A good man's boxing day Photo

Photographer’s Note

A remote village on the road from Monywa. We stopped the car near the people gathering along the road and around the football field. The temple hung a set of Argentina team soccer shirts at the entrance door, these were to be blessed and given to the winning team of the match.

The temple was bustling with activity and people preparing the alms for the monks : on this festival day, the villagers would pay hommage and offer their favorite monks any presents such as food, money, plates, glasses or whatever that would please or help them... briefly said, Christmas and boxing day in august.

Our arrival suddenly increased the level of chaos, the attendance around the football grounds turned their head from the match, they seemed more interested in what we were doing. Like a caravan in a western movie, we were soon circled by the indians who turned out to be Burmese kids.

I stupidly started taking photographs and showed them on my camera's LCD... there was a sort of panic, the people at the football ground crossed the road rushing at me to see the photos on the stamp size LCD. The referee decided to stop the match.
There was now a thicker crowd than for Elizabeth's jubilee, I told my wife to waive her hand and smile.

We sheltered into the temple, bumping into nearly half the population of Burma. Warmly welcomed, we were told to take place near the central stupa, where we could better see the whole ceremony... if ever the zillion kids wanted to go off us.

On the loudspeaker, someone repeated what sounded like orders in Burmese, he apparently started to get on his nerves. most of the people prefered to stay by us, just in case something (?), rather than going back to their expected place for the ceremony... at last a row of monks came and the alms could commence...

Hiding from my fan club, I spotted a colorful wall, at the end of the alms line, where I could shoot the monks carrying their presents... I pretended to shoot the opposite way so that kids are in my back and therefore kept the monks frame clear. I simply had to turn round swiftly and shoot from the hip... It didn't last long until they dig the move, 3 monks later I couldn't shoot anymore : the yellow wall you see in the back was then covered with kids' faces, teeth and smiles...

Back to this monk, he was one of the villagers' favorite : he had his bowl full, he had to hire a kid to carry his presents. Certainly a good man, it shows on his face.

eleparc, joergen115, Clairedelune, thebecky, tityop, Curioso, KevRyan, pancla, bnallama, don_narayan, simonekarl, rowanb, everlasting, onmax, Bien, designsoul has marked this note useful

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eleparc (24059) 2005-12-09 21:51

c'est tres orangé tout ca mais c'est tellement harmonieux! et ce sourire apporte bcp de fraicheur et de joie. belle photo! visiblement faut se battre pour faire de la photo maintenant;-) marrante ton histoire;-)
Eric

joergen115 (2244) 2005-12-09 22:09 [Comment]

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Homerhomer (4005) 2005-12-09 22:36

what I admire above all in this image is the play of colours, apart from the black bowl everything else in the warm, rusty, redish tone, and while the colours seem similar, I love how they play together, yet in they similarity they are easily distiquished.

Because of the colours, for me this image is more about the bowl than it is about the monk, a black colour surrounded by rusty surroundings.

Now I want to see the image with a see of kids attached to your back;-)
Peter

Clairedelune (4885) 2005-12-09 22:44

Allo Luko!
Ton histoire m'a fait rire! Particulièrement le "Elizabeth's jubilee"! Pour l'art d'être discret, on repassera! Il semble y avoir sur TE une fascination pour les moines asiatiques. Il est vrai que les couleurs sont assez frappantes et attirantes (du moins, pour moi). Ce qui provoque à l'occasion une certaine lassitude de ma part. Mais j'avoue que celle-ci m'a accrochée. Surtout pour la beauté de ce visage et de ce sourire. Il n'y a pas à dire, il "émane" de partout! Côté technique, alors là chapeau! Pour avoir pris ça presqu'en plein vol pour ainsi dire et une photo nette à f/4 en plus... Voilà, je me tais et j'admire.
Claire

simplyoga (5188) 2005-12-10 1:02

Hi Luko,
This one id very nice..
I love the angle and the colours..
the light is also perfect !!
PEACE,
Yoga

thebecky (686) 2005-12-10 1:33

Great image, I love everything about it. The colours the angle, the facial expression. I like the way the bowl is the focal point. Wonderful

tityop (6225) 2005-12-10 2:55

Bonjour Luko,
Excellente histoire et très jolie photo,
la teinte orangée de l'ensemble est superbe,
bravo pour ce partage,
Thierry

Furachan (0) 2005-12-10 3:43

Il est tres rare, Luko de voir une photo qui est a la fois exultante et intelligente. Tu maitrise completement ce cadre vertical :o) qui sert ici a canoniser en quelque sorte cet excellent homme.
Superbe travail de culeurs tres proches et complimentaires.
Bravo...
Francis
ps Je n'ai a peine mentioner le mot "tilt", et pourtant...

flydragon (0) 2005-12-10 4:36

Luko ;o)
rien que pour le travail couleur
je te donnerai un vert et deux bouteilles
de Nam Pla et cinq kilos de riz.
quel harmonie de couleurs cette photo!! grande classe
une tres belle contre plongé
;o) tu essayais de lui tirer ses tongues ?
et ton boiter faisait le guet ehheh
une belle capture Luko
••simon••

les Monks reviennent en force sur TE en ce moment

KevRyan (22426) 2005-12-10 4:52

Great story of the trials and tribulations of being so popular! I really like your perspective here on the this man which you have such a good feeling for - nicely framed for such a snatch shot moment - I really like everything about it but for a couple of niggly things - the first I'm not sure of but I just wonder if he smiles in anyway self consciously to the camera - is he smiling from that awareness or genuinely connecting somewhere else - this is not to answer but just to say the image creates this question in my mind and secondly I find the structure above the window a little disconcerting in the way in which - visually it juts out from his forehead - I almost can let it go because it is so light coloured but is also causes me some humour and interpretative thinking along the 'powers of the mind, projection' etc - it's just unfortunate timing it's so accurately and powerfully placed to have this effect.

