More Home Brew Photo

Photographer’s Note

As I mentioned in some earlier posts, I spent a few days around Sipi Falls, near Mt. Elgon, on the Uganda-Kenya border. Mattie (on the left hand side) is 16 years old and works as a guide during his school breaks. After hiking with Mattie one day, he invited me back to his home to meet his family.

Bringing a mzungu (white person) to the village is not an everyday occurence, so the whole family and neighbors came out to see. Here, we're drinking some home brew that Mattie's mom brought out for us. Mattie's mom sat with us, but would not eat or drink with us. In addition, both his mom and grandmother greeted me in the traditional way for women -- while I sat in the chair, they each got down on both knees to shake my hand.

Behind Mattie is the house that he refers to as "his father's house," where his father, mother, and three younger siblings live. The thatch building in back is the kitchen. Mattie's grandmother has her own hut, where she sleeps on a grass mat. Mattie has built his own hut, where he lives (and sleeps in a bed) with one brother.

Mattie very proudly showed me that he already owns a pair of goats and a number of chickens, and is well on his way to being able to establish his own household.

This shot was taken not too long before my Local Brew shot . . . it was a big home-brew-drinking afternoon :-)

hispic, spence, eleparc, sunny, jrzufferey, quegardens, omritoppol, Rinie_Hoff, nbournas, kooki, WALTERito has marked this note useful

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gringofil (0) 2004-05-04 22:28

Nice moment well presented. I guess this is what travel photography is about, catching that moment, that single frame that no one else can shoot, because things like this happend only to us and no one else. Bringing the world closer to home and sharing moments that are very much our own, as opposed to showing different veriations of a landscape/building/place all of us have seen before (something I have fallen into a few times...showing that same place again). Here, I don't care about the overexposed background, because the foreground is so interesting I don't even concentrate on what is happening behind the two subjects. My only nit pick is the fact that the hand is cropped...in situations like this it's just better to crop more than leave a bit of it in the frame. Hey, it's happened to me and to many of us a thousand times before. Anyway, still a wonderful shot of a place I've yet to travel to. Excellent work!

[2] +

pronoski (0) 2004-05-04 22:52

A piec of time preserved in picture, I like their expression

elena (1054) 2004-05-04 23:15 [Comment]

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hispic (7399) 2004-05-05 0:45

There is filled with a very calm light. I would like to look at Mattie's mother and grandmother. Your photograph and report are as interesting as National Geographics magazine.

spence (1554) 2004-05-05 1:07

Very interesting Mimi, both the photo and the note. What a great experience. I love the way these boys grip their mugs and look at you. The rich colour of the wall is very effective. Maybe a bit more cropping from top would get rid of most of the over-exposed part, though as Fil says, it doesn't matter too much. The people are what creates the impact here.

RGatward (19751) 2004-05-05 3:58

Nothing much to add to Fil's extensive comment, except to say that I agree.

eleparc (24059) 2004-05-05 9:26

hi mimi, they sure look like 2 good kids! or men, for they grow up pretty fast in africa! no choice! good contrast on the kids despite the harsh light in the BG. i wonder whether a tighter crop would work, but on the other hand you would loose the 2 kids on one shot...dunno! anyway this is an excellent testimony of what you expeirenced;-)

points later

sunny (3068) 2004-05-06 15:24

This is an excellent note to go along with this shot of a shared moment, Mimi! I like the composition of the two brothers and the background behind them, as every detail adds some information for us. Very well seen and presented!

jrzufferey (7249) 2004-05-06 17:06

Une belle photographie, mais surtout une note bien explicative qui nous fait bien comprendre la réalité de vie de ces personnes et qui nous montre combien malgré nos problèmes comme la vie chez nous est facile.Merci/jr

omritoppol (826) 2004-05-12 9:30

This is what TE is all about, learning about new places & the way people behave there. I like the colors and good amount of details. Well seen & captured

Rinie_Hoff (9334) 2004-05-12 18:00

Hi Mimi, saw this one between the comments, missed it 'cause I was away, Very, very nice moment of these boys. love the way they both look at you, says something about you as well, IMHO. Very good, documentary notes. I love it! You're a good traveller, I think.