Caribbean art and fruits Photo

Photographer’s Note

A colourful snapshot of the beach of Boca Chica, produced with a cheap HP camera with tiny fixed focal length lenses.

When I was in Dominican Republican for the first time, back in 2002, I think I got a vision of the country that the vast majority of the tourists that visit the country get: huge hotel resorts in paradisical beaches totally isolated from the rest of a country whose only truly interesting things to visit were... dreamy beaches... Well, maybe the capital had an old part which perhaps was worth seeing if it didn't require getting up at 5 am and spending 7 or 8 hours in a bus... Judging from the looks I got from the people with who I crossed on my way, I got the impression that I was the only guest of my hotel that venture himself to see... the external entrance of the hotel, something that involved more than 20 minutes walking from the reception... just to find an empty road with no taxis or houses in sight.

The beaches and tourist resorts are surely worth the trip, but one misses much if one never leaves them. Hasslers apart, Dominicans are generally a gentle people with a contagious joy for life and apparently with a tendency for artistic activities. The music is the more evident but judging from the quantity of paintings in sale everywhere, the amount of Dominican involved actively in painting has to be very large. Maybe it isn't such a big surprise that they set up the open-air exhibition with reproductions of paitings from the Louvre in Santo Domingo that Emile showed in this post of his.

Location (latitude, longitude): 18.4467,-69.611

riclopes, siolaw, Wanda1, axiotea, jmcl, edytungkal, elmec, lucasgalodoido, cunejo200, Tort, Yffic, darrasin, jwmunro, robertosalguero, Dpbours, Bluejeans, Docarmo, mesquens, pboehringer, zeca, xuaxo, adores, Silvio1953, Emile has marked this note useful

Critiques | Translate

siolaw (25728) 2007-11-04 20:54

Ola Jose,
I saw Emile's pic about the Louvre street expo, it seems Dominicans are quite into painting!!! A colorful scene with line of artworks looking great... the fruit cart also adds some interest. Good sharpness too.
Laurent

Wanda1 (10945) 2007-11-04 21:13

Hi Jose,
I like the colours here, and the angle you have chosen gives a good perspective. Great sharp details and I love the fruit. A nice vibrant shot.
Regards
Wanda

axiotea (16075) 2007-11-04 21:14

Olà José
I like the way you've presented the colorful paintings in a strong diagonal. The tropical fruit in the cart with the palm leave add exoticism to the scene with nice light shade/contrast.
Cheers
Marilyn

UnTrained (0) 2007-11-04 21:58

Olá José,
pretty and colourful view with a good angle and clarity, the inclusion of the "fruit" waggon gives local identity. I like this palm shadow and the good exposure management.
Lieben Gruss, Ulf

jmcl (13741) 2007-11-04 22:48

Hi José,

cheap camera .. great composition .. vibrant colors .. great depth .. great mood .. great communication of the place .. beautiful and effective.

take care,

John

Stepan (27175) 2007-11-04 23:11

Interesting exotic composition. The foreground makes it "tropical" and the painting-wall makes it colorful and cheerful. In a perfectly managed light. Very well done.
Stéphane

AiresSantos (42010) 2007-11-04 23:24

Ola José
Um belissima foto da Republica Dominicana. Gosto muito do angulo e do colorido dos quadros e da fruta.
Um abraço Amigo e boa semana
Aires

edytungkal (4519) 2007-11-05 0:17

Yes..i see the beautiful colours on your snapshot and its nice to add the tropical fruits on the corner, maybe just a little bit annoyed by the green tens on fg. Great job Jose, i like this shot.

daniel

elmec (12194) 2007-11-05 1:04

Hello Jose!
Great caribbean essence of climate!
Very good compo with their art and local fruits!
It's a pity without one man from there ...
Best regards!

lucasgalodoido (16601) 2007-11-05 3:07

Olá José!
Bem interessante essa rua mesmo, a variedade de cores chama bem a atençãp, mas gostei também da sombra da palmeira, é um detalhe pequeno, mas ficou muito bom!
Parabéns e Abraço!

sacavem (8251) 2007-11-05 3:36

Ola José
Bela foto com cores "Caribbean", que nos mostra a vida diária dessas ilhas. Que está para lá das belas praias para turista ver e gozar.
Um abraço,
Filipe

cunejo200 (7157) 2007-11-05 3:42

Very colorful Jose. The diagonal arrangement of artwork is effective, and the explosion of tropical colors is appealing. Good work. Regards, Danilo

Tort (2266) 2007-11-05 4:57

Olá José
Bem interessante esta foto mostrando a arte dominicana em plena rua, com excelente nitidez e cores fortes
Abraços
Juan Tort

Yffic (6106) 2007-11-05 5:17

Ola Jose

Very colorful shot.
I like your composition and your regards with this mix between fruits market and arts !!
The sharpness is good.

