Cairo

Photographer's Note

I follow up my latest post with two more photos from streets of Cairo in 1983. It was a crowded and chaotic city, but I really liked it. I loved to make long walks and to discover by coincidence streets and districts I would probably never had seen if I had been travelling with a group on an organized tour.

Today's photos are, just like the last ones, simple snapshots, taken spontaneously and not at all carefully composed. I don't remember if the main photo was taken after a heavy shower, when the sky was again quickly clearing up, or if a major water pipe had been broken.

I considered cropping a slice on the left side, to get rid of the half man, but decided I preferred to keep the view of the pavement just rising above the water.

There's one more photo in the WS. They were both scanned from Kodachrome slides.

I am temporarily getting tired of my old scanned photos, so from my next upload I plan to spend some time in the digital world.

Fis2, ikeharel, pierrefonds, jhm, Royaldevon, jean113, PaulVDV, macjake, ChrisJ, COSTANTINO, ktanska, adramad, mcmtanyel has marked this note useful

Critiques | Translate

Fis2 (158253) 2021-03-24 1:41

Witaj Gert!
Another nice pictures from daily life.
Interesting architecture.
Good frames colors and light.
Excellent reportage work.
Good morning.
Krzysztof

pajaran (104947) 2021-03-24 2:03

Pozdrav.
Danas smo komsije sa fotografijama na TE.
Interesantan pogled i trenutak, dobar tekst ...
Dobar rad sa fotografijom u radionici, dobro pokazano sa lepim bojama, kontrastom i perspektivom.
Lepe fotografija i uhvaceni trenuci.
Zelim vam lep i uspesan dan, sve najbolje.
Paja

ikeharel (107117) 2021-03-24 2:29

Hello Gert,
Indeed a chaotic street view with the flood and daily traffic on the scene.
Yet, managed a good report here from long ago.
excellent view towards the three minarets.
Have a nice new day,
Ike

Silvio1953 (208625) 2021-03-24 4:34

Ciao Gert, sure, very chaotic city, but I like it, great perspective on beautiful minaretes, fine details, excellent clarity, splendid light and wonderful colors, very well done, my friend, ciao Silvio

pierrefonds (105583) 2021-03-24 4:51

Hi Gert,

The length of the street is creating depth. The point of view is showing a daily life scene and the details of the buildings. The light is bringing out the colors. Have a nice day.

Pierre

jhm (205253) 2021-03-24 7:05

Hello Gert,

Your old pictures speak book parts, for me, it seems yesterday notwithstanding almost 40 year ago.
We get lovely details to see.
You chose a lovely angle and great panorama view.
Composition and presentation make your picture attractive.
Very well done, TFS.

Have a nice day,
John.

dta (98844) 2021-03-24 8:03

Hello Gert ,
Looking at the thumbnail , I thought that this was Venice !
Surely a quite rare moment with so much water in the streets in Cairo . I like especially here the old time cars , and the beautiful minarets in the BG .
Regards

Royaldevon (78370) 2021-03-24 8:42

Hello Gert,

These are priceless shots!
It may have been lengthy to scan them but was worth the effort! The juxtaposition of cars and a lake between the tall minarets is just amazing! In the same way, a horse facing backwards in the cart shafts and men dressed as if in Biblical times, in streets with modern vehicles, is just like something from Monty Python>
No wonder you enjoyed your journey, it has such a mixture of elements!!

Thank you fro sharing these,
Bve :-)

jmdias (105143) 2021-03-24 8:58

gert

I am sure this is result of a broken pipe.. amazing these two photos. I liked the minarets in main post and the personages of the WS.
yes, a pity you left more space to the sky than to the street. But I presume you were in a hurry to take the image, it is fabulous anyway.

take care

jorge

jean113 (23505) 2021-03-24 9:48

Hello Gert, 'chaotic' describes this perfectly.
It might be a spontaneous shot, it is still an excellent composition. There is a good sense of depth as our eyes are led to the end of the street.
Excellent scanning.
Kind regards, Jean.

