Dancing in the streets Photo

Photographer’s Note

Last year on this day, I went to an elephant festival in Varkala, Kerala. There are floats, bands, dancers, and acting of stories in the streets. Only men play act and dance in these guises in festivals. It is their hereditary caste, and family profession for centuries. This man has a huge flat back on his costume, and a huge skirt. This parade had about 20 elephants I think. They dance up and down the streets from temple to temple all day, early morning till night, drums beating furiously nonstop.

snuggleaphagus, eelliott305, Jeppe, joannar, Intruder, omritoppol, scalerman, Kenny10pin, richtersl, nwoehnl, avigur_11, roshangar, ianmcall, Midnight_sun, sn00zie, fireflyz, mightyweed has marked this note useful

Critiques | Translate

gringofil (0) 2004-04-01 10:53

Hey, nice shot! I really like the compo here and the subject is very interesting. To be honest, I've never seen something like this before. Wonderful details and colors. A wonderful shot.

PS: I will post a WS image with an alternative crop. It's not better, just another option I was playing around with.

[workshop] [compare]

snuggleaphagus (4140) 2004-04-01 11:01

WoW what a beautiful image. The face his expression the red of the back it's great. The back ground is wonderful. The details aregre too The life, and light that come through your photo is just wonderful. I also like the workshop. Thanks for showing somehting so cool.

clodreno (0) 2004-04-01 11:04

Not the usual varkala beach shot.. I kind of like it..
What a costume!

eelliott305 (776) 2004-04-01 11:08

Wonderful shot Gloria. I love it, so colourful. What a costume and make-up.

Jeppe (18623) 2004-04-01 11:16

What an outfit ;-) This "woman" surely dressed up for dancing - Very fine DOF, clear image and bright colours - good work Gloria.

joannar (304) 2004-04-01 11:20

That's a really interesting shot, Gloria! I like the composition here a lot (even though I would probably crop it a bit on the sides) and colours are very nice too. Above all, it's a truly documentary shot with an interesting story behind it. Thanks!

vbaptista (80) 2004-04-01 11:27

Hi, very good photo. I'm like a lot of the color composition, and the theme. The expression and powerful of the picture can say a lot oh the women in the picture.

Intruder (3075) 2004-04-01 11:28

Gloria you captured an amazing face expression, very nice colours and face expression too, very well done!

scalerman (25787) 2004-04-01 12:36

Wonderful shot Didi. I think a tighter crop eliminating the background would have made the image more uniform. anway, it's great the way it is.

Kenny10pin (19301) 2004-04-01 12:45

what an interesting place and subject, his make up is just extraordinary, well done indeed.

The red cloth on his back seems difficult to wear.

well done

richtersl (3544) 2004-04-01 13:07

What a fun festival this must be! The costumes are amazing. You captured their brilliant color well.

nwoehnl (120) 2004-04-01 15:03

This one is a feast for the eye, Gloria. Wonderful colors all over the place, and a supremely interesting costume with a lot of details. Together with your note this seems to take us right into the middle of the festival. Well done.

roshangar (1493) 2004-04-01 15:45

Interesting shot Gloria ,he looks very happy and you could captuer his emotion good,and very informative shot,thanks.

[workshop] [compare]

ianmcall (1213) 2004-04-01 19:03

GREat colour, great subject. I like your angle here for the way his back pack tilts, nice angle.

I LOVED Kerala, hope to get back and see these guys someday.

mdchachi (1611) 2004-04-02 10:14

The subject is perfect -- his expression is great and he even comes with his own colorful background. The natural background is properly nondistracting and out-of-focus. Really nice.

Midnight_sun (1939) 2004-04-02 11:54

What a sight, you saw some amazing things on your trip. I like the strong red colours and the bizarre make up. The palm trees add to the exotic look of this shot. Great shot.

eleparc (24059) 2004-04-02 18:58

great light and composition; the angle of view is also excellent! great colors and smile! I did not know india had also its gay pride in Varkala;-)) where are you now? heading south? It s a sheer a pleasure following your steps in india;-)

sn00zie (2384) 2004-08-17 13:30

wow.. that's an amazing picture.. love the composition and the colors. well captuerd Gloria.

sorry, am outta points for the day :(

kinginexile (2440) 2004-10-20 1:01

Did someone say colorful?????
yes, it seems that a lot of women roles are impersonated by men in Kerala folk dances, like the great Katakala. I went to Kerala to see the elephant parade and the Katakala theater. The parade was cancelled after animal activists raised in defense of the elephants, but caught the K at professor Devan theater. I shot the whole show on video, complete with Dr Devan's lectures, and actually, i watched this afternoon again. Happy to see this shot tonight.

zilinskyi (473) 2004-10-26 16:42