Fishermen's child, a photo from Toliara, South

Photographer's Note

Cap Sainte Marie is the southernmost point of Madagascar and besides is also the junction point of Mozambique channel with Indian Ocean.
The sea is raw and dangerous here but teemed with fish. This is the reason why many fishermen gather here for the season although each year the sea claim various of their lives.

I took this shot in a place where some fishermen built their temporary huts not far from the coast.
Few people were there (many of them children) and the poverty is emphasized by the provisionality.
This child was quite shy so I prefered to take the photo fastly without choosing a better point of view not to frighten him much with my presence.

_______________

I was looking at some of your comments so I would like to explain better something.

First of all I never take shot if the people don't allow (if the people is watching me).
In this chance his mother was close and she was smiling. The child was a bit scary yes, but like everywhere out of the beaten tracks.
Then people in Madagascar threat their children to call a "vahaza", the word used for stranger, if they don't behave correctly... I think this one can be a reason...

andante, lestans, benkrut, Bien, happypoppeye has marked this note useful

Critiques | Translate

andante (7092) 2006-06-03 15:34

Luca, this is a heartbreaking shot... out of words... out of comments... very powerful portrait...

best regards,
Enrique

gabrielpat (7163) 2006-06-03 15:51

je trouve cette photo,quoique assez réussie,hors de sujet. nous sommes sur ce site pour découvrir le monde à travers les photos et y faire des progrès.depuis bien longtemps ces clichés "misérabilistes" du tiers monde ont été vus et revus.je trouve que c'est un manque de pudeur de voir la main du père qui tourne la tete de son fils vers ton objectif....histoire de faire un cliché choc!!!!pourtant sache que je suis très sensible à ces problèmes car j'y ai consacré plusieurs années de ma vie(5). je trouve déplacé de se mettre en valeur aux dépends de cet enfant,qui à l'heure actuelle reste dans sa misère quand tu es bien au chaud.

fijiphil (1355) 2006-06-03 16:01 [Comment]

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lestans (16770) 2006-06-03 16:46

Luca, che foto!! Terribile e bellissima. Bravissimo! Però che viso, che impressione....
Livia

twofun (1480) 2006-06-03 19:50

full of sense on photo.
what can i say. Everythings appear ...

Thank you for remember.

lewiz (1297) 2006-06-03 21:37

Hello Luca,
Wow... what an imposing shot! I love the way you've "placed" this boy's head in the frame, and how his eyes look a different way.
I notice that I'm really not very keen on the bokeh of this lens... the out-of-focus hand in the background looks odd to me and I suspect this is the reason.
Well done here, great stuff.
Lewis.

markoci (3927) 2006-06-04 0:24

i have no problem with the subject here, this is reality why should we sugarcoat it...what limit? the composition is spot on, a beautiful portrait overall that would make it straight into my favs if only:

1. he was looking into the camera (this i'm usually unsure of, but i feel quite strongly about it here)... maybe you have another shot?

2. the post processing.. the blurring effect here is just too artificial for me... i understand you wanted to bring out his beautiful face but i don't think the photo would have sufffered if the hand and the fabric were in focus (in fact quite the opposite imo, that hand makes the shot)

dolin (15647) 2006-06-04 14:09

Hi Luca.
Ca ne me dérange pas du tout ce type d'image, au contraire, je préfère 1000 fois ca, qui est touchant, prenant, qui ouvre les yeux !
Un plein centre sur ce pauvre petit visage et une dof à mon avis très intéressante.
Perso, je j'aime beaucoup ta photo.
Dolin

adam_k (600) 2006-06-04 14:44

Interesting face of a frightened (?) child... but the white frame does not fit the picture in my opinion

Bien (4739) 2006-06-05 2:35

Hi Luca, I'm very surprised about some of the reactions on this photo. I think it's a beautiful and very touching portrait. TE is the place where we share photos about the world, that can be a very peaceful picturesque landscape, but it can also be a strong daily life photo, like this one. I honestly believe that there is a bigger shock effect on for instance a photo of people working on the field (they work 12 hours and more a day, often in the burning sun, for hardly any money at all while at home they have a family of 10 to feed), that is shocking. Not a little boy that is carefully protected by a mother's hand. Perhaps a little scared yes, but shy mainly and as you add, probably because of the threats they have to hear as children. A very strong work Luca done with lots of respect and integrity. Sabine

portojo (181) 2006-06-20 5:30

Io penso che la photo è, simplemente, meravigliosa, piena de letture... Bravo!!!

happypoppeye (4817) 2007-06-10 1:37

Good. Ashame and disgusting but good. Focus right on the eyes. Color is excellent as is the composition, especially with the large hand on the left as part of the background. Sort of like a deperate child, yet still protected and loved. Great work.