Spider Woman Photo

Photographer’s Note

An old woman from the Chin ethnic minority group in Myanmar. She shows off the tattoos she was given as a young girl to ward off attacks - particularly by neighbouring princes, who would kidnap girls to be concubines.

She was one of the last to get the markings, in a 200-year-old custom which has now died out.

dip, ChrisJ, Jardim, bukitgolfb301, PixelTerror, saylan-cb, jafadabret, Floydian, muscovado, Wanda1, stevev1, Graal, danos, cbrman, jlbrthnn, Silvio1953, miszka, JCG, AiresSantos, Didi, siolaw, stego, MLINES has marked this note useful

Critiques | Translate

PixelTerror (86038) 2009-04-29 0:25

Salut Vincent,
Eh ben on dirait une carte Michelin la dame... etonnant et encore un beau portrait de ta part.
Bonne journee JY

bukitgolfb301 (4556) 2009-04-29 0:27

Hello my dear Vincent

Very strong and impressive portrait.
Sharpness and light management is marvelous.
Congratulation on your Great photo !

Best regards and thanks for sharing

Takero

bracasha75 (21900) 2009-04-29 0:30

Helo Vincent
Very very intresthing portrait and intresthing way of living so....
Great shot in any case
TFS
Cheers,Braca

saylan-cb (12726) 2009-04-29 0:33

Bonjour Vincent,
Superb portrait!Great captura with very nice light and the light,the background are wonderful.
TFS/Regards,
Have a nice day.

jjcordier (24404) 2009-04-29 1:01

Vincent
Bien vu le titre et, bien sûr, très bon portrait, étonnant, et une très bonne note explicative.
Amicalement
JJ

jasmis (50044) 2009-04-29 1:05

Excellent! Stunning portrait with great doze of exotics.
Regards.

jafadabret (39263) 2009-04-29 1:59

Bonjour Vincent.
C'est un document qui pourrait bien figurer dans une revue de Géographie. La photo est très belle et le portrait très réussi. La lumière d'en haut ne gêne pas pour voir le tatouage complet sur le visage.
Excellent travail, bien dans l'esprit de TE !
Jacques

Floydian (30970) 2009-04-29 3:06

Hi Vincent,

Very very very interesting, how i would love to have such a beautiful face in front of my lens.
The face is beautiful, but the background isn't, so maybe a tighter crop for showing only that face, you thought about that?
But look at those eyes, very intriging, very interesting...great pose and model.

Regards,

Henk

muscovado (1530) 2009-04-29 6:47

Hi Vincent,
Superb capture of this woman. The notes explain the markings on her face so well. A gem photo. Kudos!
Czaldy

Wanda1 (10923) 2009-04-29 8:53

Hi Vincent,
This is an amazing and fascinating portrait. Beautiful sharpness on her face to show all those intricate tattoos and her great features and expression too. I like her earings which seem to be made from cloth or string. A fantastic and very interesting portrait. It is also great that you were able to document this old custom which it seems will soon no longer be seen.
Regards
Wanda

stevev1 (999) 2009-04-29 9:29

That's one hardcore tattoo! A very interesting image with great antropological value.
Great work Vincent

Steve

MarcT (21079) 2009-04-29 9:45

Salut Vincent,
Un portrait qui illustre particulièrement bien ta note.
La vieille dame a un regard intense et beaucoup de présence.
Amitiés
Marc

gilou530 (34993) 2009-04-29 9:57

salut vincent
quel maquillage sur le visage, si c'est un tatouage, bonjour, un portrait ou l'on sent bien le modéle concentré sur ton objectif, netteté nickel, et malgré le maquillage on voit bien les rides de la vieillesse sur le visage
amitiés
gilbert

stevesaba (3710) 2009-04-29 16:59

Hi Vincent!
This is a great one! Kind of a rare photo I suspect. Lovely light coming in from the side, and spot on focus! Keep up the good work, cheers,
Steve

Graal (57571) 2009-04-30 0:01

Bonjour Vincent,
unusual face, good portrait and presentation. Unusual remembrance from Your journey. Good photojob.
Gr., Aleksander

saigon (5491) 2009-04-30 3:42

salut vincent.
on pourrais l'appeller aussi la femme serpent vue son tatouage
elle est prete a lancé son...venin!
amitiés ensoleillées....aldo.

Focales (514) 2009-04-30 9:50

Bonsoir Vincent,
Quel beau visage ! outre les rides du temps, ces tatouages sont très beaux. Une très belle photo reportage.

danos (32116) 2009-04-30 9:50

Hello Vincent,
really the face of this woman is painted as a spider one with tattoos.Perfect the portrait of the old woman and the way that discovered to abstain to be concubines.Well done.

