Hospital kitchen - Livingstonia Photo

Photographer’s Note

The hospital in Livingstonia in the northern part of Malawi. The woman that was cooking said that this was the kitchen of the hospital and she was cooking fish and rice for her daughter. finally I am confused, how come she was cooking for her daughter in the hospital kitchen..?
and Livingstonia is a very special place, one of the nicest places I visited during my trip, an old small town around a Christian mission on a top of a big hill, with many brown European buildings - they look so strange there, 15 km uphill from the main road, I will post a few more pics from that place probably

Praetzer, sadeik, Nicou, m_s_s, eversmile, nwoehnl, leonorkuhn, michiels, kevinos, nikkN6, sanalytis, SamB, ramesh_lalwani, tjanze, nicoz, Albrecht, AnimeshRay has marked this note useful

Critiques | Translate

Roly (1958) 2007-01-22 13:07

Nice work once again Maciek. I can't make up my mind regarding the missing head, would I have liked it there, or maybe not... It is a strong image either way, the contrast between the dull background and the few bright spots of color render it rather surreal. Great composition around the two women and brilliant use of light.

Luko (13894) 2007-01-22 13:11

Nice composition as usual, but watch out the cold chromatism of your pics, I don't know whether you've changed your monitor or your camera white balance settings but your recent pics tend to fall into a cold cast. Last one was biased towards magenta, this one lurks pretty heavily to blue, if you look at the foreground woman skin color.

[3] +

Praetzer (1657) 2007-01-22 13:16

I totally join the opinion of Roly. Alfred

sadeik (3159) 2007-01-22 13:24

A good image of life in another country, bizarre. I wonder if they would let you do that in English hospitals!
A very nice photo and I like the composition.

Simon

Nicou (44663) 2007-01-22 13:24

Hello,

Très émouvant ce cliché, très belle mise en page le premier sujet met bien en valeur la cuisinière.Les couleurs sont mangifiques.

Félicitations.

Nicou

m_s_s (1649) 2007-01-22 13:32

Bold Try with cropped head Maciej,
probably it would be regular photo with full head, or great photo, you never know. now it's good as it is. there is something wrong with light/colors - woman in foreground doesn't look very clear. it might be strong light coming trough window, smoke of cooking or just white balance as Luko noticed. nice work.
regards

nwoehnl (120) 2007-01-22 14:28

Hi Maciek, I hope all is well. I think that this is one of your best Africa photos that you published on TE so far. The humbling simplicity of this kitchen is well illustrated and of course the staggered placement of the two women works well and delivers the required storytelling aspect. The color setting is leaning a bit towards the blue channel but other than that it is a compelling impression from this place.

leonorkuhn (13559) 2007-01-22 14:31

Hi Maciej,

Sad reality. Many people have almost nothing. Good composition, good frame too.
Best Regards,
Leonor

michiels (4170) 2007-01-22 16:38

hello Maciej ,

It is not so strange that people have to bring their own food to their family in the hospital. I also heard that in Thailand. A friend of mine was there and he didn't know anybody, so he went in pijama into the street to buy some bananas ...
Great photo, it is not only a beautiful photo, but i like the information we get through this kind of photos.
best regards, inn

kevinos (6927) 2007-01-22 17:48

Bold compositiom and an image full of atmosphere and significance. regards kevin

nikkN6 (328) 2007-01-22 18:35

Very beautiful composition!
...The colours just fabulous!
Great!

Nikos

sanalytis (1634) 2007-01-22 20:13

Hi Maciej,

Thank you for posting such a powerful image. This photo tells a story and then some. Excellent composition on your part, including the complete head would of made this image ordinary instead of extrodinary.

Spiros

s10001in (1485) 2007-01-22 20:36

Dear Maciej,
You are really close to your subject & jabbing the camera in.
As documentry you are doing great job..
As Luko pointed out about the color cast..keeping it aside for time being..As reposrting work this is impressive work.

Keep it up.
-Regards,

peterinter (168) 2007-01-22 23:16

hi maciekda nice shot

SamB (1948) 2007-01-22 23:41

Hello, Maciej--
Nice work here, i like that you went with a full DOF rather than lazily bokehing out the foreground. With the exception of the already mentioned blue cast, i really like the color scheme, occasional flashes of intense colors against the neutrals of the scene. The differences in expression of the two figures are nice, one looking up, head out of the frame, but lips suggesting a rather distant expression, while the other seems happily cooking.
Thanks!
sam

tjanze (5674) 2007-01-23 4:16

Hi Maciej!
I like how you cut head to woman on left.Automaticaly is eye leading to woman on back and what she is doing.
Perfect,very smart composition.Bravo!
Colors,angle of view,note...+++.
Regards!

nicoz (1963) 2007-01-23 5:32

Hi Maciej!
Nice one! The compo is great, I quite like the daring choice of "cuting the head" of the lady in the foreground. It gives a strange filling to the photo. I also like the way the photo is packed with details, nothing's empty, and everything's at its place. Appart from the blue cast that struck me straight away, the colors a re just great with the flashy blues and yellows.
Looking forward to seeeing the rest of your photos ;-)
Nicolas

ninaL (19466) 2007-01-23 5:44

Piekne reporterskie zdjecie.
Ciekawe, wazne, i dobrze wykonane.

Pozdrawiam. Grazyna.

Ralfhar (571) 2007-01-23 6:38

Hi!

Very good shot!
I like the composition.
well done

denis

Furachan (0) 2007-01-23 8:43

First class compo, Maciej, all the way! Documentaryt photojournalism does not come any better than this. Somehw the vropped face of the woman on the left speaks volumes. Powerful stuff.
A big BRAVO from New York!
Francis

wolf38 (12734) 2007-01-23 8:58

Hello Maciej. Again an interesting photo of the focuses of the world. It announces us with living conditions of the people and their problems. The black background strengthens the picture statement really worth seeing. Best regards, Wolfgang.

Albrecht (11014) 2007-01-23 11:33

Hi Maciej
Unbelievable scene; a kitchen of a hospital.......The dark atmosphere and all the details fit in there very well and teel the story also clear.
Nice cropping though the missing head of the woman in front????I don't know if I like that, but the picture is impressive with the story.
take care, Albrecht

polter (6080) 2007-01-23 14:12

Wspaniały kadr. Wracam i wracam do tego zdjęcia - jakiś niezwykły nastrój się tu wytworzył; myślę, że ręce - te bezwładnie opuszczone ręce mają coś do powiedzenia w tej sprawie. Podoba mi się koloryt - jakby zaciągnięty sinym dymkiem. I tyle wspaniałych detali... Bardzo, bardzo... Pozdrawiam T.

AnimeshRay (8886) 2007-01-23 20:20

Yes, I like it a lot. Superb framing. The color treatment alone gives it a peculiarly 'African' feel, then of course that deliberate cutting off of the foreground face. Brilliant!

Darren (6817) 2007-01-25 8:36

This is a very different look, with the severly cropped woman in front adn your subject in the back. Really quite a nice shot I think, although in a perfect world, the light would be better I think and I can't say that I care for the blue tone of the colors/white balance.

scalerman (25731) 2007-01-31 1:44

Maciej: there's a new flavour to your African portfolio - your style is constantly evolving. Though I don't get by often, I enjoy viewing your stuff. This is easily the most provocative of your recent uploads. Best, c

vagabondtravels (6103) 2007-01-31 6:19

Hey Maciej

Nice comp and colors. Great documentary style shot.
Good capture of daily life. Well done.
Ben

simplyoga (5102) 2007-04-17 6:10

I love this photo very much...
very niceeee..
PEACE,
Yoga