Regards

Yves

paura (38310) 2007-11-05 12:47

José,
Penso que em poucas situações no moundo você conseguiria agrupar tantas cores, de diversas fontes, como você o fez. A profundidade está boa, propiciada pelo bom ponto de tomada. As sombras não chegam a incomodar, como também não faz falta a parte da motocicleta subtraida da composição. Ao final, restlou uma boa fotografia.

Abraço

Paulo

darrasin (2860) 2007-11-05 13:35

Greetings Jose! Very nice work, proves it's the photographer not the camera that makes a great travel photo. Very good note, your travel style is very similiar to mine. I like your desire to obtain an authentic travel experience.

Back to the photo, the color capture is wonderful and the details rendered very sharply especially considering the camera.

Well done!
Doug

jwmunro (6571) 2007-11-05 16:02

Hello Jose -

This just goes to show that even an 'el cheapo' camera can produce results if the photographer can find a worthy scene. This I believe is a worth scene with bright colors, shadows and highlights, and some texture with the way the shadows and highlights are working together. Outside of that green/white thing on the sidewalk this is a spot on composition. Well done.

Thank you for sharing.

John

robertosalguero (110) 2007-11-05 23:36

Olá José,

This seem like an good place to stroll around and enjoy some good art. The colours of the painstings add to the overall attraction of the shot. Good angle and light management to compose the scene. I like places like this one. Thanks :-)

Roberto

delkoo (34274) 2007-11-05 23:37

bonjour josé
un musée en plein air c'est une bonne idée, j'aime bien cet alignement de tableaux naïfs au milieu de nulle part.
amicalement
didier

Dpbours (220) 2007-11-06 2:31

Hi Jose,

Ah, that makes someone want to go on holidays! Vibrant colours that immediately make you link this shot to the Carribean. Though I have to be honest that this type of tourist-art can be found all around the world. :-)

Greetings,
Dennis

vincz (19039) 2007-11-06 2:44

Que de couleurs, ca vibre et ca vit. une bell compsotion avec la carriole de fruit. L'art et la vie de tous les jours se melent. Une belle image.

fanch (0) 2007-11-06 4:40

Salut chromatic José !

Une composition qui tient à la fois de la fresque et de la nature morte . Ton oeil a bien réagi , ton doigt aussi . Composition harmonieuse , ça c'est clair et net !!

Amicalement

Bluejeans (32173) 2007-11-06 5:44

Oi José,
Bem colorida esta tua foto desta rua com quadros ,boa profundidade gostei do angulo apanhando o carro de frutas , tem um belos quadros , não compraste um ?Parabens!!!
Um abraço Gonçalo

Docarmo (8830) 2007-11-06 8:16

Olá José,
Belíssima imagem, bem típica do lugar, ao que parece.
Colorido alegre e boa composição, com um apanhado de motivos bem tropicais.
A sombra da folhagem no chão fazendo "dueto" com o primeiro quadro ali, de palmeiras, está um charme!
Acho que estou a ver "bananas-prata" ali... ah que delícia!
Obrigada por partilhar,
Maria do Carmo

mesquens (1997) 2007-11-06 9:06

Boa tarde José,
Gosto imenso desses temas que mostram costumes e a vida cotidiana de uma região. E você sabe captá-las como poucos.
Esta foto é exemplar, pois, além do pitoresco, tem um rigor extraordinário de construção.
Abraço
Raimundo

[2]

pboehringer (770) 2007-11-06 13:43

Jose,
excelente critica em seu texto. Eu nao entendo muito bem estas pessoas que se tranquificam nos resorts. Prefiro este estilo de me misturar com o povo e ter uma vivencia do que se passa nas ruas. Passei por este local em Boca Chica mas sem a ideia de tirar uma foto deste turbilhao colorido. Me parece que parte da parede e das obras esta ligeiramente sobre exposto. Talvez uma ligeira corregida daria uma melhor impressao.
Abraco, Peter

