Emptiness of Mongolia Photo

Photographer’s Note

This scenery really renders Mongolia how I have experienced it sometimes, huge, empty spaces, but people everywhere. Even in the Gobi or other areas, where there’s not much for the cattle to live on. But when there’s water, there’s people.

This photo is used as a background in an exhibition in Istanbul about Genghis Khan and is printed on a size of 6 by 3 meters, so it’s really huge. It means that Mongolia is still empty, but my wallet is not ;-), see the forum message here.

(It's a bit strange, the photo I saved, is more saturated than the one that appears on TE somehow, I have uploaded a screen capture of the difference in the workshop area).

xuaxo, Manuel1982, macondo, MiguelP, Angelillo, John_F_Kennedy, Isabelle, ktanska, bertolucci, jhm, PixelTerror, delic, keribar, pboehringer, armony, ChrisJ, Muse has marked this note useful

Critiques | Translate

xuaxo (5733) 2006-12-09 17:20

Mongolia!
"But when there’s water, there’s people."
And there's a horse. And there's a great photo.
Congratulations.
F

avigur_11 (21293) 2006-12-09 17:32

Good news about thhe exhebition, Rinie, Congrats. A wonderful shot. No doubt, the horse and the rider, even though they are so small, make this image. So beautiful.

fotoguy22 (1956) 2006-12-09 17:41

Rinie: Beautiful photo and congrats on the Istanbul exhibit. This shot looks like it could be the American west. That being said, I wonder if Mongolians look at photos of eastern Colorado foothills and say to themselves, "that looks like back home".

Nice job.......Greg

Manuel1982 (942) 2006-12-09 18:00

Hi Rinie,
fantastic shot with great colours and brilliant sharpness. The depth in your shot is impressive. And the rider with his horse rounds off a perfect photo.
TFS
Best regards
Manuel

designsoul (21394) 2006-12-09 18:04

Hello Rinie! Nice to see you again! So glad you are posting the famous shot--when will you go to Istanbul?
No wonder they have chosen it, although other shots of you from Mongolia would also be very exciting to see in huge format. I love the lone rider in that amazing, huge steppe of Mongolia... perhaps my own ancestors have come from there some moons ago? Love the way you captured the lone horseman... the vastness has become even vaster.
Good night, am soon off to the kitchen!
Hugs,
sasa

greg (2835) 2006-12-09 18:24

Fabulous view... still want to go back there! Congratulations on the exhibition. That's an impressive print they're making. Making you'll get to keep it after the exhibition...?

Interesting what you say about the saturation - I've just noticed the same. Try saving the picture back to your own computer and flashing between them - then you'll be sure about the difference.

macondo (13117) 2006-12-09 18:27

Hello Rinie. You've captured the sense of vastness and space so well here, with that lone horseman in the huge expanse of grass, and the shadowy side of that hill on the left. No wonder it was chosen to represent the home of G. Khan. I don't think more saturation is necessary, at least not on my screen. Great shot.
Regards,
Andrew
PS I just read your forum post - congratulations! Something I suppose we all would love to happen to us.

MiguelP (14324) 2006-12-09 18:37

You see what I told you about stars? This a GREAT photo because it has withing all the epic of great images, like the one of filmmakers as John Ford, David Lean... Clever use of the wide shot to add loneliness to this moment, to this horse rider. This photo is full of magic Rinie. Enjoy the moment of glory because you deserve it. Take care.

Furachan (0) 2006-12-10 2:27

Remarkable shot, Rinie that carries its meaning clearly and drmatically. About as desltae a place as one can imagine... The presence of the lone and tiny horseman is key.
best,
Francis

SamB (1948) 2006-12-10 3:04

Hello, Rinie--

Nice work, and congrats on the sale! The orange on blue is very interesting, especially in your workshop with the original saturation. The simple composition allows the complementary scheme to really stand out, and also does well to convey the emptiness. The horseman adds good scale, almost shades of Galen Rowell's horseman beneath the sand dune, and also provides a human element that this would really a very average picture without. It allows us to reconcile the empty landscape with its inhabitants, giving us an appreciation of their lifestyle. The horseman is also well placed, with the background hill leading into it.

