BUM BOATS OF HAITI Photo

Photographer’s Note

The first cruise ship on which I served as a guest lecturer (on art, archaeology and astrophysics -- just the A's) was the ‘Royal Viking Sea,’ the Rolls Royce of cruise ships during the 70s. In a Christmas ’76 Cruise, the ‘RVL Sea’ was sailing clockwise around the Caribbean Sea, when it anchored off Port-Au-Prince, the Capitol of Haiti. The visit by the cruise ship immediately brought out local natives in their colorful bum boats, hoping to sell wooden carvings by local artists to the passengers. Ropes would be thrown up to passengers, and potential customers would haul up the ware for closer inspection. If a price could be agreed upon, money would be lowered down with the same ropes.

I remember well an unfortunate accident that took place right after I shot the photo. The round carved coffee table seen in the middle boat was being pulled up on deck, when the rope broke, sending the heavy table crashing onto the bum boat below. There was considerable damage to the boat and its content, but the two occupants of the boat were able to dive overboard and avoid injury.

I shot the photo with a Nikon F, using Kodachrome-25 slide film, and a 50-mm lens. The slow ISO film was ideal for strong lighting situations in subtropics, and displayed impeccable sharpness and vivid colors, especially in flesh tones.

Matthew-Watt, linask, stego, jdwyer264, tobourge, mdetay, cuneyt-sb, amstel, Wanda1, danarees, Boots, a_i_ren, sabyasachi1212, egeerhan, Jason_teale, ryno, meb, branley, thea0211, happypoppeye, diverjohn, nivaldo, sevda, edytungkal, MLINES, frostymon, avis2avis has marked this note useful

Critiques | Translate

xavshot (63863) 2006-10-14 8:33

Bonjour Bulent,
j'aime beaucoup le POV de cette compo. Je trouve la qualité de la photo très bonne malgré les 30 ans qui nous séparent de sa prise. Belle photo
amicalement
Xavier

Pjulin (400) 2006-10-14 9:22

Hey. A very nice POV and an original photo. Maybe you could have improved the composition a bit, and include the whole boat in the middle. Well done

Peter

dopiro (830) 2006-10-14 9:46

Bonjour Bulent,

There is an element of geometry in this shot that is aesthetically pleasing. A 'yin thing' emanates from all these oval shapes, boats, plates, body positions... And the invisible yang, dominating with its all-seing eye from above.
A feeling of vulnerablility vs Power by the dynamic of the shot, Submissive characters in tiny boats in the open sea looking up to something powerful and controling (Tourists with $$$ in the big cruiser)

Great Shot!

jdwyer264 (1082) 2006-10-14 11:54

Interesting shot, I thought at first it was a heli shot, but this is far more interesting. TFS

*Picture could be sharper.

archayati (0) 2006-10-14 14:34

Merhaba Sayın Hocam,
Mükemmel bir bakış açısı, mükemmel bir kare.Değişik ve etkileyici bir çalışma.Elinize sağlık.

Selam ve saygılar

Hayati

stego (22514) 2006-10-14 18:16

Impressive, both the situation and the photo!

The compo, detail and the colors are very good. I would say this even if the original wasn't so old. Taking that into account, I am completely amazed with the quality of the scan and state of conservation of the original. I notice only a slight blue cast, but that can have derived from the water more than from other reasons.

The thumbnail catched my attention because it remembered me something similar I saw in Egypt last year. I didn't resist posting a photo taken then, as it is surprising how two subjects so distant can look so alike.

Hey, that thing of "guest lecturer" on cruise ships must be a really interesting job!

Regards, Jose.

vincz (19085) 2006-10-15 10:50

Very unusual composition, very beautiful. A very gret oldie! Congratulations.

UnTrained (0) 2006-10-16 3:00

Hi Bulent,
I have seen those boats on the photo of Jose (stego). He compared his to yours and to Ian's (IanSewell). Now I "must" also give a critique to yours. Having a look on all three I can not decide without comparing and ranking it for me. You have a good POV.
Regards Ulf

tobourge (927) 2006-10-16 5:40

Hello Bulent,

Great shot and nice story! You sure had a very good perspective from the ship!

