Café des Nattes Photo

Photographer’s Note

Café des Nattes

Displayed here is the upper end of the main square of the cliff-top village of Sidi Bou Said near Tunis with the Café des Nattes.
This café is perhaps the most famous café of the Magreb, due to August Macke's watercolour “View of a Mosque”(1914) containing the square, the Café des Nattes and the minaret of a mosque behind it. August Macke was a Swiss expressionist painter.
Check this for some background information about the painting and Sido Bou Saïd and this for s picture of the water colour itself.

Captured during a Tunisia trek in Oktober 1993.
From the travel diary: ….“We arrived in Sidi Bou Said with the TGM tram, it followed a scenic route along the coast. We walked up the steep streets lined with white washed low houses, no surprises here. The town was virtually deserted, no locals, no tourists. On the main square we drank some lemonade on the terrace of the famous “Café des Nattes” and understood why Macke was enchanted by this blue-white village. But it must have changed since then though , it’s very charming, but it all looks a liltte too tidy and ‘manicured'. After admiring the beautiful view of the Med we retraced our steps, we hadn’t much time, the intercity train to Sfax leaves in less then an hour from Tunis station”….

My TE portfolio has only few pictures from my analogue period and I decided to correct this by starting a new a series for which I recently created a theme: Les Années Argentiques
Next stop: Monastir - Mausolée Habib Bourguiba.

The tech: After scanning with the Epson Perfection 2450 Photo, I ran the pic through Noiseware first. PCS3 work flow: I altered the saturation, contrast, curves and levels for the whole pic and some elements separately, using different layers, enhanced the edges, ran the noise filter on the sky USM-ed (a 5 step method), added a frame and resized and did a gentle USM (1,3px, 18%) again.

Floydian, jjcordier, jimmj63, danos, Tue, jhm, carper, UlfE, alvaraalto, syd1946, lucasgalodoido, feather has marked this note useful

Critiques | Translate

aadilj (17950) 2008-01-10 23:41

The perspective makes it larger than life, the colours and framing are superb, the textures are lovely and the way you have presented it you have made it appear so special

jimmj63 (801) 2008-01-11 0:19

tu as pris la photo le matin. dans l'apres-midi les escaliers sont pleine de tapis colorè et pleine de personnes.
je l'aime.
ciao, giacomo

imrek (4) 2008-01-11 0:27

Hi Bert,

fine play with colors, the blue and white color ensemble is really eye-catching. Have happy 2008!
regards,
imre

jjcordier (25256) 2008-01-11 0:30

Bert
Belle photo de ce célèbre café des nattes. La lumière et les couleurs sont superbes et le scan de très bonne qualité.
Amicalement
JJ

Floydian (30970) 2008-01-11 0:33

Hallo Bert,
Eentje uit de oude doos, maar met nog een perfecte kwalitiet. De scan is prachtig, prima detailering in de donkere en lichte partijen.
Ben nooit in Tunesie geweest maar het lijkt wel iets op de Cycladen van Griekenland met die blauw en witte schakeringen.
Groet, Henk

colibriav (1568) 2008-01-11 0:56

Hola:
Bonito el sitio de Sidi Bou Said, el cafe esta situado en un lugar estrategico.
Buenos recuerdos de esta fotografia.
Un saludo desde España:
Pablo

danos (33330) 2008-01-11 1:32

Hello Bert,
nice composition and perspective of this Café des Nattes.I like the saturated colours as the light of the scene.The stairs add depth of field and lead the eye to Café.Well done Bert.

Have a nice weekend,Danos

Tue (25608) 2008-01-11 3:03

Hej Bert,
Een mooie foto uit het pre-digitale tijdperk! Het licht is heel prettig en de kleuren zijn ook mooi, leuk dat er behalve het wit en blauw van de huizen, ook wat geel, groen en rood in zit met die brievenbus en stapels kratten. Mooi werk!
Groeten,
Lars

jhm (83378) 2008-01-11 3:09

Hallo Bert,

Uw scanner heeft schitterend resultaat afgeleverd met dit mooi beeld uit de oude doos.
Misschien zoals de wijn Bert, hoe ouder hoe beter, maar voor mij persoonlijk geld dit niet.
Toen ook al een goede samenstelling te samen met diepte en perspectief.
Bedankt voor uw bezoek.

Prettig weekend gewenst uit een regenachtig Vlaanderen met 10.1°C, bijna lente in de winter voor de eerste 10 dagen.
John.

carper (65742) 2008-01-11 3:46

het is een echte Bert Hoetmer,
de kwaliteit, het licht, de kleuren en het lijnenspel is erg goed, de vrouw is een leuk detail, goed fotowerk hier.
groet Jaap

UlfE (9188) 2008-01-11 11:44

Hi Bert,

I really good idea to have a look at what you got in your analogue file. The result of your scanning and editing work is wonderful. However, it is quite obvious that the standard of your digital photos is higher. Since I have many photos from the analogue days myself I really look forward to see what will come next. Thank you very much for starting this new series. Have a nice week end!

Cheers,

Ulf

alvaraalto (5303) 2008-01-11 13:51

Hallo Bert,

Tijd voor een gouwe ouwe. En terecht, we mogen het analoge tijdperk niet vergeten, zeker als het lukt om, zoals hier, digitale kwaliteit te bereiken.

groet Rob

syd1946 (17965) 2008-01-11 13:59

Geia sou Bert,
It looks like a place from a Greek island.A lot of white and little blue color,including the sky!Excellent composition,sharp with many details to enjoy.Fine note once more made me to enjoy more!

I wish you a great weekend file mou,
Thomas

lucasgalodoido (16831) 2008-01-12 0:59

Hi Bert,
good scanned image, the quality is impressive! This Café is very agradable too. Good work.
Congratulations and Hug!

toto (18767) 2008-01-12 2:28

Belle photo de ce café, belle maisons blanches, jolies couleurs et bonne netteté qui nous montre une foule de détails intéressants.
Je vous souhaite une bonne et heureuse année 2008 pour vous et votre famille.
Amitiés Thomas
Je reviens

Stepan (27175) 2008-01-13 0:10

Typically mediterranean (I first thought it was Greece), with a lot of sunny colors. Waem and lovely. Well cropped.
Stéphane

feather (50168) 2008-01-13 11:11

The blue and white is very reminiscent of the Greek Islands. We would never guess this is a scan from an old photo as the quality is very good. Nicely composed with the steps leading the eye up the steps to the cafe. Well done
Kath

Gerrit (36313) 2008-01-21 12:17

Dag Bert,
mooi samengesteld met al die blokken. De kratjes geven een leuk kleuraccent.
Groeten Gerrit