The warm colour range is very nice - i love the 'feel' of it.

best wishes KEv

alon (1281) 2005-12-10 5:18

Hi Luko,
What a wonderful catch of this guy with that nice expression. The low angle is very effective here. Colours are very good.
Cheers,
Alon

fixed (3831) 2005-12-10 6:31

hello Luko
encore une superb.
le relief de la tunique, les écrits sur la timbale, ta compo ...
photo puissante !
les couleurs et textures magnifiques
une belle photo signée Luko
bravo
Arnaud
ws top :)))

PeterC (2242) 2005-12-10 6:40

Luko,
Fascinating story and gorgeous shot. Lovely warm colours. Nice PoV too. Alot of emtion in this you really feel happy for the guy that he gets what he rightly deserves.

Framboisilla (5402) 2005-12-10 10:50

Hello Luko,

I like your picture because of the point of view, the light ant the colors of the scene... Nice !

Stéphanie.

don_narayan (2014) 2005-12-10 12:24

hello Luko. stellar PoV and really good light, the colors blend so well together. Great expression you caught. Your story is a familiar one, for anyone who has traveled in remote areas like that. nice piece of writting.

narayan

simonekarl (404) 2005-12-10 13:00

Ciao Luko
Well captured, consider the amount of distraction around around you! Nice idea to get the bowl in centre of the frame.
Your note is excellent, should be good to see the ones of the kids too...
Where you using the window for point of reference and then shot the monk when passed in front of it?
In any case no need to tell me your secrets, the image is great anyway.
Bravo

rowanb (864) 2005-12-10 21:23

great story!
i like the low p.o.v. , the texture of the background and the common colours. looks a very happy and kind man as you said.
rowan

everlasting (10942) 2005-12-11 6:31

Great story, Luko. Very original POV. But its the complimenting colours that makes this so stunning.

onmax (843) 2005-12-11 9:51

Hola Luko, excelente toma, me gusta mucho los colores y la nitidez.
Los tonos estan altamente combinables.
Saludos.

ONMAX

alimo3 (6826) 2005-12-11 11:37

Bonsoir Luko,
Une image intéressante car déjà sur l’imagette la composition semble bourrée d’énergie.
Et quand on l’ouvre ,c’est l’explosion de couleurs et le regard cours du haut à gauche et file jusqu’au visage puis tourbillonne dans la robe du Bonze et ressort enfin par le sourire qui‘il distribue si généreusement à toute l’assemblée sans se préoccuper du photographe.
Une référence de couleur et de composition !

Tom

faubry (32511) 2005-12-11 13:02

hello luko, quelle couleur et quel sourire!! une superbe vue direct sur le personnage en cadrage serré, j aime beaucoup
bravo du beau travail
francine

jcandeli (40) 2005-12-11 14:12

Beautiful photo. Did he purposely dress to match the wall behind him? :) Very nice sharpness and lighting. Of course the colors are the best part of the whole photo. JP

dolin (15647) 2005-12-11 15:40

Hello Luko.
2 choses me plaisent particulièrement ici, c'est cette harmonie des couleurs, chaque teintes se rapportent à une autre...Puis ce cadrage vertical avec cette vue en contre-plongée qui donne tout l'empleur à cet homme.
Pis bon le fait que le mec soir droit et que l'arrière foute le camp ca amènen du dynamisme...et la lumière qui vient faire rayonner son visage (même si son visage rayonne sans lumière)
Joli
Fred

Bien (4729) 2005-12-12 3:59

Hello Luko, Absolutely brilliant image. The artistic POV makes this image more precious but wow, those colours are an absolute delight! To catch this serene monk just in front of that yellow wall ànd the window that has the colour of his cloak is absolutely masterly done! Vraiment du travail d'un grand photograph! Sabine

Love the story as well!

ndb1958 (9249) 2005-12-13 2:51

All your portraits are fantastic. I like the combination of the colours of the monks dress and on the wall. Very nice.

designsoul (21394) 2005-12-13 21:41

Brilliant shot, Luko, with an extraordinary composition, magnificient, warm hues, and a smile that warms me on this winter night... I join the above praises, with a full heart, and slip this shot into my Favourites folder right away!
Sarolta

arnoud1976 (1191) 2006-05-21 17:04

amazing picture here Luko, thanks for sharing. it really has the feel of the local monk. 100% pure. nothing getting in the way or disturbing the image.

GREAT shot

cheers arnoud

jessealien (52) 2007-01-26 5:56 [Comment]

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