Best of both Worlds Photo

Photographer’s Note

Family is the primary social and political grouping in Torajan society. Each village is one extended family, the seat of which is the tongkonan, a traditional Torajan house. Each tongkonan has a name, which becomes the name of the village. Toraja society prohibits marriage between close cousins.

Each person belongs to both the mother's and the father's families, the only bilateral family line in Indonesia. Children, therefore, inherit household affiliation from both mother and father, including land and even family debts.

dareco, Floydian, holmertz, Bien, Charo, KevRyan, Waylim has marked this note useful

Critiques | Translate

dareco (17104) 2008-10-25 7:54

A very beautiful portrait of this young man. I like the colors and the bg very much. Nice detail and expression. TFS

mesutilgim (37304) 2008-10-25 7:55

Hi Elaine,
Wonderfull capture ! Good pov and compo with amazing warm colors and a great "asking" face !
Nice notes as well.
TFS and best regards
MESUT ILGIM

Floydian (30970) 2008-10-25 8:06

Hallo Elaine,
Heel mooi portret van deze schijnbaar nogal verlegen jongen. Zijn hele pose, zijn handen, de kleding, het past allemaal precies in een hele mooie wel overwogen kadering. Met veel zorg en leifde gemaakt....heel mooi.
Groetjes, Henk

holmertz (9985) 2008-10-25 8:50

Hello Elaine,
This is a very fine portrait. The boy doesn't look quite a ease, seemingly busy with his hands, while at the same time you have (almost) his full attention. I like the way he's looking at you. The composition is fine, the boy standing off-centre against a nice background. Very good colors and light.
Best regards,
Gert

GFSSD-1 (1355) 2008-10-25 9:24 [Comment]

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Clementi (45245) 2008-10-26 3:35

Ciao Elaine,
another very beautiful portrayed, with a wonderful expression, perfect light and colour. he strikes the cloth simplicity but despite everything it is proud of him itself .
nice job
Giorgio

delkoo (34792) 2008-10-29 2:30

hi eliane
Lovely light in the picture. I also praise the decaying wall and the muted tones all around.

Undoubtely the direct connection with the boy is a boon which brings enthusiasm.

didier

Charo (31811) 2008-10-30 3:23

Hallo Elaine,
Excellent vangen en prachtig portret van dit kind en zijn verlegen glimlach. Prachtige details en kleuren.
Gegroet,
Charo

aadilj (17950) 2008-10-31 2:33

Hi Elaine, the way you have nuanced and captured the colours and the mood is fantastic. I love the saturation and the way the model poses for you

RGatward (19749) 2008-11-01 13:53

Very pro work here Elaine, the lighting is just right and the backdrop a perfect foil for his colourful attire.

KevRyan (22422) 2008-11-15 9:42

A truly wonderful portrait Elaine - from the language of his hands, the fall of his clothes, his expression and the background, the fantastic colour and your composition - great image and into my favourites for this year.

best wishes Kev

Angshu (34119) 2008-11-26 19:47

Dear Elaine
I see what you mean by softness, when I see this portrait. He's not very confortable as we see from his fidgeting hands & the nervous expression on his face. Composed excellently off-centre, the colours especially of the bedsheet (I think) he has on him are excellent. Superb portrait!
Best Regards
Angshu

Waylim (11157) 2008-12-03 14:00

Elaine,
Beautiful portrait and a nice story of tration to go with it. Love his very casual outfit with a salong over his shoulder, and colors of the outfit very well coordinated. Make a lovely style I may say. Very nice eye contact with a slight timid smile. Thank you.
Way

brandstaetter (14420) 2008-12-14 6:40

Hi Elaine,
a very good portrait.. taken, as I like, in the shadow, with a neutral background and a colourful subject. Only thing to mention is that maybe the focus is more on the cloth than on the eyes of the boy, or maybe he moved a bit..
in any case, very good !
Cheers Chris

happypoppeye (4064) 2008-12-21 23:10

I think the one thing that takes this out of the absolutely perfect never seen before sell for a million work for national geographic get your equipment for free travel the world in a private jet have a personal staff never have to work again have even your really bad pictures be called sensational, artistic and absolutely genius even though the camera just went off when you dropped it meet the queen of england be the next picasso get a movie deal have your name merged with someone else's like brangelina keep getting calls from oprah kind of photo - is those diagonal lines in the background. Damn. If only you could have moved to the right a bit (my right that is).

...ignoring that whole thing I just wrote. A bit more sharpness in the face too maybe. Other than that perfect. You have the color, the subject, the nice could be perfectly clean and contrasty background, the composition and everything else.

...and yes, I know, you probably thought about the photo for about 1/60 sec. at the time you took it. You didn't even think of oprah. Next time.

John
:o)