Girl with earrings, a photo from Mopti, South

Photographer's Note

This is another re-post of a photo from a journey through West Africa in 1981-82. I first posted it in January 2008 but didn't quite like the colours, so I have made a new scan. Hopefully you will agree that this one is better.

Here is the original note:

A girl I met while strolling through the older part of Mopti city in central Mali. I don't remember if she asked to have her picture taken or if I asked her. In any case she posed willingly and without fear. That was 26 years ago, so this little girl is today probably married and the mother of several children. Let's hope she has a good life.

To this I can add that now 33 years have passed since I took this photo.

As usual this was scanned from a Kodachrome slide. You can see the original version if you click in the box to the right.

Here is a larger version of the re-post.

danos, ourania, cornejo, lousat, adores, kordinator, Royaldevon, SnapRJW, mirosu, COSTANTINO, PaulVDV, ChrisJ, nikkitta, mcmtanyel, ikeharel has marked this note useful

Critiques | Translate

danos (110407) 2015-03-08 3:40

Hello Gert,
nice the portrait of the young girl in the early decade of '80's that in our days will be a woman in the middle age.An excellent documentary shot from Mali.

Regards,Danos

mesutilgim (0) 2015-03-08 4:21

Hello dea Gert,
Another nice portrait from your "treasurechest" !
She is poor but seemingly happy.
TFS and have a nice Sunday
MESUT ILGIM

ourania (51103) 2015-03-08 4:43

Hello Gert,
the little girl must be a grandmother now and I hope, too, that she has kept this lovely, warm smile through the years. I like very much how she stands out against the backdrop, that offers neutral tones but rich texture. The little girl is elegant and her straightforward attitude makes her portrait so effective and interesting. You kept the spark of her personality superbly. Congratulations and thank you!
All the best, have a great day,
Ourania

pajaran (114781) 2015-03-08 6:07

Dobar dan, popodne.
Lep pogled, dobar tekst ...
Dobar rad skeniranjem slajda, lepo pokazana devojcica.
Lepo popodne i sve najbolje sa lepim secanjem na vase putovanje i 1982.
Paja.

Good afternoon, this afternoon.
Nice view, good text ...
Good work by scanning slides, beautiful girl shown.
A nice afternoon and all the best with beautiful memories of your trip and in 1982.
Paja.

saxo042 (38078) 2015-03-08 6:50

Hej Gert,
Här är min förra kritik:
"A very good picture and you also managed to get a good background for this portrait. The colour of the cloth she is wearing is contributing a lot to the fine result."
Färgerna är ju något tydligare nu, jag fick nästan för mig att det var den danska flaggan hon bar på...
Kanske en idé att ta fram gamla bilder och visa dem på nytt. Något nyare som är bättre har jag knappast för tillfället.
Hälsningar
Gunnar

Sergiom (117241) 2015-03-08 7:07

Bonjour Gert,

Une très belle photo ressortie de tes archives argentiques. Le rendu et la numérisation sont excellents. Que dire de la pose et du sourire, déjà une vedette à très jeune âge.

Bon dimanche

Serge

eldancer1 (36343) 2015-03-08 7:58

Not a traditional earrings for an African child but maybe I am stereotyping. Beautiful and natural smile which makes children great photography subject. Good technical qualities and wonderful colors. I also hope that she has a good life now. Well done, tfs.

berek (50518) 2015-03-08 9:00

Dear Gert,
A beautiful picture from your archives. scanning are very good. What about the pose and smily face , already a star at a very young age.love vivid colors too my friend.
All the Best.
Burak Erek

Fis2 (169589) 2015-03-08 10:06

Witaj Gert!
Nice smiling girl.
Good frame and light.
Very impressive colors.
Nice evening
Krzysztof

Nicou (193806) 2015-03-08 10:32

Hello

quel portrait et iamge quelle compo et vue un charmant garÃ§on e tiamge avec un beau rourrire et un beau corps splendide.
Bravo et amitiÃ©
Nicou

