My Birth House in Old Havana Photo

Photographer’s Note

This is my birth place in Old Habana. The house is from the 18th century and is located in the corner of Bayona and Merced streets. It had seen better times. Despite the decay and neglect, you can see reminiscents of the beauty and elegance of its epoque and former glory. I took this picture when I went back to Cuba after twenty years of exile, and I was fascinated with the colors and it rusticity. It was taken as a slide, and recently transfered to digital. I hope all of you enjoy it.

AnimeshRay, steveegg, baudinm, magiqa has marked this note useful

Critiques | Translate

AnimeshRay (8886) 2005-03-17 11:06

What a beautiful and crumbling old-world charm...Very nice to have captured the fellow on the street. I only wish that you had rotated your camera slightly to the left to get a bit more of the closthes lines and the pavement would have angled more obliquely across the photo, thus creating more depth.
Welcme to TE!

steveegg (406) 2005-03-31 17:25

This is a very touching picture Jorge and full of atmosphere. I agree with Animesh that the shot could do with more depth, but on the other hand consider that the inclusion of a person in the street adds a nice human touch.

Given the age of the subject and the desaturated nature of the image, I thought it might be interesting to try it in monochrome, so I've done a WS. Thanks for the posting.

[workshop] [compare] +

baudinm (347) 2005-05-16 4:03

Hi Horge,
This is a nicely neglected house.
The impression of depth is good thanks to the clothes in the foreground.
The washed out colors are increasing the feeling of this old house.
The inclusion of the person in the frame is the additionnal good point.
Bravo !
Amicalement,
Michaël

magiqa (1262) 2005-11-13 19:53

Very good picture, but it is sad that this obviously once so beautiful house has not been repaired. How did it feel for you to come back to Habana and see your first home? Nostalgic, I presume.