Love and compassion, a photo from Quang Tri, North Central Coast

Photographer's Note

The photo was taken in a small house at the Vankieu Village - Quang Tri province. The granmother and her grandsons were together. The kids seemed overcome by fear of us, those strange visitors.

Addition infomation from http://www.undp.org.vn/projects/vie96010/cemma/54eg/Bru.htm

The Bru-Van Kieu have a population of more than 40,000 inhabitants. They are also called Tri, Khua and Ma-Coong. They inhabit in concentration in the mountain regions of Quang Binh, Quang Tri and Thua Thien-Hue provinces.

The Bru-Van Kieu live mainly on rice cultivation of burntover land and in submerged fields. Hunting, gathering and fishing supplement an important source of food. They rear cattle and poultry firstly for religious sacrifices, then for their meals. Basketry and palm mat-making are their sideline occupations.

The Bru-Van Kieu live in small houses on stilts, which are appropriate to a family including the father, the mother and unmarried children. In a village near the rivers or streams, the houses are always arranged along the current. In flat and extended terrain, the houses are arranged in more or less regular circles around a communal house. Nowadays, in certain places, they have built houses level with the ground.
he Bru-Van Kieu love arts and preserve a rich treasury of traditional arts and culture. Musical instruments are numerous: drums, castanets, knob gongs, wind instruments (including aman, ta-riem, kho-lui and pi) and string zithers (including a-chung and po-kua). Folk singing is popular, particularly cha chap (sung stories) and sim, alternative chants between young men and women. Folksongs, proverbs and old tales are quite rich.

carobnica, gaby, Elise_d, Calimero76, ishai, bnallama, Valentia, ninadev, stefi, gelor, KevRyan has marked this note useful

Critiques | Translate

davido (1982) 2005-08-18 7:03

Tragic shot with terrific looks and expressions.
It is a true masterpiece like a painting from El Greco and its characters with sad expressions. Your choice of b&w is excellent.
David

robyrad (610) 2005-08-18 7:08

fantsatic multiple portrait.
the facial expression and the intensity of image are simply stunning. no words, just compliments.

carobnica (1336) 2005-08-18 7:11

hej It's great that you put all of them in this small frame it's making this picture even more intense.in art history they would call it horror vacui (fear of empty space - this composition remminded me on that)
I believe that B&W was great choice also...
and beautiful capture of expression...
it's great that you can become so intimate with people you photograph...that's in my poinion on of photographer's most important skill...
I'm still working on that,hehehe...
great shot

everlasting (13803) 2005-08-18 7:18

What a touching photo, all the generations together. A celebration of life. The expression of the grandmother mnakes it for me.Good choice of B&W

gaby (19819) 2005-08-18 7:19

Hi Ireland great and very strong - I like a lot these fantastic and touching portraits -
Thank you very much for this great work -
Regards
Gaby

naxius (16685) 2005-08-18 7:25

Hi Ireland,
A great portrait!
i like the mix of ages here..The new born child and the old woman add an extraordinary contrast.
Thank you!
Alex

avis2avis (4264) 2005-08-18 7:27

A bit of a crowd with the fourth face almost lost there. But strong and varied expressions caught in nice shades of black and white.

Zepi (22848) 2005-08-18 7:41

Salut Ireland,
Magnifique image !
J’adore ce passage au noir et blanc, cette composition est superbes, les yeux de l’enfant au premier plan me laisse songeur, c’est superbe !
J’adore aussi la petite dans le noir en arrière plan !
Maîtrise parfaite de la lumière !
J’adore
Merci pour le partage
Amicalement
Sébastien

Elise_d (1943) 2005-08-18 7:45

What a great portrait. Your are definitely the queen of B&W. Extremely touching, with a great note also. Thanks for sharing such good work.

pridel (233) 2005-08-18 8:00

Ireland
what a photo ! so strong, so nice too.
you managed the light very well, and the compo of all the faces is very beautiful. the little child in the background is just visible.
All is perfect.
Thank's
Pascal

don_narayan (2014) 2005-08-18 8:01

amazing shot. the look on the little boy's face is very powerful. it looks magnificant in b/w. great job.

