this there should've been something else. You had a good eye, though. I guess with Anellise's PP skills this could become a very attractive photo. I think she'll like it.
TFS
Iulian

Iuli (838) 2008-01-23 14:00

Hey, it's not their fault a city was built over there. That's what happens everywhere in the world when the powerful impose their rules upon the poor. The latter have to brake the rules in order to live their life.
Its a sad and funny picture at the same time.
TFS
Iulian
PS I was obviously kidding about the city being built there. I'm aware about the size of Lahore city.

Iuli (838) 2008-01-19 23:21

A bit less popular than the photo showing the interior court but this one is my favorite. It's such an amazing snapshot of an away-from-it-all place. I'm almost speechless. I don't know what to say. Although it looks so bare, with few objects scattered across the room, this sleeping chamber seems to tell so much... there's a lifetime of stories behind that family picture alone. I love how the curvature of the room seems to bring everything together.
I have a couple of questions, though. I hope you have some sort of answer and maybe you can write a line or two about. First, I have no idea what the furniture-like object, that extension of the wall is. And then about the bed area. I would have expected the pillows to have been placed against the back wall, or maybe the bed doesn't go all the way to the wall... And I was wondering about the wall dugout next to the bed. Is it some sort of heating place for the winter months and/or the cold nights?
TFS
Iulian

Iuli (838) 2008-01-19 22:57

Hm... there go more lines...
A perfectly composed photo to show exactly the point you were trying to make in the note here as well as elsewhere about most particular aspect of this place in your view.
What intrigues me is the lime paint. It makes sense that over the summer months the white of the lime paint would help better reflect the sun light and thus keep the temperature down. But why the brown sand-like paint on top? Is that some sort of compromise for the winter months?
TFS
Iulian

Iuli (838) 2008-01-19 22:43

What a photographer can do with a good camera in their hand. With my point-and-shoot I wouldn't have been able to see anything but a dark spot in the center of the image.
A good intro to your troglodyte series... sparking the viewer's curiosity.
TFS
Iulian

Iuli (838) 2008-01-19 22:36

A-ha!... here it was the info I was looking for. I had missed this note the first time around.
Parfaite!
Merci,
Iulian
PS What's that wire/rope doing there? Is it some sort of air drying line? I certainly hope it's not a power line. Not because I would refuse the inhabitants the access to electric power but I'd hate to learn that a power line gets in the way of a nice photo even in a place like this one.

Iuli (838) 2008-01-19 22:27

Hi, Giorgio!
I found this photo going from your comment to one of gelor's photos on a similar subject.
Interesting report!
TFS
Iulian
PS Sorry for not writing in French. It's much easier for me in English.

Iuli (838) 2008-01-19 22:15

Bonjour, Gerard!

I was looking at this Tunisia/Gabes shot series of yours after spotting the photo showing the sleeping chamber on the Main Page as part of a theme about underground living quarters or something of sorts. I like these photos a lot. They fit so well the expectations set by the TE mission statement... The only drawback I see is that I would've liked to see a little more info about the life style especially when you point out that it is vanishing away and there's not much about it on TE. But I'm glad I got to see the shots and read the notes you posted.

"Poverty is not a virtue" but it seems to me that this "grand gentillesse" is most often encountered in poor communities. It seems to me that the richer a community gets the more it loses its humanity. The greed takes over. I don't know if this is necessarily a trait of the competition-based life style in the western civilization but this is what I'm more familiar with. I believe there was a book published about this subject about a year or two ago. I didn't get to read it but maybe everyone of us should. It's a comparison of the western life style with the life style of several communities around the world were the people were living longer and/or happier lives than the average citizen in a western society. I've noticed this change in my country after the fall of the communist regime almost 20 years ago, when we went from a relatively closed society to a "democratic, competition-based" society. I've noticed this "grand gentillesse" dying out. Well, I haven't spent much time home in the recent years and I hope it's not as bad as it seems seen mostly from far away. There are signs of hope too and I really hope they won't be squashed by the wild capitalism imposed upon the people by various interest groups.

TFS
Iulian

Iuli (838) 2008-01-13 21:46

Wow! Superb shot, Claudiu! I tried something similar in terms of presentation a while ago but yours came out perfect. It's just amazing. I wouldn't ask for technical data since what I find amazing about it is the idea of the shot: the PoV choice and the composition. Well, the PP is good too. But I think some info about the place, at least a description of the thing we're looking at would be warranted. I keep starring at the wall in the middle of the image and I can't believe it's real.
TFS
Iulian