Vessels of life.., a photo from Bagmati, Central

Photographer's Note

This picture was taken in the early morning in Bungamati traditional Newari village, Lalitpur 30km south of Kathmandu, depicting a community water source that serves about 250 households where women have to wait in queue sometimes for hours to get water. I was attracted very much by the empty cannisters waiting to be filled while piped water from the faucet was being watched so anxiously ensuring that every drop counts.

Those of us who live in the developed world sometimes take our access to clean water for granted. Water is one of the basic human necessities but a large proportion of the population here is devoid of access to safe and adequate drinking water, and water scarcity is one significant challenges to our world today. The demand for water is increasing and crucial in addition due to the increasing population and water sources alone has become inadequate to service everyone.

But why women are so closely related to water and what do they have in common here?
They are both the Source of Life. The Bagmati river in Nepal is revered as goddesses that give life, and this spiritual symbolism which connects women and water is why women have been assigned throughout history as the caretaker of water in many traditional cultural settings, including Nepal where the majority of the people are Hindu. Water symbolizes life itself; with water the women are in charge of constant renewal, cleansing and sustenance. The very meaning of day-to-day life cannot be separated from the life surrounding water and caring through water. In this sense, in much of Hindu, domestic work is a form of spiritual exercise.

Those shiny empty water pots are not merely containers; they are the very vessels of life, the extension of a way of being and their particular shape and size affect the body and posture of the woman carrier over many years....

yquem46, CLODO, papagolf21, pajaran, lpi, krzychu30, Noel_Byrne, ourania, bayno, mirosu, shevchenko, Graal, holmertz, Schnappilic, bukitgolfb301, danos, marabu61, macjake, nikkitta, Cricri, kordinator, kato, Angshu, adores, Didi, maloutim has marked this note useful

Critiques | Translate

yquem46 (32295) 2012-10-29 3:40

Hi abmdsudi
Nice light on the water jars
excellent compo with these jars at the FG leading us to the ladies in their colorful clothes
A pleasant moody shot
Best regards, cheers
Patrick

GREGG (8243) 2012-10-29 3:48

Hello Abmdsudi,
gorgeous composition,
great POV and framing,
light, shadows, colors
congratulations
Greg

CLODO (24734) 2012-10-29 3:54

Hello Abmdsudi

super rounded row of silver and golden vessels waiting to be filled with water. They are eye catching as being the clear values of the shot, leading the eye to the 2 bended women.
Nice dark environment
hats off
CLODO

papagolf21 (76603) 2012-10-29 4:08

Bonjour, Abmdsudi,
Excellente prise de vue de la vie quotidienne. Le sujet est parfaitement traité.
Félicitations pour cette présentation de qualité.
Très bonne journée.
Amitiés.
Philippe

pajaran (36270) 2012-10-29 4:29

Dobar dan.
Vrlo interesntan i dobar tekst ...
Lep pogled na kante za vodu, i gospodje koje pune kante vodom ...
Dobra ostrina, kontrast i perspektiva, lepe boje.
Dobra kompozicija, lepo pokazan trenutak uzimanja vode.
Voda za ljude je najveci problem u svetu.
Imajte lep i uspesan dan, sve najbolje u novoj nedelji koja je pocela.
Srecno.
Paja.

Good day.
Interesntan and very good text ...
A beautiful view of the water buckets and buckets full of ladies that water ...
Good sharpness, contrast and perspective, beautiful colors.
Good composition, nice moment shown taking water.
Beautiful watering can.
Water for people, the biggest problem in the world.
Have a nice and successful day, all the best in the new week that started.
Good luck.
Paja.

Bartleby (12741) 2012-10-29 6:39

Hello Abmdsudi,
beautiful curve leading in to the two characters. Strong textures, colors and contrast which I like a lot. I feel the left part is a bit empty. I might have tried to shift the POV to the right in order to make those cannisters take more space in this part of the picture. But I don't know if that was even doable...still I love it.

