Suburban Ulan Bator Photo

Photographer’s Note

Not a pretty sight, but one in the true TE spirit, showing life as it really is, for many of the inhabitants of Mongolia. I don't recall seeing a similar shot on TE before.

Of Mongolia's total population of 3 million, approximately 1/3, or a million people, live in the capital city of Ulan Bator. Most of them, in 'gers' like this, or decrepit, Russian style apartment buildings.

The outskirts of the city has packs of dogs guarding each 'ger'.

dareco, syd1946, jorgi, papagolf21, edytungkal, snunney, PixelTerror, John_F_Kennedy, carper, Floydian, axiotea, Matthew-Watt, jhm, AiresSantos, alvaraalto, MLINES has marked this note useful

Critiques | Translate

dareco (17104) 2008-01-18 0:35

This is a really great shot showing this 'reality'. Very good sharpness and detail. TFS

UnTrained (0) 2008-01-18 0:36

Hi Chris,
reminds me to what I know of the simple built gold cities in Alaska during the gold rush there. For sure worth to be presented in its mixed architecture, good clarity and a lot of details.
Lieben Gruss, Ulf

syd1946 (17965) 2008-01-18 0:37

Hello Chris,
Indeed not a pretty sight to live...but people try to live...
Excellent documentary composition about the architecture of the poor people.
Very imporatand and well captured as a photo!

Have a nice day,
Thomas

jorgi (3804) 2008-01-18 0:45

Hi Chris,

this to is life. Not all is shiny and beautiful, for many peolple this is their reallity, this is as good as it gets. Thank you for reminding us with this great shot, that life must not be taken for granted.

Kind regards,
Jeri

papagolf21 (56733) 2008-01-18 1:05

Bonjour, cher Chris,
Vous avez parfaitement rendu, cher Chris, ces yourtes implantées à l'extérieur de la ville. J'ai eu l'occasion de voir un reportage télévisé, c'est tout à fait cela !
Très bien réalisé, c'est l'esprit de TE, montrer la réalité.
Amitiés.
Philippe

edytungkal (4519) 2008-01-18 1:15

Hello Christ,
This is the fact that from the simple ordinary place photographer can compose a beautiful picture with fine colours. Your picture has telling alot, thanks for this unusual place...

daniel

snunney (35464) 2008-01-18 1:27

Hello Chris,
A very good daily life image totally in the spirit of TE. Excellent colours and clarity. Very interesting to see.

barrufeto_77 (25935) 2008-01-18 1:28

Hi Chris.

Again, nice colours! Excellent contrasts too!

Rgs, Oscar

jrj (34779) 2008-01-18 2:57

A most interesting photo of the place Chris. Sure some architecture special of the place and a good 'telling' photo in good TE spirit.

PixelTerror (86837) 2008-01-18 3:00

Hi Chris,
For knowing Russia a little bit, I mean the western part, I can tell you such housings are only probably representative of beyond-Ural Russia, anyway nice image, as you say very LATW, which is why we should still be here although some people seem to disagree every now and then, but for me the ethnic value is great and the shooting conditions too.
Have a nice day JY

John_F_Kennedy (31994) 2008-01-18 3:29

SInce you started you sereis about Mongolia, the country is on my wishing list. Wonderful shot. I love the vivid colours. Beautiful light, well done.
Best wishes,
Achim

carper (65622) 2008-01-18 3:35

very nice one out your travel serie, Chris
very nice place and interesting shot with a fine contrast, good photojob, have a nice day.
gr. jaap

Floydian (30970) 2008-01-18 6:25

Hi Chris,
Looks like a real mess, but on the other hand it shows exactly those things we also see here. Marking and bordering your own piece of ground with a high fence, how i like that effect that you show here.
Normally those wires would disturb a picture but here they go well together, very nice.
Have a nice weekend, Henk

ndb1958 (9248) 2008-01-18 6:47

Hi Chris, all the best for 2008 to you.
An interesting view on the village. I wonder that the is no human being visible. Good and vivid colours.
Nino

