portrait of a tea drinking partner Photo

Photographer’s Note

One of the friendly men who offered me tea in the tiny tea stall (here are our 2 teas + another expression of his) - he mostly wanted to talk and to know what I was thinking of his ideas. A very talkative man and nothing revolutionary in his speach, but such a flow of words... Not much that retained my attention really, but his face was expressive - another of the nearby shopkeepers in the area of Tahtakale.

... Can you guess the subject or object of the conversation ?

(Framing unchanged, not perfect as I was shooting blindly : because of the poor light, I had leant my small Ixus on a stool below - he was looking at me and obviously not at the camera, hence the strange expression here - unlike the porters that I photographied at the same place, he refused to pose for me but he was well aware that I was taking photos of him).

patshoo, ersoyyilmaz, adelune, faubry, Glint, abulafia has marked this note useful

Critiques | Translate

jasmis (49731) 2008-07-14 2:15

The composition of this photo is very special. I can see here his hands and his...crotch. I am not sure what was your intention, but this is very impressive pose of the man.
Regards!

patshoo (944) 2008-07-14 3:48

Impressive and emotional portrait,Well capture of sharpness in his eye that also reveal more of emotion through his face,Motion of his hand showed his character too.Another of your outstanding work,TFS.

ersoyyilmaz (1519) 2008-07-14 4:14

Impressive. Vivid. Unusual. Emotional. Direct from life. Tebrikler. illa bir eleştiri getirilecek, adamın başını birazcık daha alsaydınız kareye :)

mafegan (3961) 2008-07-14 5:11

Hello Cath
Almost an amusing photo because it is quite unusual. Well composed, Marlene

adelune (2) 2008-07-14 5:33 [Comment]

Show Comment

lestans (15408) 2008-07-14 10:28

Brava Catherine!! ben fatto, ottibo POV basso per questo ritratto "parlante"! si dice così in Italia: Parlante!! Cioè vivido, spontaneo. Bellissima foto!

livia

okahraman (4576) 2008-07-14 11:07

Catherine Hanım merhaba ;

netlik ve karenin hareketli hali çok hoş elinize sağlık

Önder Kahraman

faubry (32197) 2008-07-14 11:21

Bonsoir Cath, un portrait expressif et les mains au premier plan accompagnet son flot de paroles sans aucun doute, que dit il??les mains sont arrondies comme s'il nous montrait une bouilloire pour le thé????, bon je ne sais pas trop? dis nous demain
bonne soirée
amitiés
francine

dilane (10212) 2008-07-15 5:07

bonjour catherine,
j'aime beaucoup le haut de ta photo, personnellement je pense qu'un format carré autour de cette trés belle expression aurait apporté un plus en coupant le pantalon qui prend trop d'importance, mais c'est l'artiste qui décide ......
amitiés daniel

bantonbuju (48358) 2008-07-16 1:06

not much tea seen in the frame...:-))
nevertheless - unusual pov, dynamic discussion captured in most "talkative" moment of the body language...
interesting...
bw, j.

Glint (3029) 2008-07-16 6:24

hello catherine,
it seems that all of Turkey offers you tea and open doors! I like your POV here and the action of the man's expressive hands. He may not have had anything of great interest to keep you transfixed but I am sure, like most men he would think you were mesmerized by his ideas! :D
Bev

kensimage (8539) 2008-07-16 22:45

You caught the gesture really nicely, Cath. It really brings out a lot of character in your subject. He looks like he's being very definite to you about whatever he's saying. His rolled up eyes say, "I sure hope I'm getting through to her, I will try to be patient." Nice motion blur in an otherwise sharp image, too. Regards, Ken.

Polonaise (5629) 2008-07-17 18:40

Incredible is your response to my previous critique, Cathy...!!1

This is so close... This is with the guts and a huge chunk of a good photography in there...

I am always (boringly) coming back to my own motto:
" If you have nothing to show - it's time to show how good of a photographer you are..."
Show that 'nothing' photographically and the world should drop to its knees...

He is a porter, right...?
You could show his face like a million of other dull like hell faces on TE...
You know... So call "portrait'...
His wrinkles, his whiskers... (typical 'India style' stuff !)
Dumb face, looking somewhere else or into the camera - for some, unexplained reason...???

Here - what a world of difference.
You showed us a living person...
Vibrant person... breathing person...

And, HOW PHOTOGRAPHICALLY you did it, gal...

Glory on high for you, Katarzyna...!

..............

Is he describing the shape of your body...???

:-)))))

g.

scalerman (25633) 2008-07-19 17:05

Catherine: this one really hits well too. Shot from the hip I would suspect, c

abulafia (4802) 2008-08-09 2:25

Hi Catherine
No problem that he didn't want to pose, this is much better! I like the blurred hands framing hes face.
Very nice and unusual portrait.
Harry