Tue (84044) 2021-03-24 11:32

Hej Gert,
Jeg kunne se alt det vand i det lille billede på hovedsiden og jeg troede først at det var et billede fra Venedig, men nu kan jeg se at det var biler der kørte gennem vandet. Jeg kan forestille mig at det gjorde stedet endnu mere kaotisk. Husene er ret grå her, men de sirlige tårne ser meget godt ud mod den blå himmel.
Lars

PaulVDV (56399) 2021-03-24 12:10

Hello Gert,
You don't see a flooded street every day in a city surrounded by desert. Although I do remember the story of someone who travelled to the Sahara long ago during our summer and ended up in a flooded Tamanrasset...
I have the impression that in your photo there are as many cars as pedestrians. The street is certainly not narrow, but with the abundance of water there is little room for pedestrians.
We can see three very beautiful minarets with an attractive design.
Your WS shows a wonderful part of the city to wander around in (and keep your shoes dry). However, a very strange pipe on the right side.
Best regards, Paul

lousat (131451) 2021-03-24 13:22

Hi Gert,2 interesting pics another time from Cairo 1983,interesting because not classic view but something of daily life,with chaotic streets and a lot of people everywhere. Very well done as usual! Have a nice evening and thanks,Luciano

macjake (96597) 2021-03-24 14:45

Hi Gert
first of all...about my Sweden photo...too bad to hear that narrow street is now not so clean and pure. I wonder if that area is still very touristy. I will get back there again sometime in the near future, but travelling with a wife and young child will make the photo's very difficult to obtain, but i'll try. Anyways...this is A+ here, love this shot, love the old condition of the buildings exteriors, and the cars are fun to look at too. what's with all the water? you took this in 1983, but the cars look at least a decade older. fun viewing this . cheers
Craig

ChrisJ (162696) 2021-03-24 15:18

Hello Gert,

For a moment I thought you were on a boat in the Nile or in some backwater canal. After opening the thumbnail it became clear that this was a flooded street! Good sharpness sand the 2 minarets add symmetrical focal points. Tfs!

ifege (35377) 2021-03-24 21:38

Hi Gert
The water looks like what many towns in New South Wales have experienced lately but above the water it is clearly the Middle East.
Another good pair from Cairo.
cheers
Ian

COSTANTINO (106083) 2021-03-25 0:48

Hello dear friend and have a nice day
anda happy evening
my personal opinion is and I repeat
for one more time....
...you have the best photos
in this gallery...a real
treasure...
regards
costantino

ktanska (41025) 2021-03-25 11:34

Hej Gert,
Very interesting photo with sudden and probably quite unexpected flood. Grey stone and concrete is quite dominant, but those minarets look quite nice anyway. Those cars look quite old for the date and none of them seem to be in good shape.
Kari

GyurMaster (22212) 2021-03-25 13:21

Dear Gert,

This photo made me reminisce: the car in the foreground either a Fiat 124 or the licensed VAZ-2101 "Zhiguli" which my grandparents used to owe. It was a good car in its time as I remember. The photo itself is very good as always. The Kodachrome did not fail you.

Best Wishes,
Gy.

jemaflor (137482) 2021-03-26 0:39

Hi Gert,
Interesting view, a good frame and an interesting olds cene in this street, good rendering for a photo from your archive, tfs.

adramad (68178) 2021-03-26 12:23

Hi Gert.
Very interesting both photos that show us the atmosphere of old Cairo in the day to day, I suppose that it will not have changed much, especially in these areas.
This image is very surprising with the street covered with water, possibly after a storm, the old houses that seem unfinished, traffic, the people, everything is a hodgepodge but here the three beautiful minarets put a nice artistic accent.
Sharpness, lighting, color, and the magnificent composition; they are all perfectly realized factors, in this interesting image.
Well done. I like it.
You have a good day.
Very best regards.
Luis.

mcmtanyel (59404) 2021-03-26 20:35

Hello Gert,
Look at those Ladas go through the urban rivers. Very authentic scenery.
Regards,
MT

kasianowak (16158) 2021-04-05 10:15

In my view, the half-man on the left adds something extra to the photo as he looks like he is carefully watching his step, which you were probably doing too.
The cars betray the decade when the photo was taken in Cairo but this could be the view of a street in Bosnia or Albania in 2010.
I'm sure the boy in WS has, by now, got over his feet having been cut off in your photo. ;-)
Have a nice evening.
Kasia