Budapestman (42780) 2008-01-18 7:41

Hi Chris,
Great daily life shot with excellent details. The composition is spectacular, lights and clarity superb. Well done! Have a nice weekend
George

mariandrea (973) 2008-01-18 7:50

Nice picture with a great definition and compo. Maybe the colours should not have been so saturated, gives kinda of artificial look to the scene. Greetings,

Maria

axiotea (16281) 2008-01-18 8:00

Hello Chris
Again an interesting picture from your Mongolia series, and very unusual to see the gers in such tiny compound. We can understand clearly, that the nomads are becoming sedentary.
Cheers
Marilyn

pablominto (41340) 2008-01-18 9:24

Hello Chris,
A good photo documentary!
It is interesting to see people live in the charcteristic tents even in towns...
Well framed, good colours & details!
Greetings,
Pablo -

ysabaner (1067) 2008-01-18 11:53

Hi Chris,
Very nice houses, interesting roof, colors and sharpness wonderful. Well done.
Yahya

gneufeld (15233) 2008-01-18 13:19

Hi Chris,
By some standards, this still looks pretty good. Were in Guatemala a few years ago and saw much more decrepid and deplorable conditions than this. Thanks for being so bold as to share a real life image from Mongolia. TFS. Gerald

Matthew-Watt (4467) 2008-01-18 16:43

Hello Chris,

An attractively chaotic scene here, I wonder if there are any job opportunities in the urban planning department going in Ulan Bator? Looks like a big task. I might tend to agree a little with Maria about the saturation, it does not look too unrealistic however, but I realize the use of the polarizer. I feel that a passing local in this photo may have added a bit more worth, but you would probably have been waiting around for a while. I feel two things for the residents here; firstly pride and bravery - for enduring these conditions and perpetuating an intriguing lifestyle and culture, and secondly I feel a little sorry for them for not having access to many services taken for granted in more modern cities. Thanks for the upload, makes you think.

Matt

jhm (83298) 2008-01-19 0:36

Hello Chris,

I find that you do very well, so we see the difficult life of the people in this part of the world.
Indeed maybe not the lovely composition but a instructive picture for the modern world.
Thanks for sharing.

Have a nice weekend,
John.

AiresSantos (42844) 2008-01-19 1:59

Hi Chris

Great details in this excellent composition. I like how you show us this suburban area of the Ulan Bator. Very good colours and details

Thanks and have a nice weekend
Aires

alvaraalto (5303) 2008-01-19 7:03

Hi Chris,

The variation in quality of the houses here is amazing. The house with the green roof seems rather luxurious compared with the other. The tent in front seems the shelter of nomads.
Really a picture of a rather unknown region of our world.

Groet Rob

danyy (69417) 2008-01-19 14:33

Bonour Chris,
tout les pays sans exceptions connaissent la pauvreté qui s'entasse souvent aux abords des grandes villes.
L'hiver doit être rude pour ces pauvres gens.
Une photo interpelante.
Best regards.
Daniel.

marietom (32076) 2008-01-21 2:12

Hello Chris,

Belle image, qui nous montre qu'en Mongolie, il n'y a pas que des yourtes... J'aimerais bien visiter ce petit village...
Marie

MLINES (10948) 2008-01-21 15:20

Hi Chris. This is like a suburb never seen before. Good perspective and colours of this town in a place of harsh weather. Excellent chance to see how others live, ideal for TE. TFS. Murray.

vincz (19045) 2008-01-23 0:27

True TE spirit indeed. Very sad in a way to see this nomad habitats transplanted in such an environment, Very good documentary shot.

mafegan (4483) 2009-05-14 2:35

Hi Chris
A documentary style photo of the houses of Ulaanbaatar as they really are. So much space and they are all cramped up together. I believe they often live in the houses in summer and the gers in winter as they are easier to heat. Tfs, Marlene