Hear The Drummers Get Wicked! Photo

Photographer’s Note

Mobile Homme - by Transe Express from France

"Which child has not gazed, dreaming after a mobile, nose pointed under the zephyrs of little characters, balancing at the end of a nylon string with the slightest breeze ? Imagine the same mobile complete with drumming Majors in flesh and bone. All of this hung from below an arch, a vault or lifted by a crane. Imagine a frail trapezist performing in the middle of this airborne cluster, sewing a seed of folly with her gracious swing. Imagine the rich beats, strident rhythms and deafening rolls distilled by this sextet of flying Drummers…"

Imagine an audience of thousands packed tightly into an urban square - drummers charge at them - no compromise - it's move or be mown down.........imagine a photographer trying to keep up with them and the surprise as they don't even stop for the fountain in front of them......one of the most exciting outdoor performances I can remember seeing.....the spectacle of them flying through the air was a true spectacle!

A difficult one to photograph with such little light and fast movement at every turn!

rigoletto has marked this note useful

Critiques | Translate

travelm8 (260) 2009-10-22 5:34

thats one intense drummer boy!
great subject and I like the B&W for this shot.

Cheers

John

jasmis (50402) 2009-10-22 5:51

Excellent presentation in B&W. Superb scenery.
Thanks for sharing.
Regards.

rigoletto (26302) 2009-10-23 11:14

...and i get a deep Bergman taste from this one (no Fellini, sorry). Like one of his grotesque characters in a theater troop...
the strong contrast is loveable. i wouldn't complain about the abundance of the "dynamic" pixels, you have a superb sharp face over here, which is already the most and almost only important element here. i am curious about the shutter speed (in order to estimate the speed of his drumming)

bantonbuju (48630) 2009-10-23 15:02

total craziness.... and i love it! and it has a unique value....

just like that!

best, j.

so - senegal?

Manamo (3474) 2009-11-06 14:26

This is excellent mainly because he is fronting you. The movement in his hand say crazyness and fun and the look in his eyes...well, if he was not dressed this way, I might be afraid...
very cool shot!
Marc

InasiaJones (20273) 2009-11-06 23:48

Hello Kevin,

It isn't easy to achieve the effect you have created here with a slow shutter, as your subject has to remain static, otherwise than the moving limbs implicated in the action you want to restitute. That's why the result is excellent here. There's also a drummer in the back with the same effective result.

I might be wrong but you seem to have to do an airbrush job in the sky and the building have a strange "over contrasted" appearance.

But the key element here is the drummer and the capture is excellent.

Cheers!

André