Have a nice evening,Danos

ciakgiak (10460) 2009-04-30 15:22

Hello Vincent,
I like so much this fantastic portrait, this woman so exciting with an interestig tatoo on the face.
Light and sharpness are really superb.
Best regards
Giorgio

Waylim (10717) 2009-04-30 18:11

Hi Vince,
Wonderful portrait of the lady, fascinating culture. I would love to see this place and meeting these people myself one day, but for now I enjoy your photo, which is as close to being there. Great details and really beautiful color and tone. Very impressive. Thanks
Way

cbrman (18782) 2009-05-01 7:39

Hello Vincent,

Impressionnants tatouages ! Une curieuse mais presque obligatoire manière de se protéger des kidnapping ! Etre obligé de se faire ça. C'est tout de même dramatique ! Excellent portrait plein de force.
Bravo !

A+

Dominique

dip (12520) 2009-05-01 12:52

Excellent work Vincent!
very interesting portrait,great clarity and sharpness,
very well done,
Greetings,
Dimitris.

Jardim (3197) 2009-05-01 15:05

Olá Vincent,
A strong image wich show us a unusual culture in a beautiful way.

JJ

ChrisJ (69941) 2009-05-01 16:19

Salut Vincent

A good portrait of the tatooed old woman with excellent shadow detail, dof & sharpness. Good textural details in her lined face. Bon weekend!

TopGeo (21609) 2009-05-01 23:31

Hi Vincent! Interesting picture a possible portrait that combines the important note and the exceptional expression and imprinting Appreciable work and amazing title Sharpness and light management is marvelous.
Best regards and thanks for sharing
Georgios

cigdom (2230) 2009-05-03 2:23

Hi Vincent
Very interesting and strong portrait! I like sharpness and textures. Good job!
TFS

Cigdem

mikeo (12113) 2009-05-03 12:56

Hello Vincent,

This portrait is absolutely amazing! Not only taken in so very exotic place but with so very interesting note. This women looks absolutely unbelievable.

TFS,
Best greetings,
Mikeo

jlbrthnn (37505) 2009-05-04 2:42

Bonjour Vincent,
L'image est superbe et aussi un peu dérangeante de voir sur un beau visage autant de traces indélébiles. C'est un superbe document, intéressant et parfaitement réalisé. Félicitations.
Bonne journée
micalement
Joël

Silvio1953 (41340) 2009-05-04 7:07

Ciao Vincent, fantastic portrait of this old spider woman, splendid expression, very well done, ciao Silvio

JCG (25089) 2009-05-04 11:30

Bonsoir Vincent,

Regard presque envoûtant avec ce tatouage rituel... Superbe portrait avec une très bonne MAP, j'aime beaucoup la qualité de l'image et la bonne gestion de la lumière. Une belle et intéressante photo, merci Vincent.

Avec toutes mes amitiés et une très bonne soirée,

Jean-Charles

everlasting (10898) 2009-05-06 6:05

I was waitng for this Vincent, I knew you must have photgraphed the old ladies with their tatooed faces. Luckily this tradition has died out, i remember hearing harrowing stories from the women of how painful is was to undergo. Beutiful expression, such deep eyes. Maybe a tighter crop would have been even better.

sagar (2307) 2009-05-06 7:23

Hi Vincent,
Lovely portrait. Those tattoos are starnge to look at. Avery intense face, I should say.
Regartds,
Sagarneel.

AiresSantos (41780) 2009-05-07 3:26

Hi Vincent
Fine portrait of the Spider Woman, unusual tattoos.
Beautiful details, very well framed and done
Have a nice day
Aires

Didi (35920) 2009-05-08 3:08

Salut Vincent
Un portrait vachement original, je note une intéressante luminosité indirecte sur le visage qui évite l'effet silhouette.
J'apprécie beaucoup.

siolaw (25720) 2009-05-13 23:40

Salut Vincent,
Malgré le contrejour, tu as obtenu de bons détails sur son visage et ses incroyables tatouages... les ride de sa face burinée accentuent l'effet de toile...
Amitiés
Laurent

stego (22350) 2009-05-14 9:18

Salut Vincent,
Un portrait vraiment étonnant et bien saisi. Son regard est bien fort. Les tatouages se confondent avec les rides.
Amicalement,
José

sothy81 (8516) 2009-05-19 22:39

Wow what a face! Very interesting to see the drawing. Very nice capture. The light on her head is nice. Sothy

MLINES (10852) 2009-10-10 13:50

Hi Vincent. A very unusual portrait. Good clarity and very well cropped. Ideal for Trekearth. Your photos are very well taken, an inspiration. TFS. Murray.