Philippe

lpi (4424) 2012-10-29 7:18

Hi Abmdsudi,
Une jolie scène de la vie quotidienne très bien capturée.
J'aime les couleurs et les détails de ton shot.
Merci pour le partage!
Amicalement,
LPi

krzychu30 (8897) 2012-10-29 8:28

Hello Abmdsudi,
outstanding documentary photography showing us the daily-life in Nepal.Amazing,for us the water is so obvious,we just have to turn on the tap and water flows.And there´s still people for whom water is like a luxury and not so easly available.Excellently portraited scene.Technically also very good.What I like more is this soft,morning light so pleasantly illuminating the scene.Well done!
Best regards
Krzysztof

Noel_Byrne (7426) 2012-10-29 8:53

Hi Abmdsudi,
A very touching picture. As you say, we take so much in life for granted, and this shows the importance of clean water, and how previous it is to everybody. The vessels themselves are really beautiful too, with the gold and silver coloring. Another brilliant daily life shot, thanks for sharing.
Noel

jemaflor (69011) 2012-10-29 9:09

Hi A,
Nice composition with this curve very brightness in this dark view, well the direction to these people, interesting scenery well presented, good effect with the silevr and golden tones.

ciakgiak (30331) 2012-10-29 9:24

Ciao Abmdsudi,
splendida immagine carissimo amico, mi piace molto la disposizione dei contenitori che conducono lo sguardo verso le due donne.
La foto ha una qualità eccezionale e splendidi colori, ma anche un grande appeal.
Un caro abbraccio
Giorgio

Fis2 (73124) 2012-10-29 10:11

Witaj Abmdsudi!
I like this daily life shot.
Interesting utensils.
Good frame, colors and light.
Photo has climate.
Best regards
Krzysztof

ourania (12427) 2012-10-29 12:54

Hello Abmdsudi,
a very interesting daily life scene, an excellently composed picture. I love the way the bright metal vessels stand out against the dark hues of the surroundings. I also love their curvy line matching the women's bent bodies while they are attentively watching over the filling. There's superb depth and sharpness that enable us to come closer to this difficult everyday reality. Lighting is very effective and also helps to capture a mood. In some arid greek islands water is scarce and people have learnt to appreciate it very much. A masterfully simple, eloquent and touching picture, congratulations and thank you!
All the best, have a great day,
Ourania

bayno (16213) 2012-10-29 22:55

Ciao Abmdsudi,
beautiful light, seems to be able to breathe clean air, excellent framing and beautiful colors, the moment is very nice but also makes us understand how hard life can be in nepal and then why these people are so strong...
nice one...geetings from Rome...
Valter

mirosu (5533) 2012-10-29 23:28

Hello Abmdsudi,
Excellent composition with the vessels crossing the frame. Actually the vessels leading the eye nicely through the image. The girls at the end put a lot of life into the image. The depth of field is also very good and the darker light and color tones lend lovely hue to the scene. Have a nice day.

emka (58194) 2012-10-29 23:59

Hi abmdsudi, Excellent graphic shot, you noticed it well and superbly presented. i like this curve of the water pots very much. One must go to the places lie this to appreciate the fresh water. Excellent shot and important message.

Warm regards

Malgo

TopGeo (37994) 2012-10-30 2:22

Hello Abmdsudi,
A perfect idea and note outstanding art photography showing us the daily-life in Nepal with peoples for whom water is like a luxury Excellently portraited scene. Technically also very good. What I like more is this soft, contrast with morning light in the scene and perspective gave a dynamic . Well done!
Best regards
Georgios

shevchenko (18243) 2012-10-30 2:56

Hi Abmdsudi,
Good daily life photo in the begin of a day, good capture to villagers that obtain water from the public pipe, life is not easy here, anyway, their vessels are very unique, good lighting and color for a morning shot, interesting composition, good shoot.
Ally

