Contrast everywhere Photo

Photographer’s Note

In Lomé, the capital of Togo, you could see everywhere big contrasts, old fishing boats in the harbour and new industry areas, highways and roads full of sandy dust, people driving expensive limousines and women carrying goods on their heads. We see a lot of poverty, but the live is always vibrating and the people are very friendly and open minded. It takes less then some minutes and you are in contact with people who want to know where you are coming from, what you're doing and they know more about European football then me. And I was surprised that some young people could speak german very well.

And a temperature of about 33C degress and more then 95% humidity - a permanent sauna. Every picture gets a little bit hazy.
__________________

Togo's population of 6.3 million people (2006 est.) is composed of more than 20 ethnic groups. The two major groups are the Ewe in the South and the Kabye in the North. Population distribution is very uneven due to soil and terrain variations. The population is generally concentrated in the south and along the major north-south highway connecting the coast to the Sahel. The ethnic groups of the coastal region, particularly the Ewes (about 21% of the population), constitute the bulk of the civil servants, professionals, and merchants, due in part to the former colonial administrations which provided greater infrastructure development in the south. The Kabye (12% of the population) live on marginal land and traditionally have emigrated south from their home area in the Kara region to seek employment. Their historical means of social advancement has been through the military and law enforcement forces, and they continue to dominate these services.

Most of the southern peoples use the Ewe or Mina languages, which are closely related and spoken in commercial sectors throughout Togo. French, the official language, is used in administration and documentation. The public primary schools combine French with Ewe or Kabye as languages of instruction, depending on the region. English is spoken in neighboring Ghana and is taught in Togolese secondary schools. As a result, many Togolese, especially in the south and along the Ghana border, speak some English.
(from U.S. Department of State)

AiresSantos, snunney, BennyV, Gerrit, dip, stego, yaya13baut, bakes888, jlbrthnn, ilvao, axiotea, JCG, ruisc_pt, vinicio, Docarmo, jaywalker, jafadabret, plimrn has marked this note useful

Critiques | Translate

AiresSantos (41780) 2009-03-26 2:35

Hi Achim
Wonderful details in this fine picture from Lome. Magnificent colours, low DOF and light management
TFS and have a nice day
Aires

didemay (2431) 2009-03-26 2:39

Hello Achim,
A very beautiful photo of daily life with a beautiful blurry background. I adored the lady who really has great neck muscles:)
Best Regards,
D:)

snunney (34538) 2009-03-26 2:52

Hello Achim,
A good street capture. I like how you have lifted the lady with her load from the background but still left sufficient detail to set her in her surroundings. Very good colours and sharpness where need. Informative and useful note.

BennyV (4598) 2009-03-26 3:38

Hello Achim,
Lovely street shot of a place I hope to visit one day. Beautiful position of the woman. Though generally I very much prefer open and face-to-face shots of people, here shooting the back is functional within the street scene. Good picture!
Benny

sacavem (8211) 2009-03-26 3:42

Olá Achim,

The background blurred is beautiful.Funny and well seen.Good Daily life from Lome.Very good POV and nice colours.
Filipe

Gerrit (35591) 2009-03-26 10:15

Great shot, Achim.
I've not seen many pictures of Togo here, so thanks.
Very promising. Excellent composition.
Regards, gerrit

dip (12520) 2009-03-26 11:19

Hallo Achim,
eine interessante Strassenszene gut eingefangen mit 3D Effekt,
informative Notize dazu,
Grüße,
Dimitris.

stego (22350) 2009-03-26 11:42

Hallo Achim,
I see you are back from Africa, and from an Africa even less known than it's usual!
It's a fine capture of the street life, "condensed" in the back of the colourful woman carrying all that stuff, well detached from the BG by the DOF.
Grüße, José.

