A Bovary girl in a barber's world Photo

Photographer’s Note

"Has he gone mad?" should you appropriately think, why mix Emma Bovary and a provincial town in Thailand deep south?

Ms Bovary for who isn't french raised, is a classical novel from Flaubert, perhaps the most influential writer in french litterature. The book tells the story of a pretty woman, Emma Bovary, looking forward ballrooms, social life and dreamt love. She marries to a steadily mediocre and boring man, and tries to forget her rural village boredom with the help of lovers, who also happen to be either cowards or money attracted.Ms Bovary is the novel of the ultimate provincial boredom...

Had Yai, the last stand of thai/chinese culture before the muslim states of Thailand and Malaysia, is pretty devoid of any charm... Like any subcapital city you might think of, lost in either a sun or a rain drenched province.

I guess there's not much to see or live in Had Yai : this is why there are so many barber/hairdresser shops. I walked a whole street that displayed only woman hairdressers, certainly twice too many for normal haircut behavior in such a city. I guess every Ms.Bovary in Had Yai goes soothing her boredom in these hairdressers salons.

Btw, Flaubert once claimed about his novel, "I am Emma Bovary". Ms. Bovary or the subjects we photo...we human being, a polymorphic type... hehe... ;)

don_narayan, peter1892, Dr_Nibbles, designsoul, Curioso, bfly, Brian has marked this note useful

Critiques | Translate

devimeuxbe (56532) 2006-02-23 18:20

hI Luko
Très belle composition. J'aime bien ce contraste entre les 2 plans. A gauche c'est accrocheur, à droite c'est au contraire une impression de déranger quelque chose. Une belle image.
AMicalement
Bertrand

don_narayan (2014) 2006-02-23 18:34

Hello Luko. The composition is fantastic, very modern, contemporary. the poster of the face is so close it is halting, but good that the focus is not on it. i like the focus in the back, showing the other posters, the woman working and the other watching you. The noise is a bit high from the ISO but it works well enough.

Narayan

peter1892 (1681) 2006-02-23 18:39

Nice shot - the composition is good, I like how the girl in the chair see's you but the hairdresser herself doesn't appear to be aware of you & the camera. The poster is eye-catching as well.

Furachan (0) 2006-02-23 19:17

"Emma Bovary, c'est moi" disait Flaubert...This is one of your truly GREAT Thai pics, Luko (another being that wiatress passing by like a queen in that cafe...remember? The movie quality is in place, the customer is miraculously looking your way, in that half-expectant street Thai way...you've got the old script (palimpsest) up on the wall, and that ghastly Westernish poster (NOT as pretty as mine in Hoi An :o)), dividing the frame. I think I'll slide this baby into my FAVs.
Bonjour a toi,
Francis

klennon79 (0) 2006-02-23 19:23

Interesting composition. Great depth. I like how the color red seems to pop out throughout the photo.

tjanze (5674) 2006-02-24 3:36

Hi Luko!
Very good combination with poster and real work.
Fantastic composition and good idea.

Svillegas (1165) 2006-02-24 3:46

Hi Luko
Great composition and idea. Very well managed, there's not many reflections and we can perfectly see through the glass withouth distorsions.
Sonia

MKING (3050) 2006-02-24 4:11

Layering of poster-people-poster is great-- if you say that this town is sandwiched inside its obsession with hair salons then you've captured it pictorially too. Love the slight green tint-- just adds a drop of seediness.

nerve (10216) 2006-02-24 9:28

every lady/man carries a madame bovary in herself/himself! doesnt matter where they are.. even in the most mediocre province or in a most exciting metropol.. lol! this is why i think M. Bovary (one of my favs) is a real classic..

i like "grain" and it gives an old feeling like in here generally but, i am not sure of "colour noise" in this image..somehow looks too much PP to me..
Still, good work.

