People and their vehicles (1974) Photo

Photographer’s Note

Another photo from my travels in the 1970s. We spent 3 or 4 days in Damascus after catching a taxi from Beirut and before catching a bus to Aleppo. Such is my dearth of photos from this period that this is the only photo I took here - and as to why I decided to photograph this particular scene is beyond my memory!

A scan from a kodachome slide. This was a rather bland and uninteresting photo. However after turning it to sepia and then restoring the original colourings to all the people and their modes of transport (buses, cars and bikes) I was pleased with the effect.

shevchenko, lucasgalodoido, bukitgolfb301, fanni, Kielia, jalab_temen, startacked has marked this note useful

Critiques | Translate

AKITA (5405) 2009-07-09 19:54

dear Mariene,
this air in 70' is splendid!
it is very nostalgic.
the bus and cars are very characteristic, and your using partial color is very nice.
in my feeling, perhaps this back mountain and buildings don't change so much...
if you will visit same place, please show us the view that time.
thank you for your excellent shot,
Akihisa

shevchenko (9968) 2009-07-09 20:44

Hi Marlene,
Artistic color to show a scanned photo, the situation of taking trasportation still fresh in your memory, good editing with vehicles remain in real color to match with the travel dairy, very nice old buildings at the foot of mount, thanks for sharing a value old photo.
Ally

lucasgalodoido (16605) 2009-07-09 21:37

Hi Marlene,
interesting picture here, principally de old bus. I´d like of the PP too. Great job. The quality is fantastic too, for the 70´s shot!
Regards,
Lucas

Greg1949 (8509) 2009-07-10 3:13

Marlene, I like the effect on this one it is very eye catching I was in Iran around this time it looks very similar in construction style. I find it really interesting that this is the only shot you took. Nice work.

Greg

holmertz (9739) 2009-07-10 9:52

Hello Marlene,
Parts of Damascus are really just as dull as you make it look here (whereas the older parts are beautiful). It was a good idea to make this partial "re-saturation" and it works very well. It's a technique that should be used with care and with a clear intention, which I believe you had. I guess I will have to learn how to do this. It's probably great fun.
Kind regards,
Gert
By the way, when I look at my very old pictures I ask myself all the time: Why did I take this?

bukitgolfb301 (4714) 2009-07-10 23:29

Hello my dear Marlene

Perfect scanning skill and good output !
I can feel the nostalgic atmosphere very much.
Congratulation on your good job !
Thanks for sharing and best regards,

Takero

joscel1975 (489) 2009-07-11 5:22

Hi Marlene:

how are you? it's been a quite a while.

Very classic scene of an everyday life of a small town. I like the vibrance of the vehicles.

thanks.
Josh

fanni (8737) 2009-07-11 12:34

Hello Marlene,
reasons of taking photos may get washed away from our memory, but photos remain. At that moment you thought that this view was important for capturing, and you were right :) "uninteresting" photo? Well, I can't agree with this. It is interesting. it shows the place as it was at that time; and I really like the composition - and the idea to turn the photo to sepia with partial colouring! I should learn how to do it, too ;)
Warmest greetings from Moscow (about +30C) here
Elena

jmdias (19429) 2009-07-12 9:27

marlene

interesting the colors inside the sepia, I guess landscape hadn't so much colors and this way it became better. nice to see these old bus and cars.

hugs

jorge

Kielia (8571) 2009-07-14 11:57

Hi Marlene,
the result of your efforts is stunning! Excellent PP-work, you have created a very strange atmosphere. Personally I do not think that this was a dull photo since this cityscape looks very interesting especially with this nice hill in background. TFS!
Warm regards
Harriet

jalab_temen (1979) 2009-07-17 4:38

Marlene, I love your vintage photos, and yjust because of their "rarity" or the special value of "private history", but their interesting topic! Looking at this photo I feel, this one could have been taken yesterday also. Postprocessing made it more interesting by highlighting some objects and because of the unusual combination of sepia (resembling 100-year-old BW images) and bluish tones (resembling 30-year-old coloured images). TFS, Jalab

verje (318) 2009-07-30 15:57

Hello Marlene,
Strolling through your gallery, I halted at this picture. What a strangely quiet Damascus. That is definitely not anymore... But the busses are still there. When I was in Syria in 2004, I saw some of the same strange type.
A pity that this was apparently the only photo you took in Syria.
Best regards
Jelle

startacked (1286) 2009-09-29 13:26

Hi Marlene,

I love your 1970s series. I will check all of them coming weekend. Panama is on my want-to-see list (which country isn't?) but Syria is higher on that list. I like the Middle East, I feel at home there and the ME countries I have visited, local people thought I was from there.

Years ago I flew from Amsterdam via Prague to Beirut. In the plane almost all people from Syria. I was the 'stranger' in the plane. The guy next to me asked: "where are you going?" Me: "I'm about to run the Beirut marathon". We started chatting. This was right after the Hariri bombing. Then suddenly I asked: "How's the relationship now between people from Syria and Lebanon." He looked at me thinking, you are too far from this conflict, you don't understand and said: "You must just run, it is not of your concern.". The conversation stopped. Walking out of the plane, he wished me good luck for the race.

I like what you've done to the verhicles and people. TFS, Gilbert