Graal (88950) 2012-10-30 3:03

Hi Abmdsudi,
an interesting scene and reportage about the daily life. Nice composition and caught moment. Also fine saturated colours. Well comment and photowork.
Have a nice day.
Aleksander

fabbs99 (5499) 2012-10-30 4:43

Hi abmdsudi,

Water is precious in all hilly areas including Kathmandu and what we see is a long queue of water containers ready to be filled up with water from what is called a "Dhunge Dhara",tradional water tap found extensively in Nepal. They were commissioned by various rulers of Ancient and Medieval Nepal.Very nice daily life image from Kathmandu which reminds me of my last visit to this lovely city way back in 1999.

Best Regards
Farhat

eldancer1 (17088) 2012-10-30 9:33

We do take a lot of things for granted! Awesome capture of those water vessels and thanks for the wonderful information and reminder to those who never what hardship is. Great lighting especially on those vessels. Wonderful colors. Well done, tfs.

JFS (32179) 2012-10-30 11:19

Delicious image, i would say fascinating. I love the POV, the colors, the light and shadows...Thanks for sharing!
Cheers,
Juan

holmertz (26980) 2012-10-30 11:45

Hello Abmdsudi,
You have managed once again to create a composition of immense beauty from something very common. Without giving it a thought the waiting women have placed their canisters along a very elegant curve and mixed "gold and silver". The two women are bent forward like they're forming a human arch through which the water is running triumphantly.
I was playing with the idea of cropping the left part which doesn't quite add anything, but then I drew the conclusion that the composition needs some breathing-space to the left, as an extension of the line of buckets.
Kind regards,
Gert

Schnappilic (7929) 2012-10-30 13:02

Hello Abmdsudi,

Very particular and spectacular composition. Great framing with interesting curves. Lovely colors! Congratulations!

All the best!

Ovidiu

siamesa (27449) 2012-10-30 13:43

Boa tarde Abmdsudi

There is the same situation here in these last two days. there was a problem in the water supply in my city and we saw scenes like this in some places of the city.
Here in my condo there is a well.
Abraços
Maria

bukitgolfb301 (30087) 2012-10-30 17:39

Hi dear Abmdsudi YTH

Selamat Idul Adoha!

Another arstic and fantastic Asain image.
So tasteful color touch and marvelous light control.
Perfcet framework and best composition as usual.
You have deleoped your work perfectly. Thank you for your sharing with your best work and have a good day!

Takero from sunny and a little cold Tokyo

danos (74056) 2012-10-31 0:33

Hello Abmdsudi,
very nice your repotage shot from the fountain with the women carriers to try to fill all these waiting empty water pots with 'life',from one water hose.
I like the creating perspective from all these pots with the light management to be super.

Regards,danos

SWEETFREEDOM (18421) 2012-10-31 5:25

Hi Abmdsudi,
great picture depicting the daily living of these people. excellent sharpness and colors.
regards
Alessandro

dkmurphys (36831) 2012-10-31 7:11

Hello,
VEry fine daily life scene. I like the elements and the vintage colors. Well seen!

Daniel

sevy (13273) 2012-10-31 7:11

Hi,

Very good composition for this shot. You used very well the curves of the vessels to drive the look of the reader toward the funtain and the main action.

Yves.

Waylim (22357) 2012-10-31 11:38

Hi I love the display of the carton of gold and silver in successive layer and roll leading to the two person filling up water. Clean water is the issue in many Asian countries and unfortunately it is ignore by some of the local, they were taught to boil the water before drinking but many still don't and they don't even know most of their illness comes from drinking the unpurified water.

Good daily life image.