yaya13baut (2273) 2009-03-26 12:21

hi Achim,
good street scene capture, with well DOF. The eye focus on the lady carrying the metal containers on her head, as we can see in every street of Africa.
good light that emphasizes the metal of the containers and the color of her dress.
Thanks to learn us more about the country in your note and more especially about its society.
Yannis

ahmetgedikli (21769) 2009-03-26 13:34

Hi Achim,
Superb shot! Wonderful colors, details and good DOF. Good work!
All the best.Ahmet

bakes888 (18055) 2009-03-27 0:56

Hi Achim. Nice capture, well balanced composition and good use of narrow DOF. Nice work and thanks for sharing.
Have a good weekend, Paul.

vincz (19039) 2009-03-27 1:50

Great catch, so great depth, beautiful colors, great balance.

jlbrthnn (37505) 2009-03-27 2:46

Hello Achim,
Superb photograph, with its quality and the subject, beautiful and interesting.
Contrast is underlined by the back blur. Very well considering and surprisingly carried out. Congratulations.
Have a nice day
Cordially
Joël

ilvao (2248) 2009-03-27 3:44

Dear Achim,

I LIKE YOUR PHOTO AND LOVE TOGOLESE PEOPLE !
GREAT DESCRIPTION
all the best
olivier

axiotea (16025) 2009-03-27 5:31

Hello Achim
I'm one that likes picture from the back! The off centered framing gives space for a pleasant BG bokeh.
Cheers from Bangkok
Marilyn

Miha2ou7 (4891) 2009-03-27 5:42

Hey Achim,

That`s a classic. The vibrant life you`ve mentioned in the note is beautifully expressed in the picture. Great focus, and of course, intense colors.
Thanks for sharing, glad to see yet another country on the map. :)

Best regards.

JCG (25089) 2009-03-27 11:15

Hi Achim,

A very nice management settings of the image that gives a good depth. This woman is clear about the background. I love the light. Nice look Achim and thank you for the interesting note.

With all my friendships and a very good WE,

Jean-Charles

ruisc_pt (6206) 2009-03-27 13:25

simply fabntastic. A fabulous bokeht
TFS Achim
R

vinicio (22322) 2009-03-28 5:41

Very good use of the DoF for a nice portrait and a beautiful picture, compliments Achim, well done.
Have a nice WE
Ciao
Vinicio

Docarmo (8814) 2009-03-28 9:57

Hallo Achim,
I like a lot this image with the focus on the acrobatic equilibrist woman. We have this kind of view in some places of Brazil too, and they perform acrobatics in life too, because, unfortunately, it is not easy to survive.
Thanks for sharing,
MCV

anducina (8085) 2009-03-28 12:32

Picturesque--the colorfully-dressed woman on the FG, with those metallic object on her head, the nicely blurred BG...

jaywalker (12190) 2009-03-28 13:26

Hi Achim, The DOF is perfect to highlight the lady & her great hear wear, this is a superb daily life photo with excellent light & colour, TFS, kind regards Wilson.

jafadabret (39263) 2009-03-29 1:07

Bonjour Achim.
Belle photo et excellente note sur ce pays et ses habitants. Cette photo est bien composée avec en premier plan très net la femme qui marche dans la rue avec la vaisselle sur la tête.
Excellent !
Jacques

jmdias (19041) 2009-03-30 3:09

achim

nice detail of the daily life in africa. The woman is nicely show, with big sharpness and good light. I liked the framing too

hugs

jorge

plimrn (19592) 2009-03-30 9:56

Hi Achim,
Great DOF captures the woman in sharp contrast against a soft background that decreases the 'too much information' of many street scenes. I suspect that your title referred to the technical photographic aspect as well as the sociological one. Nice work!

I opened this photo to learn more about Togo, and you exceeded my expectations with your fascinating and detailed note.

HLJ, Pat

asl (246) 2009-10-05 2:21

Dear Achim, this is a superbe photo from Togo! It captures the mood perfectly and still stands out as a beautiful photo (colors, composition, ect.)Well done! Anne-Sophie