[2] +

emilbo (9347) 2007-11-06 18:37

Olà Jose!
Belle photo typique de la République Dominicaine. J'ai déjà passé par là et j'aime beaucoup ce mur de peintures aux merveilleuses couleurs. On retrouvait un mur semblable le long de la descente à la plage publique de Sosua, malheureusement on l'a enlevé et on a contruit un hôtel. Bonne composition et excelelnte note.
Félicitations!...
Emilius

zeca (20026) 2007-11-06 18:55

Bela captura José! Das frutas aos quadros, cores muito vivas e bonitas, bem típicas do alegre Caribe! A composição é muito boa e foi ótima a idéia de incluir o carrinho de frutas em primeiro plano. Great!
Abraço,
Zeca

[2]

jackart (5558) 2007-11-07 9:27

Hello Jose!

Interesting full of colors composition. Painitngs and fruits are great. Everything is very well done except this paper in the middle of the frame. Anyway, well done!

Regards
Jacek

xuaxo (5713) 2007-11-07 11:50

Olá José,
Excelente aproveitamento do muro ;-)
Quanto à foto só tenho um reparo: ficaria melhor se aparecesse o(s) vendedor(es) e ainda melhor com compradores também.
Um abraço,
F

adores (15501) 2007-11-07 17:03

Olá José!
Fizeste muito bem em dar uns passeios pela zona, normalmente encontram-se sempre coisas interessantes.
E pensar que eu ando há tanto tempo para comprar um quadro desses.Já tenho alguns de Marrocos mas falta-me um deste género.
A parede forrada de quadros ficou óptima e com um bonito colorido. Este carrinho cheio de frutas ficou muito bem na composição. Só ainda não percebi o que é aquilo no chão,parece-me um saco.

Graal (57821) 2007-11-08 4:20

Hi Jose,
amazing show, unusual images on the wall. Nice colours and composition. I like the perspective also. Interesting informations. Good work.
Gr., Aleksander

batalay (20882) 2007-11-09 6:41

Hello José,

Very effective shot of the sidewalk display of art. When we lived in England (Oxford) there was always a scene like this at Hyde Park Corner, different style of a art, certainly lacking the brilliant colors of the Tropics, but a place that I loved visiting. The perespective is very effective, with the convergence of the fence trailing off to the right. And set against the dark trees, the paintings are well accentuated. Have a good weekend, José.

Bulent

Silvio1953 (41659) 2007-11-11 0:44

Ola Jose, great colorful composition with beautiful artwork and splendid fruits, wonderful colors, very well done, have a great sunday, ciao Silvio

vedra (0) 2007-11-14 1:08

Hi Jose,
Such a colourful shot, thanks to that row of paintings. The bananas make a nice detail, as well as shadows of the palm tree on the ground.
Strangely there are no people around... it was too hot or what?
Vedrana

Emile (19947) 2007-11-15 20:51

Hola Jose.
Me gusta mucho tu foto captada con muy buenos contrastes de colores, las pinturas con la presencia del triciclo lleno de lindas frutas hacen un buen balance. Tu punto de vista diagonal nos permite disfrutar de una buena cantidad de cuadros. Muy buena nota y creo que tu disfrutaste el sabor Dominicano mas que muchos turistas que vienen a mi pais.
Un fuerte abrazo.

riclopes (32973) 2007-12-01 8:50

Olá José, gosto imenso desta e no entanto, sem pessoas ;-) Tem umas cores super apelativas e uma perspectiva do muro espectacular, mas não é tudo. Estas sombras no chão salvam o 1º plano que ficaria demasiado exposto à luz solar. Assim, funcionam quase como mais uma pintura. O carrinho das bananas também está muito bem arrumado no canto e talvez só sinta falta de ver um pouco mais de céu, mas aquele matagal contrasta bem com o mural artístico. Se eu lá estivesse, alinhava contigo em aventuras a solo, que é o que eu faço sempre - as tours e as resorts fazem-me claustrofobia...
Bom fim de semana,
ricardo