Young Maasai Photo

Photographer’s Note

This shot is of the young Maasai who took us into his house to show us how they live and to tell us a little bit about their customs. It follows on from my previous post from there.

The houses are either circular or loaf-shaped and are traditionally made by the women from sticks woven together and filled in with mud, grass, cow dung and cow’s urine. Non-traditionally it seems as if gaps are filled in with plastic and cardboard as you can see here. Around the houses the men construct a “fence” from acacia thorns to keep out the lions.

The Maasai are a semi-nomadic people moving around with their cattle dependent on the seasons. The majority of the Maasai live in Kenya with the rest living in Northern Tanzania or Tanganyika as they still call it. Their main diet is meat and milk. Traditionally they mix the milk with blood taken from the necks of live cattle, but in practice this now happens rarely and blood is only drank on special occasions like after circumcision, childbirth and by the sick.

This young man is 20 years old and not yet old enough to marry. He told us boys, on reaching adolescence are all circumcised without anaesthetic. They must not cry out as that would bring dishonour. He also told us that women are now no longer circumcised. From research I have done, I read it is still practiced quite widely, although both the Kenyan and Tanzanian governments have now made it illegal.

As the houses have no windows, just a small low doorway and a hole in the roof for the smoke from the cooking fire, it was too dark to take a photo without flash. As with the previous post from the village I had to made do with the lens I had attached at the time.

ISO100, FL70mm

Photo65Net, ChrisJ, Dyerco, Wandering_Dan, dareco, imrek, plimrn, vincz, bertolucci, ktanska, cobbydale, jwmunro, Cricri, UlfE, pboehringer, snunney, JCG, stego, josepmarin, Emile, marine-coeur has marked this note useful

Critiques | Translate

Photo65Net (43084) 2008-03-13 7:42

Kath,
A very nice portrait with great ttitude from this young boy.
Your DOF is perfect, and you caught nice colors.
Your note is very informative too.
Regards,
JB.

ChrisJ (70231) 2008-03-13 8:01

Hi Kath

A superb pov, with excellent sharpness, dof, & contrast. Good portrait, with excellent lighting & composition. Tfs!

Dyerco (9078) 2008-03-13 9:31

Hi Kath
It's unfortunate that you had to use a flash as it creates hot spots especially on dark skinned people. The detail is still there in his face but whatever is behind the left side of his head is a bit distracting.
Phil

Wandering_Dan (3225) 2008-03-13 9:56

Hi, Kath -

Good portrait shot, even though the flash was a bit too close. It does show character.

My recollection of Maasai circumcision practice, at least in Kenya, is all that all boys of a certain age range (something like 10 to 18) are circumcised at the same time in one big ceremony, and that this creates a special bond among them. And they are definitely not supposed to cry. And female circumcision is definitely still a problem in Kenya, especially among the Kikuyu tribe, and in west Africa as well. Sheesh!

Best,
Dan

dareco (17104) 2008-03-13 9:57

Your note is incredibly interesting!! Thank you. And I really love this portrait. Very nice expression and lighting. TFS

imrek (4) 2008-03-13 10:13

HI Kath,

Good point of view and sharp details well handled depth of field...nice portrait.

regards,

imre

gilou530 (35226) 2008-03-13 13:14

salut kath
a portrait full with simplicity of a young person masai "Europeanized" much clearness in this photo
friendships
gilbert

Gerrit (35707) 2008-03-13 13:42

Hi Kath,
good portrait with excellent DOV and great light and colours.
Regards, Gerrit

Morac (20421) 2008-03-13 15:17

Kath,
A very nice portrait with great attitude from this boy.
Thank you for your very informative note.
Regards
Marc

batalay (20940) 2008-03-13 19:19

Hello Kath,

What a wonderful portrait of the young Maasai, and locating the subject so that one eye is very close to the centerline. I went back 19 pages into your gallery, and found a photograph called "The Future" that you had submitted over two years ago. In my last book on Leonardo (published in 2004), and again the new one (coming out in two months), I wrote about a 1998 discovery by the English born psychologist Christopher Tyler. In all "great portraits" (from Leonardo's "Mona Lisa" to self-portraits by Rembrandt, from portraits by Picasso and self-portraits by Van Gogh) the artist focuses on one eye, putting that eye very close to the centerline. It appears to be an intuitive principle, as it has never been taught in art schools. The implication here is that you've improved from a good photographic artist to a superb portrait photographer.

