At the "balikçi"'s Photo

Photographer’s Note

Near the Galata bridge, there is a very lifely fish market ; "balıkçı" means a fishmonger and there are a succession of them who offer tea to their undecided customers (=> another profession is visible here, on the right : the "çaycı" , who prepares tea and brings the small glass cups to the various nearby shops). Taken when the sun was getting down, with various electric lamps on.

[NB : This is a superposition of 2 photos with the same persons (except for the one on the right who quickly came and left), the 3 on the right are from the other photo as one of them was hidden on the 1st one. Therefore, I had to repair the parts that did not merge correctly (the FG) and struggled a lot, much more difficult than in my 1st "pano" posted not long ago. Worked really a lot on this one !]

( One question about which you might differ is the following : should the emphasis be on the persons or on what is for sale ? When I took the photo, I focused on the fish but as my small IXUS does not get much DOF except for the macro photos, my interest went later on, equally - or even more to the persons who were initially in the dark, as I had in mind some 17th century paintings such as here or there - of course, not pretending to equal those masterpieces, that would be impossible !)

robertosalguero, adelune, japiey, papagolf21, ChrisJ, Vasa, salvator, Merline has marked this note useful

Critiques | Translate

robertosalguero (110) 2008-04-30 0:48

Hello Catherine,

For me the emphasis is on the fish as is what caught my attention first. The different types and the amount, including what it look like an octopus on the right, is very interesting. Nice composition with good colours and sharpness. Thanks for sharing.

Roberto

nirvana73 (8836) 2008-04-30 1:03

Merhaba Catherine,

balıkların dizilişi
ışık kullanımı
herşey harika
paylaşım için teşekkürler

selamlarımla
Özhan

holmertz (9951) 2008-04-30 1:11

Hello Catherine,
Quite an interesting picture. My thoughts went straight to 17th century (and even earlier) paintings even before I read your footnote. My focus of attention shifted quite quickly from the fish to the bystanders, whom I find very interesting. I remember from studying art history about 40 years ago that in old paintings every gesture and every little detail usually had a significance. Looking at this I start wondering what a certain gesture or a certain look of someone's eyes could mean. Very imaginative.
Regards,
Gert

adelune (2) 2008-04-30 1:40 [Comment]

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japiey (9521) 2008-04-30 1:42

Dear Cath,

A NEW LESSON FOR ME...
Great shot.. and well done notes.
Excellent.

All the best.

jp

papagolf21 (56733) 2008-04-30 2:03

Bonjour, mon amie Catherine,
L'assemblage des deux photographies me semble excellent. L'étal est parfaitement mis en valeur avec ces différents vertébrés aquatiques joliment présentés.
Eu égard à l'appareil photo, la qualité de l'image est excellente.
Sujet très intéressant et parfaitement mis en valeur.
Amitiés.
Philippe

tehanu_f (6874) 2008-04-30 2:04

I like this pov with the emphasis on the fish. That's why it is eyecatching. Otherwise, with the people emphasized, it wouldn't be as interesting as this one. I think you do (and did here as well) a great job with your small camera. Here the people's expressions are also fascinating, and your light management is really good.
Regards,
Fusun

ChrisJ (70443) 2008-04-30 2:11

Salut Catherine

A superb daily life scene at the fish market, with marvellous repetition of the pescatorial subjects. Good contrast & sharpness. Merci!

MiguelP (14336) 2008-04-30 3:22

Do you remember a month ago or so that we talked about the painting quality of one of your photos? Well, I have the same feeling about this one. The way all the people are placed in the frame, but more important, the way they are acting, it´s just like a Velazque´s moment. The compositión, giving so much space to the fishes is a very good idea.
Take care,
Miguel

alibasarir (14497) 2008-04-30 6:05

merhaba catherine,
balıkçıları çok güzel yansıtmışsın.özellikle balıkların üstüne vuran ışık çok güzel.ayrıca renkler ve detaylarda harika eline sağlık.
selamlar
Ali

MarcT (21103) 2008-04-30 6:30

Salut Cath,
Très bon POV, je suis bluffé en permanence par ce que tu tires de ton petit Ixus. Et après tout ça tu diras que tu ne connais rien au traitement des images.
Amitiés
Marc

Polonaise (5638) 2008-04-30 7:29

Forgive me, Cath...
I couldn't resist...
Here it is...

Your most wonderful still nature photography at my will...

Love sister ... and fish.. :-))))

***********************

[workshop] [compare] +

polter (6168) 2008-04-30 10:21

That is absolutely great photo. And indeed I also do not know if I do prefer people here or the stuff they are selling. Together they make such a wonderful scene. And for sure the men's faces are so expressive ! Love it.
Greetings T.

okahraman (4576) 2008-04-30 12:20

Merhaba Catherine ;

güzel bir kare olmuş balıklar alabildiğince güzel görünüyor elinize sağlık

Önder Kahraman

Vasa (6302) 2008-04-30 15:19

Chere Catherine,

cette fois-ci je suis vraiment fier de toi! C'est un peu plus que la "nature morte" avec la presence des hommes deriere et tout cela habille dans une palette qui me rappelle beaucoup a mes peintres preferes: Georg Flegel, Abraham Van Beijeren, Willem Kalf, Floris Van Dijk et autres que j'essaie d'imiter dans mon attelier.

Je viens d'ecrire ces mots, puis j'ai eu l'idee de lire les reactions. Et je vois que je ne suis pas original, mais ca prouve tellement ce que j'ai dit. La superposition de deux vues ne gache pas mon impression. Je te quitte tres content.

Branko

salvator (18933) 2008-05-01 2:56

Bonjour Catherine,
Nice use of light and nice highlighted figures on the black background, with the balikci and the cayci. The pov, the sharpness on the fish look very nice.
Amities. Salvator.
PS. Please drop me a line before you arrive.

delkoo (34754) 2008-05-01 8:49

bonjour Ctherine
c'est le seul mot de turc que je me rappelle, balik,balik,j'étais a Istambul en 1975 et je vois que l'atmosphere a peu changé depuis près du pont de Galata, ici tu as mis l'accent sur les poisons mais les hommes dans le fond restent présents grâce à la lumière de l'ampoule, j'aime bien comme ça.

didier

Silvio1953 (42769) 2008-05-01 11:32

Ciao Caterina, che nostalgia di Istanbul, tra le mille e passa foto che ho scattato ce ne sono alcune simili alla tua, ma i miei pesci non sono belli e ben disposti come i tuoi, ottima composizione, brava, con Amicizia
Silvio

Angshu (34093) 2008-05-04 9:05

Dear Cath
Very very interesting post especially with the links of the paintings you provided. Question is which is more important, the fish or the people is difficult to analyse & tell for this shot. Both are equally important IMO as without either this would not have been the shot as it is now. The light is interesting as it mellows down as we go from the front to the back. As always a fascinating daily life shot, which makes great viewing, as I do find it so similar to our fish markets as well!
Best Regards
Angshu

Merline (6578) 2008-05-05 2:58

A difficult question Catherine. You focused on the fish and I think it's the best idea, and anyway I do find one sees very well the various expressions of the vendors behind ! So all is well :-)Now if you tell once more that you don't know how to compose a photograph, I may just laugh hehe! This is a superb one, of course the fish were nicely arranged, very attractive, still the more I see your pics, the more I am impressed, and all that with a small Ixus. The light is greatly managed, look at the shining fish, mes compliments Cath, c'est super!

Amitiés et à très bientôt, on se recontacte par mail avant mercredi.
Michèle

P.S. J'adore le ws de George:D
je repasse