Canon of beauty, a photo from Lao Cai, North East

Photographer's Note

Sapa is a mountain village located at the eastern extremity of the Himalayas, close to the border of China, in northwest Vietnam.

The Red Dzao is one of the ethnic groups that live in the region. Their name comes from the fact that they use this colour to decorate their clothes.

The local standard of beauty says women have to shave their hair and eyebrows and the size of their hat indicates their richness.

carper, robertosalguero, Wanda1, cbrman, akm has marked this note useful

Critiques | Translate

carper (96) 2009-09-08 23:05

fantastic portrait Andre,
this is beauty thats a fact for me, beauty of good photography, good light, fantastic details colors, very good one Andre my big compliments for it it's perfect, have a good night.
regard jaap

devimeuxbe (58557) 2009-09-08 23:11

Salut André
ce portrait est vraiment parfait. le sujet est interessant, les couleurs étonnantes, la netteté extra et la gestion de la lumière sur la peu est excellente
bravo, je suis admiratif
Bertrand

jjcordier (62280) 2009-09-08 23:23

André
Tout est canon ici : la photo, la coiffure, l'appareil.... Un de ces sublimes portraits que tu réussis si bien!
Amitiés
JJ

DKarine (3903) 2009-09-08 23:43

Un superbe portrait, j'allais dire encore une fois... ça n'est pas de la lassitude loin de là, ils sont tellement différents les uns des autres et pourtant... la qualité reste la même...
Ici on peut détailler les vêtements jusqu'au tissage, les rides d'expression, le grain de la peau, et ces yeux!!! Quel regard...
Je me demande toujours comment tu arrives à faire ressortir ce genre d'expressions... parce que là ça n'est pas pris par surprise.
Qu'est-ce qu'elle peut bien penser au moment ou tu déclenches? à ton avis?

robertosalguero (196) 2009-09-08 23:47

Salut Andre,

The details on her face are very sharp. Is almost like being there right in front of her. This portrait is very alive. Your light as always very natural. Thanks Andre.

Roberto

jasmis (57596) 2009-09-09 0:29

Excellent portrait in fine vertical frame with eye contact.
Well done.
Regards.

smarcell (19875) 2009-09-09 0:41

A very good portrait, with a good light.
I think there is a slight yellow-green dominance which you might correct offline
Regards Stefano

mursaloglu (8047) 2009-09-09 1:09

hi Andre
Just amazing great portrait with amazing dress details and the look of the model is really god. Great portrait work ihsan

john1 (4028) 2009-09-09 2:25

Bonjour André,

Excellent portrait, en tenue typique du pays.
Les details du visage sont merveilleux.
Belle clarté et les couleurs sont extra.
Merci de nous la faire partager.
John

PixelTerror (0) 2009-09-09 2:27

Salut Cousin
C'est marrant je les imaginais plus foncees les gazelles sudafs... un bon portrait pour ilustrer la couverture du prochain LP sur la region.
Tout se passe bien chez les springboks ? Attention a pas boire trop de rouge avec les rugbymen locaus ;-)
Bon trip JY

yquem46 (32227) 2009-09-09 3:30

Un beau portrait tout en délicatesse André
j'aime sa position de 3/4 face ainsi que son regard et sourire pleins de douceur qui respirent la gentillesse
Bien amicalement
Patrick

Wanda1 (13948) 2009-09-09 5:43

Hello Andre,
What is so special in this shot other than her angled body and her glance at you is the wonderful light, this for me really makes the shot special giving a lovely soft warm glow on her skin. Nice tight framing, yet not too tight, so that we are still able to see some of her traditional clothing, and of course great use of DOF to give a nice non distracting blurred out background.
Wanda
XXX

BennyV (12739) 2009-09-09 6:46

Classic portrait, well executed, with suitable dof and great natural colours. A very good job here, Andre!

Benny

cbrman (21637) 2009-09-09 7:51

Hello André,

Tu as dû te faire des amis dans cette région avec ton 1Ds MkIII !! ;-)
J'aime beaucoup la manière dont tu as cadré cette personne. Mettant parfaitement valeur le visage et surtout le regard malgré la proéminente coiffe rouge !
Tes pérégrinations t'amènes à rencontrer des personnes incroyablement variées et originales !
Bravo !

A+

Dominique

cherryripe (21015) 2009-09-09 10:26

Salut André
Pourquoi tu dois m'énerver avec ton titre, lol.
OK son chapeau est rouge et tu as un Canon, etc, etc. Beau portrait. J'aime beaucoup son regard et l'angle de sa tête et corps. Joli bokeh aussi.
Bonne soirée
Nikki

barrufeto_77 (28876) 2009-09-10 2:43

Hi Mr portrait.

What can I say? I like of course. The eyes of the woman are...charmful!

My compliments! (again)

toni_al (15873) 2009-09-10 13:44

Salut Inasia.......
Un sacré portrait, superbe rendu, les tons, les couleurs, tout quoi. La c'est presque aussi bien qu'avec du NIKON, continue comme ça
Ciao
Toni

toto (0) 2009-09-10 13:53

Bonsoir,
belle photo de ce superbe portrait de cette dame des montagnes.
Jolies couleurs, grande netteté, les détails sont de toute beautés.
Merci du partage.

Amitiés Thomas

Waylim (22349) 2009-09-10 17:56

I tried to ignore this stare, but I can't take it anymore. She is just look right through me even just on a small thumb. So I gave in. Have to write something.

What an eye catcher her hat, that mean she is doing very well than. Once again, I told you before and I'll say it again, size does really matter. What does a man wear to show his wealth?

Superb portrait. Not as big as hers, but my hat off to you, mon amie.
Salut.
Way

ManuMay (33311) 2009-09-10 23:09

Hi ANdre!!

You are right..there is many beauty canon...and every culture has many of them...

But want I most like it is her expression and the proud and serene, may be a little sad, eyes...

A portrait very well composed with an excellent play of colour tones and a good note to complete...Thanks!Have a nice day.

Best regards

Manuel

scalerman (26884) 2009-09-18 0:05

A: superlative post - color, hue, expression - top. there is a very real complicity here with you and this Dzao lady. it sticks. c

Angshu (51174) 2009-09-18 1:10

Namaste Andre
The canon of beauty clicked by a Canon! I was quite amazed to learn about the shaving of the hair & eyebrows part. I heard the same's true for orthodox Jews as well after marriage (maybe not for the eyebrow part)...but wonder why they do that...is it for personifying the pure beauty of the face sans the hairs or is it something else?. The subtleness and the softness of the portrait, making use of the soft light, the close crop (just enough) & of course the use of shallow DOF...another lesson for me, my friend!
Best regards
Angshu

akm (1216) 2009-12-17 10:42

Hello Andre,
I love this portrait. The woman's intelligent expression and direct connection with the viewer are compelling. The image also provides a living record of the colors and embellishments of the Red Dzao clothes.
Regards,
Mary