Lovely lady Photo | TrekEarth

Photographer’s Note

This is another Picture from the Ghost festival that takes place every year in Loie in the mountains of North eastern Thailand. The festival is one of the fertility rites that take place before the monsoon rains, and call for the rains to come. Most of the festival is about spirit worship but one of many off shoots is the teams of old men who dress up as grotesque parodies of women. If asked they will tell stories of certain evil spirits that try to take possession of women at these times and that, seeing these ugly parodies they will be scared off the ladies of the town. In fact cross dressing is an element of fertility rites in many parts of the world from Mardi Gras to the English pantomime. As well as following an ancient custom, however, these 'lovely ladies' are about having fun and making their neighbors laugh. This men are local farmers and are not related to the katois, or cross gender people, who are also a part of the festival. This man will return to being an ordinary husband and father tomorrow, having had a lot of fun on the day.

swiatopelk777, fanni, norman_isaure, kloppenborg, somkiat, adores, martin_b, papagolf21, axiotea, riclopes, siolaw has marked this note useful

Critiques | Translate

swiatopelk777 (8510) 2009-08-27 2:07

Hi Kevin!
Mysterious happy man. Very fine umbrella, good light and colors. Original portrait.
Greetings from Warszawa!

fanni (8737) 2009-08-27 2:11

Hello Kevin,
very curious "portrait"! Interesting capture, indeed!I am very impressed by this round "thing" behind the man's head :)
Interesting Note, too!
Greetings from Moscow,
Elena

kloppenborg (841) 2009-08-27 2:29

Hi Keving. Fabulous portrait. What an expression on this guy!! Also the umbrella is amazing :-)

Very good note also to explain this fine picture.

Regards,
Henrik.

somkiat (1096) 2009-08-27 7:43

hallo kevino,
at first,the colors caught my attention.it s fantastic.the saturation seems be done in something.but good work.awesome composition.centering well.i like .
very nicely done.
somkiat
ps.i just come here at first.after i was gone from this site for very long time ago. nice to meet you again.

wolf38 (12823) 2009-08-27 10:15

Hello Kevin. The photo is a eyecatcher. I thought first, it was a man. Altogether a good shot and an original idea. Regards, Wolfgang.

Morac (20447) 2009-08-27 11:55

Bonsoir Kévin,

Comme chaque année c'est avec le même plaisir que nous découvrons ces photos surprenantes du Ghost Festival.
Merci de nous les partager.
Amicalement

Marc

adores (15545) 2009-08-27 16:06

Hi Kevin!
What a festival! And what a portrait, the expression, the original umbrella - a very good moment indeed. This festival must be really worth a visit.

thaprem (2486) 2009-08-28 8:59

Oops.. What a weird yet attractive personality!!!
Well seen & well caught! THe colours seem to speak about the personality!
Cheers,
Prem.

martin_b (362) 2009-08-28 12:04

hi kevin,
my first impression was another crazy "khao san freak"...but with your note it's a very interresting docomentarty, with great colors too. my only minor critique is a pick more contrast and it would be perfect!?

greets m.

ifege (1797) 2009-08-28 17:08

Great one Kevin - "she" is truly "beautiful". Sounds like an interesting festival.
Good shot with great colour and nice reflection in the glasses.
Regards
Ian

papagolf21 (56421) 2009-08-30 0:40

Bonjour, mon ami Kevin,
Voilà une image prise sur le vif avec talent ! cette femme à l'ombrelle bénéficiant d'une décoration étonnante ressort à merveille (elle devrait inspirer nombreux créateurs).
Une image de qualité !
Amitiés.
Philippe

axiotea (16111) 2009-08-30 1:18

Hello my friend ;)
Quite an unique character ;) This man dressed as a woman for the time of the festival seems to have lot's of energy! His sunshade (I like to see the newspapers)made for an interesting BG.
Hope to see you soon ;) I'll be in Bangkok in a few days...
Marilyn

riclopes (33003) 2009-08-30 2:51

wonderful surrealist portrait. The world is spinning around him...I'm sure he scared off a lot of 'ladies in town'. Great addition to your theme.
regards,
ricardo

siolaw (25736) 2009-08-31 5:40

Hi Kevin,
You found a funny character here! His looking upwards and the BG umbrella add to the compo as well....
Funny picture!
Regards
Laurent

Urs (2870) 2009-10-07 4:17

Dear Kevin

I know about the ghost festival in Loei but I have never managed to have the time to attend it. So far only once I was in Loei for a feature about cotton. You were there so I can see it now through your eyes. The woman looks great, the dress is spectacular. Very nicely captured and framed with vivid colors and high sharpness. Well done

Best regards
Urs