Way

marabu61 (3938) 2012-10-31 15:25

Hello Abmdsudi
A fitting philosophical view on a very well thought trough picture. The way the eye follows the water pots to the woman and daughter at the well and their posture is simply perfect. Great shot indeed.
have a great time
Daniel

ACL1978 (5789) 2012-10-31 18:56

Beautiful theme for this shot, Abmdsudi - a great demonstration of your amazing eye for human detail. The poses of the women, the line of jugs curling into FG, and the stark, textured background combine to paint a perfect moment in time here. Beautifully done.

Andrew

macjake (39235) 2012-11-01 3:26

Hi Abmdsudi
wonderful note, perhaps one of your best notes.
In fact, as I was looking at the photo I was wondering why the Men are not doing this activity.
and you so right about the water supply, easily taken so much for granted in many countries.
lovely photo, it deserves all the pts it recieves.
cheers
craig

mkamionka (24559) 2012-11-01 15:11

Hi Abmdsudi,
breath taking photograph. I like the curve made by the aligned water vessels and the two women bend over them at the end. The surrounding seems very rough. Indeed we take many things in our life for granted without recognizing the blessing which we have.
Excellent quality of photo and as usually a very interesting story behind it.
Thanks for sharing,
M

nikkitta (5896) 2012-11-01 17:13

Hola Abmdsudi,

Great title for a very good capture of the water pots ( so present in India and Nepal)Creative way to lead the look toward the the waiting women
Good document of the hard daily life of women
Congrats and TFS

Maria

Cricri (86501) 2012-11-02 6:18

Hi Abmdsudi
Bonne note qui accompagne cette image, d'une scéne de vie, assez dur, (et si facile pour nous européen)
belle lumière, la position des cuves, les vêtements colorées des deux dames, très attentif sur les gouttes d'eau, vraiment une très belle image
Belle journée
cricri

kordinator (13411) 2012-11-03 1:51

Hello Abmdsudi
If someone had said twenty years ago that I would buy the water, in it I would not have ever believed.
We have our rural water supply that we made from the source of our money.
Over the summer sometimes we do not have water.
Your photo is amazing.
I like a lot composition,colors and sharpness.
An amazing quality of the image.
Warm regards
Saša

kato (6789) 2012-11-05 18:32

Hi Admdsudi,

You're capturing well this daily life by a good composition and excellent tone/clarity, so it's interesting and impressive to see silver and gold vessels with made from brass. It's interesting hearing they need these vessels filled the water for keeping their life as you note. It's interesting in the thin/blue pipeline pulled out from the water tank to a vessels, too. And, two residents who are gazing at supply of water draw out an additional good impact in this image.
Have a nice day,

Kind regards,
mikio

Angshu (51174) 2012-11-07 2:43

Salam Abmdsudi
The line (or should I say arc) of water vessels create a fine lead line drawing our eyes into the picture. A nice daily life shot, which is also not uncommon in rural India. Most of the picture is in shade & the details are well seen & shown. A suggestion would have been to shift the POV more towards the right...but as it is, a fine work!
Best Regards
Angshu

adores (28236) 2012-11-08 17:48

Hi Abmdsudi!
A great daily scene in a place that I believe is still keeping its authenticity. I wonder how many times a day these water pots follow the same route, full of water! I like the old atmosphere of the place, their concentration on their task and the way they place them in line!

specialist (1303) 2012-11-09 11:46

a real-life postcard from Nepal in the form of water jars in different colors. good work bra,

kurtul

aliabazari (10105) 2012-11-20 20:20

Hello Again
Nice capture of daily life. Good lighting and composition. Nicely done.

Regards ...

sacavem (18576) 2012-11-22 8:09

Olá Abmdsudi,

Life is very hard for these people, this one's pretty good shot of daily life. TFS

Cumprimento,
Filipe

Didi (48934) 2012-11-22 10:42

Hi Abmdsudi
Very interesting local scene, good frame quality.
You describe the hard life of local people for getting water.
Well done

barni (15745) 2012-11-23 13:23

Hello
Un graphisme parfait.
Le ton de l'image sur le sombre est bien adapté
Regards
Christophe