Thanks

Tony

tafa (1167) 2006-10-17 5:55 [Comment]

Show Comment

mdetay (4362) 2006-10-17 19:14

Hi Bulent,
Nice story.
Do you see any relation between being lecturer in astrophysics and experimenting he Newton law? Just joking.
Nice POV and color. Well framed.
Cheers from Hong Kong.
Michel

cuneyt-sb (6559) 2006-10-18 12:13

Selam Bülent,
Harika bir açı ve harika renkler,
Satıcıların yüz ifadeleri , netlik herşey çok güzel tebrik ederim.

martusia (512) 2006-10-18 12:56

Beautiful and very interesting shot! Taking a photo from this perspective was a fantastic idea.
Congratulations,
Marta

amstel (2304) 2006-10-20 4:45

Hi Bulent,

Almost perfect composition, well it'd be pefect but for the cut off boat in the left upper corner. Stunning colours and point of view.

Cheers

Wanda1 (11195) 2006-10-23 15:05

Hi Bulent,
What a great point of view you were able to get from the ship. The colours are great and the water looks so inviting to jump in to. I like your composition with the boats and the expressions of the boatmen.
Regards
Wanda

danarees (2497) 2006-10-23 16:59

The color of the water, the shapes of the boats, and the look on the faces of the those in the boats are great.
Thank you.
Dana

MIG13 (0) 2006-10-26 0:53

Hi, Bulent! Very nice and original composition, rich in colours and details! Well done! TFS! Regards! Miguel.

Benedict (7062) 2006-10-29 10:09

hi bulent,
this is an amazing foto! i cannot say that because of its excellent scanning quality this was taken decades back!! the sharpness and vivid colors are stunning, the compo superb!
great one!
benedict

a_i_ren (1315) 2006-11-01 15:32

Excellent and very unusual POV, Bulent! Interesting composition and details, great colors. Very well done!
Regards.
Inna

zizzer77 (721) 2006-11-08 8:22

Fantastic shoot.

tfs

sabyasachi1212 (19552) 2006-11-10 12:33

Hello Professor,
As the saying goes, Old is Gold. This picture may be 30 years old but its as fresh as a daisy! Excellent POV. Superb colours.
With Greetings from India
Sabyasachi

nihan78 (310) 2006-11-17 17:00

selamlar..
fotoğraflarınızın hepsi çok etkiliyici...hangisine yorum yazıcağımı şaşırdım...
bu foto çok net ..kayıkların hepsini total olarak almamanız daha hoş olmuş... suyun rengine bayıldım...
tebrikler...

egeerhan (50) 2006-12-02 15:12

çok canlı ve ilginç.Elinize saglık

pippo (588) 2006-12-02 17:37

ciao bulent,
bellissima foto con ottimi colori, ma soprattutto davvero bella la composizione .
grazie e ciao
pippo

knowdebu (960) 2006-12-17 0:16

Hi Bulent,
its a nice composition.
regards
Debabrata

somkiat (1100) 2006-12-22 1:46

hallo bulent,
it's so great shot.i think,it can be the historial memory for this country.because it's perfect.
very very nicely done.in particular,the shot from 1976.
somkiat

boonie (777) 2006-12-27 10:06

Bulent
I noticed that this is the only posting from Haiti so I needed to take a look and I found a great scan of a preD-70 capture. Also of note is that you have posted 100 pictures to TE. Congratulation on that milestone.

Thanks for the comment on my capture of Mono Lake. I tried your suggestion and found it gave interesting results.

All the best in 2007

dan

Jason_teale (703) 2007-01-01 19:14

This has a great pov. What I like most about this shot is the fact that 4 out of the 6 subjects are looking up at you giving the photo a great energy. I also like the colors of the water. Film and digital differ in many way and I often wonder if my new 30D could produce something this nice.

ryno (4710) 2007-01-07 9:36

Merhaba Bulent, I like this shot, mostly because of the unusual POV and the deep blue-green water. The uniform boat shapes are also pleasing and always very photogenic. Interesting note too - it sounds as if you have or had an ideal job! Regards,
Ryno

banyanman (7743) 2007-01-09 22:45

A fascinating photograph and note, Bulent. The four men in the lower two boats seem to all be concentrating on one passenger. The technical quality of your scan is excellent for such an old photograph. Good composition and nice saturation. Cheers . . . David

meb (744) 2007-01-17 4:43 [Comment]

