The Bamboo House, a photo from Aklan, Western Visayas

Photographer's Note

The bamboo house is a study of Filipino culture and geography. Living in a tropical country, a house made of bamboo is a welcome refuge from the sweltering heat of the sun. (When I was growing up, my family had a bamboo house behind our concrete house and we all retreated there during summer.). Also, as bamboos abound in the 7,107 islands of the Philippines, the Filipino ingenuity displays different kinds of bamboo houses, some built in the land, others suspended on top of the trees, some floating in the water. The bamboo houses are part of Filipino's cultural identity.

cgrindahl has marked this note useful

Critiques | Translate

olli (2091) 2004-01-16 4:15

Excellent light. Great horizontal, vertical and diagonal lines. Black space works very well. Beautiful tones. One of my favorites.

maciekda (19861) 2004-01-16 4:17

very nice, just some bamboos, but the light and shadows make the picture really special. I like that there is there is not many colors, and those browns are really nice. very nice composition.

joso (2405) 2004-01-16 4:18

Seems a bit overexposed, but even that emphasized the rhytm of your wellbalanced photo

joseelias (369) 2004-01-16 4:28

Excelent play between light and shadow! I also like the composition made all the lines, vertical and diagonal.

The black space at the top left works well as a starting point for reading the photo as it pushes us to look at all the details present in the photo.

There seems to be a bit overexposre in some parts. You could darken a little the highlights to soften this effect.

martin (1242) 2004-01-16 4:31

An interesting graphical image. The contrasting directions of the bamboos work well.

avigur_11 (21954) 2004-01-16 4:32

a great composition of lines - vertical, horizontal and diagonal, excellent light and contrast and very effective large black space and frame. The bambbo's texture is well treated by this light and contrast. Well done, Manuel.

Kenny10pin (19301) 2004-01-16 4:34

Great picture but it does seem a little over exposed as mentioned before.

clodreno (0) 2004-01-16 4:41

Very nice pciture Manuel. The light is great, your composition too. May be overexposed, but still it works..

nwoehnl (122) 2004-01-16 4:57

Very nice detail view of the bamboo house. Excellent play of light and shadow on the horizontal, vertical and diagonal lines, and I agree with Jose's comment about the merits of the black space you included. Good work, Manny, and your note also helped me learn some new things.

orme (7205) 2004-01-16 5:28

The lighting in the shot is excellent. I especially like the diagonals, both in the bamboo and the shadows. Beautifully framed.

jrj (34841) 2004-01-16 6:17

Great composition Manny. I am not sure I can identify all the elements, which is really not so interesting as the bamboo struture to the black background easily stands alone as a creative composition.

Mireille (2604) 2004-01-16 7:52

What else to add ? A good graphic shot. Well seen !

Clochette (8076) 2004-01-16 12:51

Very nice play with light and dark ; the lines of bamboos create a beautiful graphic effect, pleasant to see.
Thank you also for the very informative note.
Good work Manuel !

emax (919) 2004-01-16 14:52

Perfect choise of the just two colours. The symmetry of the bamboo staffs makes an exellent composition. You are the master of the black and dark on TE.

roshangar (1673) 2004-01-17 15:59

At first thanks for your note and then some idea about your photo altought that's great,I think if we hade more brown than black were better because it gives more harmony and more light.

femkevdh (2633) 2004-01-19 17:29

Although I'm a big fan of your portraits, this is a great architectal photo! I love the black background. The bamboo seems a bit overexposed, but the total result is beautiful. Good framing!

rodalvas (639) 2004-01-19 18:52

A very interesting and graphical rendering of this house. At first I thought the contrast was excessive, but it makes the image stronger, underlining its geometrical qualities.

dominique (11414) 2004-01-20 17:33

Super composition, just what it is necessary of light to make a beautiful photograph. it is well done.

seiliv (317) 2004-01-22 14:48

I can see that I forgot to comment this one Manuel. noticed it for some days ago. This one really facinated me then, and still do. It got an abstract dimension, but it still so normal. What I find best with it is the use of shadows, that naturally making lines and texture. And the texture is tones of the same all over, only different directions. Only one thing that is disturbing. Something on the round table. What is it? If it was possible to move, I would have prefered to do so, or cropped it. But that is just a small thing. The photo is great!

airin (172) 2004-01-23 2:47

Great shot! I can't say nothing more than others said - excellent composition and light contrast. Simple picture, but efective.

slara (371) 2004-01-23 19:18

Beautiful composition and light.

regards
Sílvia

mikhalych (1319) 2004-01-28 4:16

Very nice composition, espesially those different directions of bamboos. Though a bit too much contrast for my taste.

cgrindahl (6113) 2004-05-05 19:46

A delight to the eye with strong constrast of light and dark as well as bold lines. This photo demonstrates the power of negative space in a composition, with the black square speaking volumes to us, like an opening into the world your describe in your excellent note. This is a wonderful image, creatively conceived and finely executed both with the camera and with post-production framing. Thank you.

pigarotti (53) 2006-01-20 0:08

i like how you captured the "bambooness" of this house, and the way the shadows lift the lines up.