Old town atmosphere, Sousse, a photo from Sousse, North

Photographer's Note

Old town atmosphere, Sousse (with the Sousse Ribat in the background)

This is one of the finest and best conserved buildings of the series of “fortress-monasteries” that dotted the North African coastline to serve both as defences against assailants come from overseas and as a place for spiritual retreats.
The Sousse Ribat was built at the end of the VIIIth century. Its architectural style is broadly inspired by the style of the Byzantines who preceded the Arab conquerors on African soil. In fact, building materials reclaimed from Antiquity were extensively used in the construction of the monument.
Behind the sturdy crenellated walls surmounted by a watchtower that also served as a minaret, the building is built on two levels opening on a courtyard entirely bordered with arcaded porticos. The upper level contained the austere cells of “solider-monks”, while the entire southern wing is occupied by the vast prayer room.

Sousse

Sousse (Arabic سوسة Sousa), is a city of Tunisia. Located 140 km south of Tunis, the city has 173, 047 inhabitants (2004). It is in the central-east of the country, on the Gulf of Hammamet, which is a part of the Mediterranean Sea. The name may be of Berber origin: similar names are found in Libya and in the south of Morocco (Bilād al-Sūs). It is the capital of Sousse Governorate with 540,000 inhabitants (2005 estimate). The main economic activities of Sousse are tourism and fishing. Industries produce transport equipment, canned sardines and other sorts of processed food, olive oil and textiles. The port is involved in exports and imports and Sousse serves as a commercial center. The surrounding area produces olives and esparto grass on a large scale. It is home to the Université de Sousse (or Université de Monastir). Sousse is the most important junction for overland communications in Tunisia, both by road and rail. The city shares an international airport with Monastir.
The landmark of Sousse is the Great Mosque and the ribat, both from the 9th century. Sousse is extended to the north with a touristic zone, the Port El Kantaoui, which stretches for several kilometres along the beach.(Source: http://lexicorient.com)

besnard, daddo, JCG, brech, jlbrthnn, hispic, jjcordier, danos, bona has marked this note useful

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besnard (48751) 2011-02-27 2:19

Bonjour George
Une belle image lumineuse avec ce bâtiment à l'architecture massive intéressante. C'est bien cadré et animé par tous les promeneurs.
Je te souhaite un bon dimanche.
Nicole

LOOOK13 (19022) 2011-02-27 2:21

Salut George.
Trés belle composition, avce de superbes petites touches de couleurs éparpillées un peu partout, un cadrage et une netteté excelentes.
Bravo.

Royaldevon (17713) 2011-02-27 2:39

Good Morning George,

A lovely insight into the architecture and the charcter of Sousse. You have created a fine l to r movement across the frame, absorbing the details of the people, and ending with the satisfying details of the fortess in the b/g.

Have a lovely Sunday,
Bev :-)

snunney (67172) 2011-02-27 2:53

Hello George,
I very much like the point of view with the minaret placed just off centre and the palm trees offering framing. The atmosphere is indeed very attractive with people wandering around in holiday mood. Light, colours and sharpness are all very good. Have a good Sunday.

daddo (18517) 2011-02-27 3:08

Hi George. Lovely atmosphere- so Mediterranean. great light and excellent details.The image is enlivened by the vibrant splashes of red, yellow, green... I do like the delicate fronds of the palms against the blue sky. Regards. Klaudio.

JCG (35129) 2011-02-27 3:08

Hello George,

Pretty and pleasant panorama seen of this place. I like much all these parasols which bring keys of colors in the image. A pleasant luminosity and natural colors. Pretty and interesting glance and thank you for the informative note George.

With all my friendships and excellent Sunday,

Jean-Charles

Sergiom (39078) 2011-02-27 5:30

Bonjour George,

Très beau plan large de cette jolie place qui se dore au soleil. Les personnages apportent de belles taches de couleurs à l'image et l'endroit est très beau.

Bon dimanche

Serge

npecanhuk (53829) 2011-02-27 6:06

Hi George!
Very interesting place!
Very attractive picture!
Sharpness, exposure, chosen pov, colors, horizontal format, black & white borders, contrasts, composition and pp are all excellent!
TFS - congrats,
Have a super week!
Neyvan

mauro61 (52525) 2011-02-27 8:55

ciao George,
bella immagine sulla piazza con la torre e l'edificio sullo sfondo.
Scena ricca di luce con colori ben dosati e ottima definizione,
buona serata
maurizio

bema (25936) 2011-02-27 9:59

Hi György,

another fine capture, showing us a part of the maybe touristic daily life at Sousse.. great colors, fine details, a marvelous capture!

thanks for sharing, see you around, Bernd

siamesa (27449) 2011-02-27 10:07

Boa tarde George

These palm trees are very beautiful and elegants.Very nice view of the street and of the beautiful building. Very good exposure.TFS
Abraços
maria

Schnappilic (7895) 2011-02-27 12:43

Hi György,

Interesting place presented into a good light, exposure and contrast. Good job!

Best regards,

Ovidiu

mesutilgim (67856) 2011-02-27 12:59

Hi dear George,
Nice scene from Sousse.
Good layout, good pov. The typical Tunesien architecture creates a perfect balance with the 3 palm trees.
Good, usefull notes.
TFS and best regards
MESUT ILGIM

jlbrthnn (79773) 2011-02-27 14:15

Hello George,
The strong light effectively controlled, contributes to this excellent neatness and to the quality of colors. The framing is good and allows to describe well the tourist atmosphere. Good work. Bravo.
Have a nice evening.
Cordially
Joël

hispic (9619) 2011-02-27 18:58

Jó reggelt Kedves György,
this image shows its superb quality whenever seeing at night though it looks a little dim in the morning.
we can see an ultimate sharpness in this image, it's faithfully prominent. Superb work as always.
Have a nice day, Hisashi

jjcordier (62280) 2011-02-27 23:00

George
Très belle photo, paisible, de cette très jolie place de Sousse. J'aime les petites touches de couleurs qui parsèment l'image.
Amicalement
JJ

danos (73896) 2011-02-28 0:44

Good morning george,
nice the image from this old town of Sousse,with the fortress as its tower to dominates the image.I like the existence of the three palm trees,the balance of the image, as the contrast of the colours.

Have a good week,Danos

bona (10130) 2011-02-28 4:15

Hi George, my friend,

A nice capture of this place. I like the castle tower in the background contrasting with this pretty blue sky. The plams add more life to the scene. This seems a good place to stop take photos and take a breath in the marathon of photos and walks.

Have a nice day
Andre

Paul57 (2205) 2011-03-22 8:48

Hi George,
Thanks for sharing this beautiful picture of Sousse.
It brings back great memories of our last trip to Sousse in 2008. We spent 3 weeks there and walked to the Ribat almost everyday. Hopefully things will return to normal in this part of the world. Great POV.
Regards,
Paul