Silvio1953 (220443) 2015-03-08 11:14

Ciao Gert, great portrait of cute young girl, nice smile, fine details and excellent clarity, very wrll donr, my friend, ciao Silvio

Cricri (176) 2015-03-08 11:42

Hi Gert
Un charmant portrait de cette jolie fille souriante, toujours un scan de qualite, bonne lumiere et couleurs
Belle soiree
cricri

cornejo (61504) 2015-03-08 11:55

Hello Gert, is fine for the time you have the original, good portrait and interesting. Very well captured with good sharpness, light, color and quality. Very good and interesting job well done, congratulations my friend. Thanks for sharing this beautiful work.

Good night and happy start to the week.
All the best from southern Spain.
Angel.

Gerrit (62042) 2015-03-08 12:13

Hello Gert,
wonderful smile from a long time a go in Mali. Excellent portrait.
thanks and regards,'
Gerrit

Graal (103040) 2015-03-08 12:20

Hello Gert,
nice portrait of girl in Mali. Pleasant smile. I see a bit couriosity in her eyes. Fine scan and well done photo.
Have a nice evening.
Aleksander

carlo62 (81265) 2015-03-08 15:04

Ciao Gert
direi che questa versione è senza dubbio migliore della precedente.
Si tratta di un bel ritratto e spero proprio che questa ragazzina sia oggi una donna felice.
Saluti
Carlo

lousat (138521) 2015-03-08 15:36

Hi Gert,beautiful portrait of this youg girl,now an old woman,from an unlucky country in these days,another great memory very well scannered as usual.Have a nice week and thanks,Luciano

adores (46979) 2015-03-08 17:08

Hi Gert!
It looks much better now! It's a very nice portrait, I like her smile and the red cloth she's holding adds a lot. You have done a good work with the scanner, the quality is still very good. I just wonder what happened to her along these years.

rychem (72187) 2015-03-08 23:40

There is a famous photo of National Geographic, the author photographed a young girl, and then, after many years, he found her and photographed again. Your picture is very similar to those situation, I would really like to know how she looks now, the perfect portrait
regards Ryszard

kordinator (8738) 2015-03-09 1:51

Dear Gert
This is wonderful portrait of this girl.
Beautiful scanned photos from your rich archive of analogue photos from your travels in Africa.
Let's hope that this little girl is now a woman filled with his family.
Kind regards
Saša

kasianowak (17648) 2015-03-09 2:58

Hi Gert
Great portrait! This smile is priceless, the girl is posing like a model. I too wonder what her life has been like and what she is up to now. I'm also curious what it is she is holding in her hands.
This scan is better indeed (the previous one wasn't that bad but good idea to try again and come up with this), not just colours but a wider dynamic range with detail visible in the highlights.
Have a nice day
Kasia

Royaldevon (85576) 2015-03-09 3:41

Hello Gert,

Photographs, like this, always get you thinking, hoping that all has gone well, and wondering what sort of life she has had.
She looks charming at this stage of her life, warm with a sparling smile. She looks so natural, no coquettishness or sophistication. I hope life has treated her well!

Have a lovely week,
Bev :-)

abmdsudi (95869) 2015-03-10 0:57

Hi Gert
What good looking and happy girl, there is nothing like the innocent to warm the heart. A fine portrait, one can see no one can snatch her joy before your lens, in the broader scale, she was even blessed...
A good picture full detail and real life. Congrats
Best regards

Matyas (0) 2015-03-10 4:51

Hello Gert! Amazing portrait from 1982. What about this girl today? Fine quality. Fine colours. Good work. Splendid effect. Well done!