Calimero76 (10953) 2005-08-18 8:10

bonjour Ireland
ton image est très forte
j'aime la composition de ta photo
j'aime le contraste entre cette grand mère et ce bébé, le sourire de cette grand mère et la peur et les pleurs des enfants
j'aime comment tu as su saisir les expressions des différents personnages
je resens tout de même un côté étrange et dramatique dans ton image,et pendant que j'écris, je suis allé plusieurs fois la regarder et je la trouve de plus en plus forte
bravo
amicalement
Patrice

huynt (5079) 2005-08-18 8:56

Hi hoang
Bravo for your great portrait. Very impressive. Well done. Huy

ishai (4097) 2005-08-18 9:04

Well done Ireland,
Again a good full emotions, family portrait
I love the look on the grandmamma with the small and polite smile
The boy with the perfect light on his face shocked and the baby trying to make a face
A good choice of lens by the way
Congratulations
ishai

bnallama (3763) 2005-08-18 10:26

Ireland, a wonderful shot. It seems like they all in fear. I like the mix of all generations here. Very good choice of BW. Well done. Bala

Valentia (1522) 2005-08-18 11:53

Stunning. Beautiful B&W rendition. One of my favourites on TK.

Congratulations. All your work is excellent!

Danny

srabbe (1424) 2005-08-18 13:00

Beautiful portrait scene!
The expressions are very well captured, and the image is really touching!
Sophie

BHo (2177) 2005-08-18 13:23

Nice composition, tones and human textures. Lots of expression in the shot and a powerful image indeed. Excellent work.

dolin (15647) 2005-08-18 15:00

Hi Ireland.
Another excellent shot.
J'aime beaucoup ce quadruple portrait et ce n/B.
La lumière sur le bébé et sur les 2 visages du haut, puis cette petite fille dans le sombre, c'est magnifique.
Tu as capturé une superbe scene...BRAVO.
J'aime beaucoup aussi le regard du garçon et l'attitude de tous les sujets.
Belle image, merci
Fred

sorry for the french comment ;)

recepyuksel (17808) 2005-08-18 15:06

mükemmel bir sb kompozisyon
tebrikler

es841 (2113) 2005-08-18 15:19

Splendide composition et le choix du noir et blanc est un choix idéal. J'aime beaucoup cette image remplie d'émotions...
Luc.

BAKO (1689) 2005-08-18 17:38

WoW Ireland,
nothin' for to say.
This is really great.
Also thanks for your note here.
Regards
Goes to my favos

BAKO

fiedziu (1764) 2005-08-18 20:07

great work
the shadows and their expressions - superb
thanks for sharing
regards

stefi (1230) 2005-08-19 2:15

I like the position of the granmother and kids. The sense of family and connection is really appreciable from this shot.
I like the way you can communicate with your subjects, you need sensibility to do so and it's a thing that you can not learn from books of photographic technique...
Bye!
Stefano

cafe (71) 2005-08-19 18:15

Great shot. The picture is so intense , full of emotional expressions, each portrait face in the photo touches viewer's feeling .
Cafe .

faubry (35335) 2005-08-20 3:37

beaux portraits en noir et blanc, j'aime bien les générations confondues!et les expressions sont très bien rendues, je ne sais de quoi à peur le plus grand des enfants...
bravo
à demain
francine

kinginexile (2598) 2005-08-23 3:25

Very special. great light attribution, the brightest going to the younger life, which certainly conveys who is the center of attention (until he or she grows up and a new one comes...).

gelor (3229) 2005-09-16 3:23

Superbe image d'une force et d'une intensité incroyables. Une maîtrise de la lumière extraordinaire. Félicitations. Gérard

ldanh (10) 2005-10-18 22:11

Hi Trí

Great group portrait- I like a lot the light and expressions
Hope to learn photography from you

Thanks for sharing

JulianoL (38) 2006-01-02 19:10

The B/W is perfect for this photo. I liked the expressions on their faces. Top notch photo.

asival (5283) 2006-02-05 6:09

the kid expression says it all..
great intense protrait

clarita (654) 2006-04-21 0:12

wonderful family portrait!
i love the grainy b/w effect.
the comp is excellent with the three faces framed together.
nicely done.

anupam06 (751) 2008-02-25 23:28 [Comment]