Thanks!
sam

Angelillo (9065) 2006-12-10 7:11

Hi Rinie,

I love scenarys like this. The combination of mountains and plains is ever beautiful, as well the contrast between the blue sky and the yellow/brown earth. The horseman here is absolutely welcome, beause the scene is very much better with him. Congratulations for the shot, and too for the exhibition (and too for the travel promised, and for the money). I'm glad for you, I would see this shot in that great size! Thanks, Rinie.

Angel.

ahmet54 (2239) 2006-12-10 13:47

Hi Rinie,
congratulations for the exhibition. The photo is great and in my opinion not to less saturated. I like the colours as they are. It is a great sky. Without the rider the picture would be half as nice.
Istanbul'a selam söyle. Hayirli yolculuklar.
Groeten uit Duitsland,
Roland

cbrman (18849) 2006-12-11 1:41

Hello Rinie,

Il s'agit d'une photo très simple dans sa composition mais qui fonctionne à merveille. Le cavalier noir seul au milieu de cet immensité est parfaitement cadré. Ce paysage est superbe !
Bravo.

A+

Dominique

John_F_Kennedy (31427) 2006-12-11 2:14

Very good light and clarity. It is wonderful picture of nature. I like the horseman adding a eyecatcher to the emptiness. Very good work.
Achim

Isabelle (9014) 2006-12-11 6:44

so well deserved, Rinie, congratulations!
all this emptiness, the sky, pure air, silence and wind makes me want to run out of here ;)

great to see you posting again!
beijo

ktanska (16581) 2006-12-11 8:15

Hi Rinie,
Single horse and rider emphasizes well the emptyness. Beautiful view even with colours somewhat changed. I guess this is taken on a quite high elevation showing some snow in September?
Kari

dkeus31 (26188) 2006-12-11 13:46

Hello Rinie,
Congrats for publication of this almost desectic landscape.
Nice presence of the horse.
Regards
Didier

Steely (895) 2006-12-11 21:36

good place
lotsa of running room and no nasty neighbours and dog pooh to step into ....ok,mebbe the occasional horse poo....

I like the wideopen field of vision in this and the lone horseman:D

good shot !

cessy (13647) 2006-12-14 5:12

congrats Rinie, great landscape picture
it must be really great to be printed in 3 meters size

sayat (2944) 2006-12-15 4:12

Dear Rinie!
It must be great to have a photo selected and being paid for that! Hope you have a good time here. I will surely go to that exhibition and see the photo there. It is a great shot with beautiful colors and sharpness.
Sayat

bertolucci (11976) 2006-12-15 5:11

Yo Rinie, this is beautiful gal, you allready know that I like this one a lot, I'm adding my words to join in the celebration ;-).
The vastness, the solitude, the tranquility, the crucial presence of the horseman, all xpertly rendered! Congrats again and you surely deserve it!
Have a fine weekend,
Bert

everlasting (10898) 2006-12-15 16:19

I feel I am cheating here a bit, having seen the photo of the photo in the exhibtion, but I cannot let this post pass. You just get a fantastic feeling of space and freedom from this image and at the same time a reminder of how insignificant we all are. A grain of sand..........
Congratulations of your recognition!
Elaine

Bluejeans (32335) 2006-12-21 8:33

Ola Rinie que paisagem fantastica , muito bonitas as cores , gostei do cavalo e do cavaleiro !!!!
Parabens!!
Gonçalo

Polonaise (5636) 2006-12-25 16:18

Fantastic achievement, Rinie.
Mesmerizing photo from a mesmerizing land of big steppes.
Congratulations upon your award from an Istanbul Museum.
I can only imagine your excitement (so well deserved, though.).
Bravo Rinie for representing TE so well.
-----------------------------------
What's' better time than X-mas time to congratulate...
Therefore...ALL THE BEST IN THE WORLD, RINIE !
Warmest wishes for you and those you love.