SnapRJW (31631) 2015-03-10 11:04

Hello Gert - I love looking at photographs like this one and wondering what life is like now for the subject. The young girl has such an open and trusting face. I hope that she still has.

warm regards

Rosemary

nikkitta (17070) 2015-03-10 12:07

Hola gert

Returning at TE after Summer has some gifts as are your photos
Good scanned work of the smiling girl ( now a woman)
Will take slowly a look at your post with time
Kind regards
Maria

williewhistler (16606) 2015-03-11 4:42

Hello Gert,
this young girl exudes so much natural charm that it`s easy to see why you choose to re-visit the original slide and would agree that the colours are probably better this time around.
Her natural smile and direct eye contact are memorable and most compelling,it`s not often that we are treated to a close up portrait as enjoyable as this.
Best regards Les.

mirosu (16313) 2015-03-11 6:16

Hello Gert,
Very nice smiling face, brilliant photo in perfect light.
Nice image in superb light, nice colors.
Lovely separation from the background!
Very well done.
Greetings from Malaysia,
MIRO
.

COSTANTINO (115407) 2015-03-11 6:22

Hello dear Gert and have a nice weekend
what could I say again for this photo dear friend?
only greetings because it is not a simple photo
it is a photo with a great value of civilasation
this portrait is very impressive showing
this girl who posed willingly and without fear
greetings again
regards
Costantino

emka (157280) 2015-03-13 2:07

Hello Gert, delightful portrait of this Mali girl. She has a beautiful smile and I admire her hairstyle with tiny braids. It is always interesting to think what was the life of the people on photo later. You could take this picture and look for her, like Steve McCurry who found Afghan girl after many years. The colours are now better but maun difference for me is now the size.
For the old version during seven years 2561 views and 10 points :).
WArm regards MAlgo

PaulVDV (62746) 2015-03-13 9:16

Hello Gert,
The textures of the mud wall are also much prettier on this re-post.
This young girl with her natural, broad smile looks very interested in what you were doing. Let's hope she has a good life now despite the fact that her country has a lot of problems these days.
With the red cloth in her hands she's making the picture a bit more colourful.
Best regards, Paul

fabbs99 (17179) 2015-03-14 1:43

Hello Gert,

Excellent portrait of the girl from Mali from the early 80s.Excellent image quality with great clarity and sharpness. TFS.

Cheers
Farhat

imageme (1790) 2015-03-14 13:03

Hi Gert, Awesome............Best regards
Anna

ChrisJ (171146) 2015-03-15 3:20

Hello Gert,

A superb head and shoulders portrait of the young girl with good sharpness and superb use of a shallow dof. Good composition with plenty of breathing space right around and I like the highlight in her right eye which is on the left here. The braided short hair adds interest. The light bg works well against her darker toned skin to give a superb graphic element. Tfs!

unclehotshot (4004) 2015-04-08 7:57

Hej Gert
That is such a fine portrait. The best is that the girl obviously like to participate in your project. I said it before about an Albanian man outside his shop. Well done; not all could call out trust in that way.
Apart all that, the photo is of high quality... colors, sharpness, textures. The model is doing her part of the work, too - ofcourse.
Brilliant shot.
Cheers Frank

mcmtanyel (67507) 2015-04-17 21:07

Hello Gert,
I wonder how she is doing now, if she is still around. Very nice portrait, precious photo.
Regards,
MT

Tigerlily (3381) 2015-07-23 8:48

Hi again Gert,
You captured the charming smile of the girl..lovely.
" now 33 years have passed since I took this photo." This is what I like your photos....the story keeps going on, and on... in our imaginative world.

Ilonka1974 (10275) 2020-01-21 5:33

Hi Gert,
Very very simple and very very nice picture.
And I love it. Her expression is beautiful and I like it.
Best regards
Janusz

Miguel82 (47110) 2020-06-08 12:01

Gert, excellent portrait of this girl taken in Mopti. Her body covered with dust illustrates the difficult life conditions at this time in Mali. A beautiful smile. Fine colors, good sharpness, interesting photo note, regards.

ikeharel (112391) 2022-01-20 2:06

An old portrait picture, but charm still privailes, Gert.
She must ne now at her 40th, maybe even older, as I always write - would be interesting if she sees herself on TE...
Good afternoon,
Ike