I want buy your wife for 10 camels... Photo

Photographer’s Note

We were walking aroun Sidi Bou Said. that wonderful blue and white village, few miles from the capital Tunis.
That man was sitted in front of us. After some minutes, he told me in Italian "io comprare tua donna per 10 cammelli" (I want buy your wife for 10 camels)...this is the classical stereo-type that there is in Italy about North African men. i heard it many time, but never from a North African...and never about my wife!
We were without words, looking at him, that few seconds later exploded in a big smile.
He worked for many years for an Italian company that have a local HQ in Tunis, and he spoke a fluent Italian, and also he knew the Italian stereo-types.
To end the Fair of the Stereo-Type, i asked him to have a picutre with his fez!

Tunisia and Italy have for many centuries strong formal alliance; Tunisia was a French colony for less than 80 years (1881-1956), but many thousands of Italian merchants emigrated in Tunisia at the beginning of the XX Century. During the Indipendence Civil War the Italians living in Tunisia an the Italian Governement both supported, unofficially, Habib Bourguiba the "father of the indipendence".
After the 1956 Italy became the second biggest commercial partner of Tunisia and the Tunisians are today one of the biggest immigrant comunity in Italy.
Still today some thousands of Italians live in the Italian District of the Capital City, all were Tunisian citizens.
The most famous Italian born in Tunisia is Claudia Cardinale

on the Workshop i posted another one image of the same Wife Merchant!

gaby, rbcy1974, rmorillo, Gix, summersun, capthaddock, Coyotyto, Bojan, arab, fotostar, Traveller, zapady, Ramy has marked this note useful

Critiques | Translate

bantonbuju (48358) 2005-05-23 4:15

buongiorno paolo, tunisia is one of my favorite countries, and i love this type of mood like here on photo; just slightly including more of the bottom could a bit improve this composition, the man is so important here; anyhow - i like this picture a lot;
have a nice week, jerzy

Luan (15935) 2005-05-23 4:24

Ciao Paolo,
thnaks for this nice picture, I love the colors, the framing is not common but I find it original. May be you would have more frmae on the right to get mor of the man. But it's a detail.
Nice shot.
Luan

gaby (19793) 2005-05-23 4:36

Hi,Paolo, I like a lot this photo it's one of your best (colors and compo are fantastic).
During the events from November 2004 in Abidjan, one of my French friends went to repurchase his wife who had been removed by the `' Jeunes Patriotes ". but he paid her less expensive than 10 camels.
Regards
Gaby

rbcy1974 (20742) 2005-05-23 4:43

Ciao Paolo:
Hmm maybe you should think about it. How much does a camel cost? :)
Love the story and love the contrast of the red door and the white walls.
I dont think the shadowy left adds much so I would have done it vertically to show more of the man.
Regards
Daniel

jinju (14265) 2005-05-23 5:27

Nice door. It would have been a bit better if you got more of the man. He is an interesting addition to an otherwise boring shot, so you should have gotten a bit more of his body. Hes what makes the photo work, I think, so there should have been a bit more emphasis on him. Nevertheless, the colors come across really nicely, especially the red of the door agains the white.

greg64g (11193) 2005-05-23 5:33

Hello Paolo,

10 camels, this is a good price;-)there is the same here in France but with Less camels ;-) it's funny as i imagine at your place and tell to the seller ok ... i d like to see my wife head !!!
cheers
greg

naxius (16679) 2005-05-23 6:21

Very graphical Paolo! I like the way everything is placed here: the man on the lower right corner, the tree, the door, the shadow.
You did it great.
Alex

Zepi (22848) 2005-05-23 7:55

Hello Paolo,
Très belle composition !
J’aime beaucoup cette scéne,belle architecture
Très belles couleurs, excellent cadrage ( j'aurais tout de même aimé voire plus de l'homme en bas à droite) ! !
Beau travail
Amicalement
Sébastien

AmiBe (6042) 2005-05-23 9:52

Ciao Paolo,
nice picture, I like the green, blue and red color with the white wall.
Yes, it well be good to have more of the man but then you lose the green and blue part.
Very original, one of your best.

Gix (3559) 2005-05-23 10:38

ciao Paolo,
tu dici che è uno stereotipo, ma conosco per certo una persona che se lo è ripetutamente sentito chiedere per la figlia! (...in quel caso, non faccio nomi, io avrei venduto...)
Bellissima la costruzione cromatica, intensa e pulita. A costo di andare controcorrente, ne avrei fatte due: una senza la testa e una con più parte della figura.
Eccellente immagine e complimenti per la nota, sei (siete) un viaggiatore di primordine!
Giorgio

summersun (4964) 2005-05-23 11:06

salut Paolo !
tres belle photo, le cadrage est bien, j'aurais bien aimé voir un peu plus du corps de l'homme tout de même.
les couleurs ressortent bien sur ce mur blanc, et la lumière et les ombres nous rappelle qu'on est dans le sud !
Vanessa

capthaddock (28640) 2005-05-23 11:06

Hi Paolo - the bright red door stands out nicely against whitewashed wall, I like the unexpected green and blue at the upper corners.

Coyotyto (1299) 2005-05-23 11:46

Ciao Paolo !
10 camels could be a nice deal ! Especially if two or three of them are red camels, then it's the jackpot ! :o)

I really like your colors composition with the red fez and red door, except one single detail : the blue.

I don't really know how to tell why, but the blue is disturbing to me. Not the shadow, the shadow is nice, but only the blue... maybe it's to flashy in comparison to the red ...

Cheers,
Youssef.

Fis2 (45286) 2005-05-23 15:19

Cze¶æ Paolo!
Good light and composition.Vry impressive picture!
Regards
Krzysztof

tontonjc (6617) 2005-05-23 17:18

Pour 1 chameau ..OK !! Belles couleurs et compo superbe . Cadrage au top :::

Bravo

Bojan (1630) 2005-05-23 19:59

Hi Paolo :)
Impressive composition. All the colours and details on the white base look remarkable. The portrait is great too.

arab (312) 2005-05-24 11:26

Very delicate and balanced Photo.
The red door stands out beautifully from the white and gray background. The tree, which in the dark is almost perceived as a shadow, gives a decorative, gentle touch to the whole.
Your story is very interesting too! I wonder whether I should go there with my wife, I could anyhow huggle on the number of camels.
Joke!
Arturo
Thanks for sharing.

eleparc (24059) 2005-05-24 17:25

ciao paolo! mi piacce molto questa composizione e le colore basiche. bravissimo!

keribar (42726) 2005-05-29 13:33

Hello Paolo,

Very very nice composition, and I like very much the way you framed his head at the boyyom corner. Seems you are giving an example in my photo class of how to frame a head only when the body is absent, because this exactly what I teach. A little more head would help though. Izzet Keribar

paolino (1024) 2005-05-30 8:45

Bella foto, fra le tante altre belle che ho visto nella tua collezione su TE. Questa in piu' ha il pregio della essenzialita' e della semplicita' che per un fotografo (anche superdilettante come me) sono sempre ottime qualita'.
Ottimo lavoro ciao Paolo

drymd29 (448) 2005-07-09 15:30