Show Comment +

vagabondtravels (6119) 2007-01-27 22:15

Hey Bulent

Great comp and colors. What a pov. Good note. Being a guest lecturer sound like the way to go! Well done.
Ben

pablominto (42522) 2007-01-30 1:22

Hello Bulent,
I like the use of the principle of three!
Intriguing point of view of course, and I notice that some of the guys has spotted you...
Well framed presentation, amazing colour of the water and otherwise good details!
Greetings,
Pablo -

sufi (9568) 2007-02-15 3:32

Merhaba Bülent Bey...
Bu resim süper... Tam kus bakisi bir cekim olmus... Ayrintilar, renkler ve IsIk harika...
Ayrica dikey kadraj da bu resim icin harika bir secim olmus... Kompozisyonda cok yaratici...
Ellerinize saglik...
saglicakla kalin..
salim.

fkokol (1614) 2007-02-18 13:00

Cok guzel bir fotograf. Kayiklarin yerleri, denizin rengi hersey cok harika gorunuyor. Elinize saglik,

Figen

branley (3681) 2007-04-05 5:35

Hello Bulent,

I was browsing your fine and varied gallery when I came across this image taken from an unusual perspective. I like the shape of the boats and they contrast well with the mostly round objects onboard. The colour of the sea is very Caribbean and you've retrieved a good result from a scan. Wonderful note, especially about the accident, just delighted no one was hurt.

Regards

Stephen

smash2707 (2516) 2007-04-14 19:24

Excellent point of view for this beautiful composition. The color of the water is just amazing. I thought this kind of "sales" were only common in Asia and Africa. Regards, Yvonne

thea0211 (1355) 2007-04-23 9:18

hello bulent,
i very much like the angle from which you shot this photograph ... and the sea again :)!
quite an interesting commercial habit, but well suited to the circumstances, i suppose.
(luckily the people on the boat were not hurt during the unfortunate accident you mention in your note)
thank you for this shot and for the story!
stay well,
dora

happypoppeye (4064) 2007-04-27 22:52

Bulent,

I am really up in the air about the composition of this photo. I think I really don't like the composition but somehow the photo really draws you in. I don't know if it's the color which is really good. It may be all the small details which are really sharp and contrast against the blue water and brown of the boats. Maybe it's the angle of the shot or all the people in the photo looking up towards the camera. There's just something, or a combination of many things, that make this a really good & interesting photo. Really good work.

John

noborders (14201) 2007-05-20 14:14

Well, times have changed : I was in Haiti not so long ago, and the cruise boats and tourists have all left !
The colour of the water is super, and I like the framing...
Ellinize saglik !
Cath.

diverjohn (518) 2007-11-19 11:45

excellent lesson here as well as great image capture. The tropical sun certainly helps saturate the colours in the camera.

Matthew-Watt (4475) 2007-12-02 0:14

Hello Bulent,

A fantastic image of colour and culture!!!
The blue tones act as a beautiful background, while the focus is set on the subjects.
I am impressed with the positioning of the boats within the frame, and more so with the POV peering directly into the vessels. Looking into each individual boat offers a new object to wonder about, a carving, or a bowl? A fantastic note also. Have a good winter!

Matt

nivaldo (13728) 2007-12-13 18:13

Hello Bulent!
A magnificent shot!
A great flagrante!
Um abraço,
Nivaldo

edytungkal (4521) 2007-12-13 19:20

Wow...31 years old picture and still the best quality. I like the angle how you have captured these interesting boats from above, your note telling alot about that. Thanks Bulent for this unsual shot.

daniel

Angshu (34841) 2008-01-10 19:59

Hello Professor ‘A’
I just chanced on this excellent shot in your archives. It's very interesting to see the details of the merchandise being hawked from the boat, mostly being collectables and souvenirs. The colour of the water is superb and gives wonderful contrast. Wonder why these merchandising boats are called bum-boats...surely you would know!
With Warmest Regards
Angshuman

MLINES (11225) 2008-03-18 21:23

Hi Bulent. This is a novel idea most of us have not seen before. I guess it is a fact that the goods look excellent from that distance but some may not pass the close up test? Good clarity both in the photo and the water itself. Beautiful contribution. Murray.

vixchris (277) 2008-06-12 1:47

more than 30 years on and still relevant!
Thank you, nice shot.
Vicky

avis2avis (4262) 2008-10-14 5:37

This picture was shot the year i was born. Thats nice :)

Wonderful story and picture. Truly enoyable. Thanks for sharing Bulent.

pollod (0) 2009-02-04 20:12