designsoul (21394) 2006-02-24 10:51

Endlessly fascinating why white culture is so revered by cultures so rich and beautiful. I guess whites must have the money to spread the glamour and print huge billboards and posters representing the intangibly superficial splendour...
Love your Bovary quote, yes, I have read that too, and here it is working fantastically with that glamorous "mme Bovary" and the beautiful Thai woman having a haircut. I can see why you left this shot colour, that green of the interior is very contageous...:-) though I think bw would also work well. Have you tried?
Great work,
sasa

fixed (3831) 2006-02-24 11:51

hello Luko
toujours un véritable plaisir de découvrir tes images ! ... alors encore merci pour nos yeux et pour les sensations !
... des images à ne pas regarder trop rapidement ... il faut découvrir, goûter et déguster ;)
bravo pour cette "photo concept" qui fonctionne très bien pour moi
... je ne trouve pas mes mots je m'arrête donc là
merci en tout cas
... je sais, ce n'est pas vraiment une critique mais bon ... vert quand même ;)
A bientôt
Arnaud

lewiz (1293) 2006-02-24 13:30

Hi Luko,
I love the noise and slightly wonky-colours that come with high digital ISO... the dual glances are great and the 50:50 composition is good.
Thanks. Lewis.

AnimeshRay (8886) 2006-02-24 23:53

Superb vision. Somehow hairdressesr's presents such a rich opportunity. YOu have captured a most provocative arrangement.

carper (66132) 2006-02-25 14:13

well Luko i like this one of yours,
it is a well seen composition with a fantastic pov and a good technical shot of yours,good job.
gr. jaap

bullabulla (3488) 2006-02-25 15:40

Haa c'est une beau sujet et très bien représenté sur cette photo.
J'aime beaucoup cette composition en deux parties le rêve et le réel et le fait que ta mise au point soit sur la partie de droite accentue ces deux notions.
Merci
Laetitia

maciekda (19599) 2006-02-26 6:23

this one is very nice, the composition is very good - i like the way the frame is divided into two parts, two ladies looking at you, spots of red color. the only nitpick here is the noise - i guess the image was underexposed quite a lot and you had to brighten it. anyway, it is a very nice image, i like it.
what about adding some new photos to your nice pbase site?

tongapup (1574) 2006-02-27 12:59

Hoooo...

Funny, I am reading Mme Bovary right now! I'm feeling rather anxious about how it's going to end...

I love this shot. You have captured so many feminine faces in various attitudes of beauty, but it's the foreground face that really makes the photo, it's so confrontational/seductive... it looks like it's daring you. Daring you to pass judgement on the women in the store? Confronting your admiration of them? Or vying for your attention?

The colour is wonderful. Kind of rich and grey at the same time, strangely enough.

By the way, was the title a very veiled reference to Aqua, or is it just me?

Tristan-z (1031) 2006-02-28 1:37

Image bien composé avec un bon regard de la fille qui est en train de se faire coiffé. Bravo

dolin (15647) 2006-02-28 3:50

Re.
Ben une 2ème compo qui change un peu de ce que tu nous montres en général.
J'adore ces images avec deux profondeurs et une partie à plat.
Un 50-50 intéressant et un chouette double jeu de regard réél et irréel.
Bien vu le focus sur la partie réelle.
Etonnant de tjs voir des femmes occidentales sur les affiches en asie....
Joli prise.
Fred

(tjs à sec, je repasse)

pervez (8) 2006-05-17 15:32 [Comment]

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behzad (97) 2006-05-17 15:53

that is very nice shot.thank you for your composition and sharing

sebinho342 (18808) 2007-06-18 7:52

Saluko, j'me suis taté avec celle d'a coté présentée dans la première page de TE "Had Yai-Munich, Munich-Had Yai" qui est un peu dans le même genre mais finalement j'opte pour celle là ... que je découvre d'ailleurs, c'est ça l'avantage d'avoir une gallerie aussi pléthorique et riche même dans les recoins les plus cachés ... Pas besoin de lire la note, je vois malgré tout le nom de "Bovary" ressortir, why not, moi c'qui m'intéresse c'est la photo en elle même et ce 50-50 me plait au possible :)
Au premier abord j'ai été un peu déçu par les "grains" et l'aspect pas trop "petant" de ce post mais en voyant que c'est pris a 1600ISO finalement c'est "mieux que bien" géré ;)
Parfaite association entre cette femme qui reve de devenir une occidentale, désir suprème de la gente féminine asiatique
Bravo