Warm regards,

Bulent

[2]

plimrn (19656) 2008-03-13 20:32

Hi Kath,
This portrait has a powerful emotional impact; perhaps Bulent has the explanation. I could babble on about the directness of his gaze but I really can't explain why it moves me so strongly. The note is fascinating as well.
HLJ, Pat

vincz (19043) 2008-03-14 1:06

Very nice portrait with good use of fill flash. Choice of DOF is excellent and I particularly appreciate the note. Thanks.

bertolucci (11976) 2008-03-14 3:51

Hi Kath,
A good portrait of this young Massai. You captured his complex expression very well. The juxtaposition of the warrior with the flat box on the wall adds cultural interest in mire ways then one.
Considering the darkness in the hut the flash was well controlled. Thanx for the interesting note too. Well done!
Have a nice weekend,
Bert

ktanska (16581) 2008-03-14 4:31

Hi Kath,
Obviously when there's no ambient light, it's better to use flash than not shoot at all. Well done although not National Geographic style. I guess there was nothing to use as a flash bounce either, but maybe underexposing a little could have been a good choice.
Anyway short DoF is good, eye contact efficient and composition excellent. And I find the use of that cardboard box interesting.
Kari

cobbydale (1924) 2008-03-14 8:51

Nice portrait Kath and one with a story behind it - good notes as always from you. The thought of that "op" without an anaesthetic makes my eyes water, but, among other noted benefits, male circumcision does apparently reduce the spread of Aids so probably worth it.

cheers
Leon

Graal (57941) 2008-03-14 8:51

Hi Kath,
another interesting portrait, unusual face and informations. Young and hard a man (not cry). Nice complementary image also. Fine serie.
Gr., Aleksander

jwmunro (6577) 2008-03-14 9:58

Hello Kath -

This is a nice image. You have great eye contact and I believe that is the picture here. It seems you really connected with him. The dim lighting conditions make it very difficult to get a good portrait and the on board flash does not seem to help very much. I don't know if the D200 flash can be turned down but it would have been helpful here (btw, the D300 flash is adjustable). I will forward this to Stan and see if he can give you some pointers. Otherwise, this is a good image and your subject was great.

Thank you for sharing.

John

Cricri (43092) 2008-03-14 11:59

Hi Kath,
Beau portrait de ce jeune homme a la peau foncé et reluissante, bon DOF et couleurs, trés belle et intéresante note, compliment
Have a nice weekend for you
cricri

UlfE (8978) 2008-03-14 13:27

Hi Kath,

I am a bit surprised that the wonderful portrait has got relatively points compared to what normally get. What makes this portrait very special is of course this young Maasai's very intense look. The sharpness and colours are perfect. An even if I might understand those saying that the background is a bit distracting I think it is a really great detail after having read your note. It certainly adds an extra dimension to it. It is not only in Africa people lose their sense of what is tasteful in their local sourroundings. It happens everywhere. TFS and have a nice week-end!

Cheers,

Ulf

pboehringer (770) 2008-03-14 18:57

Kath,
I'm quite new in the portrait business, but I looked a lot into portraits and one thing that is the real killer is the flash at a level that it gives reflexes on the skin and the shadow in the background. The composition with the placement off center and the slightly blurred background works well, but than the flash really ruins his face and expression. I'm sorry for the honesty, it really doesn't work for me.
Did you know that you can regulate the intensity of the flash on the D200?
Peter

jackart (5560) 2008-03-15 1:47

hello Kath!

Great portrait of the young maasai. I like this deep in his eyes. I can see soul of the african warrior.

Excellent!

Regards
Jacek

izmirli (3179) 2008-03-15 4:26

merhaba dear kath
wonderful portrait picture.wonderful interesting young maasai and composition.well done.
best regards.
gürkan akçakır.

snunney (34884) 2008-03-15 6:00

Hello Kath,
A good portrait of this young man with an interesting expression. I like the composition. It is perhaps a little over-exposed in parts with some troubling highlights but not a major issue for me.

rodgerg (24091) 2008-03-16 1:22

Hello Kath,

A splendid portrait of this youg Massaï. Glance very well collected. Beautiful positionning of portrait in the image. Congtaulations.
Thanks also for the very intersting notice.
Regards. Good day,
Roger

JCG (25331) 2008-03-16 9:12

Hi Kath,

What a glance at this young boy !!! A pretty portrait where I like the DOF. However I find the image a little clear, the use of the flash, and I propose on this subject a WS. The complementary photograph on their village is very interesting, the landscape is fabulous. Thank you for the instructive note Kath.

With all my friendships and a very good evening,

Jean-Charles

[workshop] [compare] +

stego (22352) 2008-03-16 12:33

Hi Kath,
It's clear that you either were too shy to show your portraits or you discovered a remarkable talent for portraits recently. This is another great photo, featuring an expressive model, a good POV and spotless light management. The cardboard may not be that pretty, but it doesn't look bad at all, filling the area and anyway, it shows the environment quite realistically.
Regards, José.

josepmarin (33785) 2008-03-16 13:21

Hello Kath,
Excellent portrait, with a great quality of image, of this young man Maasai, with a deep and impressive look.
I like your sensibility to take this photo, which has a very agreeable result.
It is a beautiful work, very interesting also by your excellent note.
Nice work.
Best wishes,
Josep

keribar (42748) 2008-03-16 22:49

Hello Kath,
The picture is quite sharp, the subject excellent but why a direct flash ? If you ask me
and I had to choose between a high ISO ( which causes noise ) and a direct flash I believe I would prefer the high ISO. Hav you tried a slow flash ?
I wish you an excellent week - Izzet

Emile (19977) 2008-04-01 10:21

Hola Kath.
Wonderful portrait captured with a good POV, the expression of the young man and the details you were able to get produces an amazing photo. very well done. TFS.
Cheers.

marine-coeur (570) 2009-02-01 10:20