G. & co.

RGatward (19743) 2006-12-27 3:48

Merry Christmas Rinie. A fine landscape you've been hiding away here, well of course, the horse does it, the whole scene hitting all my expectations for the place.

eleparc (24059) 2006-12-29 14:05

one landscape i am dreaming to shoot myself some day;-) This is impressive! nice post!
Eric

hojper (2830) 2007-01-03 11:37

Hi Rinie, Happy New Year and congratulations on your sucess. I know how it must feel. And it is a fantastic shot. I had a similar feeling last year when this appeared. but I wasn't paid anything. I hope you enjoyed your trip to Istanbul.

PixelTerror (86138) 2007-01-06 5:30

Hi Rinie, happy new year !
Be it Mongolia or Bolivia, I love views that show nearly endless emptiness, and this one for sure belongs to them, having the lonely rider there makes it even wider, I can easily understand why this has been chosen. Looking forward to the Istambul pics, when do you go ?
Have a nice week end,
Jean-Yves

daveeho (101) 2007-01-12 13:36

Superb image, depth of field, balance and position of figure perfect.

delic (6735) 2007-02-20 18:28

Hello again Rinie,
This is a superb photograph the reflects a wide open space in Mongolia. It reminds of a Galen Rowell image, which I could not locate on the Internet unfortunately. I look forward to seeing the print when I visit the Cengiz Han exhibit later this month. By the way, I have also experience the desaturation effect when I upload images to TE or TN. I even had to delete one because the colors were way off.
Best wishes,
Hakan

keribar (42748) 2007-02-22 0:03

Hello Rinnie,
I am glad to see this picture again on TE. Because it has an additional meaning for us now. But technically too I must say it is overwhelming in the sense that it shows the immense vastness of the steppes, and a small human presence which means so much. The exhibit organizers made the right choice.
Friendly regards - Izzet ( And hugs for your sisters )

pboehringer (770) 2007-03-02 23:35

The emptiness of Mongolia is extremely well captured that, Rinie. The single horseman gives the real feeling and is perfectly placed in this landscape.
Congratulations on the Instanbul deal. I wonder how that image looked on a size 6x3m. Wonderful!
TFS, Peter

gbeli (2026) 2007-03-30 14:05

Hello Rinie
Your picture look like a movie photo and i like it very much.
Regards

pamastro (7213) 2007-04-26 23:31

So how did it look as a 6x3 meter image? And did you do the adjustments to get it to that size and if so how? I'm just curious about the technical parts of how to get it that big without it falling apart as an image.

And now to the image itself. This reminds me of the opening scene to the Good, the Bad and the Ugly... I think it was that one. I'm sleepy now and can't remember. But, anyway, it was one of the Leone, Man with No Name movies. In that scene there is a view of the vast and empty old west (actually Spain) and a lone horse with rider. All is quiet until a gun shot from somewhere and the rider falls. This reminds me of that. Open, vast and silent. Even the sound from this horse and rider doesn't make it across the vastness. And then perhaps a bird shrieks or something makes a sudden loud noise startling the scene and bringing it all to life. Mongolia just seems so fascinating.

Stepan (27175) 2007-05-31 1:50

Wow, this kind of moment/mood are my favorites...
You compose the emptiness perfectly, including pertinent details : the light contrasts, the horse, the shapes...
Makes me feel loke leaving now !!!
Stéphane

ChrisJ (70271) 2007-11-12 1:41

Hi Rinie

I like the solitary horserider at right. A wonderful blue sky, with excellent sharpness & lighting contrasts. Tfs!

Silversnow (2119) 2008-04-05 18:23

Truly impressive composition, the power of simplicity evoking the vastness.
I love the light touches of snow on the hills, it shows just how dry the area is.

Muse (31007) 2008-06-01 7:42

Bonjour Rinie,
Un merveilleux paysage et des couleurs superbes. Le personnage donne une idée de ces vastes étendues.
C'est très beau!
Amitiés,
Denise