A bust for a true heroe Photo

Photographer’s Note

Palacio de Lopez building front; right at Paraguay river shore.
There is a wide field where people can walk and enjoy the view.

An ice cream seller eats his own stock, it is lunch time. These ice cream carts are popular here.

At the back, a bust of Mcal. Lopez a national hero and in back of it a soldier of our national army "working".

Lately people complained a lot about the existence of a paraguayan army.

The main reason is that we do not have to defend anything, no enemies surrounding us. A poor budget to maintain soldiers who will fight no one.

There are too many economical problems in Py to be worried about soldiers, machine guns, tanks...First thing to solve is a decent quality of life, health and food for everyone.

The yearly income per capita is around 1,900 dollars. And this figure is high. There are families that make less than a half of this number.

Considering all the forementioned, who is the heroe at the picture? Certainly the young man, the ice cream seller.

K.
Pd.: These type of pictures I like the most. Suddenly a meaning reveals in a shot. But somehow many people seem not to like them, even though they are difficult to catch.
Almost no changes, only crop and added a frame.
Now I realized that it was again midday when I shot this. I normally do my shots at this time of the day. Strong sun, harsh light, almost no shadows...

duder, snuggleaphagus, jmdaoudal, jurgen has marked this note useful

Critiques | Translate

duder (321) 2005-04-27 1:03

I like this shot a lot, especially how you picked the moment when the ice cream seller and soldier were perfectly aligned. I think a slight crop on the left side to get rid of the spot of brown/orange dirt might improve things.

Rockyboy (20582) 2005-04-27 15:30

Very nice picture and very interesting note about your country... When I think Belgium yearly income per worker is around 62,560€ (80,700 $)... The world is unjust...
Anyway, you captured a very nice image and framed very well this ice cream seller.

jmdaoudal (82) 2005-04-29 11:12

Good "Facade" with a very well studied framing,
and may be the wrong idea it wont be appreciated :
Nobody told a picture should not be taken at midday and this time is convenient to this shot for the big white surface odf the facade,clear and sharp.
The position of the tree and the stairs in the third for a good balance of elements.
The oportunity of the line from the man in foreground to the military man is good.
And the note for this nice place is interesting.
Happy having seen this one :))
Jean Michel

jurgen (2000) 2005-04-30 6:02

Recuerdo bien esa casa frente al río Paraguay. Algunas fotos tengo yo que pondré en TE cuando regrese al Perú. Un año después de tomarlas me enteré que esa casa era la del dictador Lopez. ¿Por qué es un héroe en Py? Después de haber leído sobre esa guerra (que en el Perú ni se conoce), pues realmente llevó a su pueblo al desastre, según mi entender.
Es cierto, ya Py no necesita ejército, y el barco en el río detrás de la casa podría quedar como un recuerdo de guerras pasadas. Ojalá todos los países pudieran hacer eso, ya no tener ejército, y dedicar ese dinero en mejores causas.
La foto me trae recuerdos de la ciudad, muy tranquila y calurosa.

HalloweenHJB (152) 2005-04-30 13:44

Me encanta tu foto. Además de la luz y sombra que juegan con los colores, la composición es fascinante. Parece que el soldado está observando al chico como si fuera el enemigo. La tensión entre los dos es impresionante. ¡Buen trabajo!

don_narayan (2014) 2005-05-06 19:04

it is a very nice shot. I like irony behind the contrast. the military man not doing anything apparent but getting paid and the vendor walking about everywhere to make a few Guarani.

when i was in Ascuncion, I tried taking a picture right from where you were standing. A military man started shouting at me and saying i couldn't take pictures there. I guess he was working harder than the military guy in your foto.

yesterday (9787) 2005-07-26 7:45 [Comment]

Show Comment