The golden age, a photo from Dubrovacko-Neretvanska, Coast

Photographer's Note

Can you imagine streets paved with pieces of marble?
Can you imagine how many feets have to walked over till they become so flat?
Can you imagine how many stories could they tell?

Extract from the web:
“The golden age of the Dubrovnik(Ragusa) Republic was in the 15th and 16th century.
Material prosperity and a feeling of security and freedom formed the basic of the culture of living in a humanistic way and stimulated a creative spirit.”

“In 1204 under the Doge Enrico Dandalo, the Fourth Crusade set out from Venice, taking in possession all the important ports and trade centres on their way from the Adriatic Sea to Constantinople. Dubrovnik also came under Venetian domination from 1205 to 1358.
After the Peace Treaty of Zadar in 1358, Venice ceded her domination over Dubrovnik to the Croato-Hungarian Kingdom. From that time, and until 1526, Dubrovnik recognized the sovereignty of the Kingdom's rulers. This was the period of Dubrovnik's greatest development and its attainment of the status of free, independant "Republica Ragusina."

With the expansion of the Ottoman Empire's dominion and the gradual dis- appearance of Croatia within the framework of Hungary, the armies of Suleyman II. stood before the gates of Dubrovnik in 1526.
On the strength of old commercial ties, a compromise could be reached with the pragmatic Ottomans who, unlike the Venetian, did not seek any changes in Dubrovnik's concept. With a tribute of 12500 Dukats, Dubrovnik bought herself freedom. Ragusa remained a free commercial city and consequently, an advantageous trade outlet for the Ottoman Empire (one can compare Dubrovnik's political situation at the time to the past-day Hong Kong). Venice power waned and Ragusa ultimately became the commercial gateway between the Orient and Western world."

For some information about, take a look
here and/or here

Scanned from negativ, USM, changed a bit the settings: brightness-5, contrast+2, intensity+3

Pompey, mdchachi, snowcrazzi, MLINES, kwazireal, bj40 has marked this note useful

Critiques | Translate

oochappan (4880) 2004-11-16 4:20

Hi Janos, I understand what you aim for with this photo as a graphic. One thing, in publicity when a company try to sell a thing that is not so easy to present, they try to make it more visible with other suggestive elements or they go to te finest texture of the product.
Both you are missing a bit as an eye-catcher for these very old paves. Only if you can present it in a remakable way the people like to read the note also.
I hope this would help to present, and let them keep coming hé.
Henk

mdchachi (1612) 2005-03-02 11:38

Interesting story and I like the patterns in the photo. I would consider converting to b/w and increasing contrast.

steveegg (418) 2005-03-21 13:51

That's a very interesting story Janos. I've not been to Dubrovnik, but you've excited my interest, which is part of what TE is all about.
As for the image I agree with Henk that it lacks impact, so I've had a play and will post a WS.

[workshop] [compare]

snowcrazzi (99) 2005-04-09 15:57 [Comment]

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aralda (1240) 2005-11-08 5:52

Hi János,
I really like your note and this photo. I like it the way it is, and would not convert it to B/W. Also, I prefer certain shots to have more of the natural light rather than increased contrast for impact. I agree, if this was an ad, maybe things were different. But this works well on the screen and has a lot to offer: the slight tonal variation, the various directions these stones seem to have, the circles they compose. For all that and for the note, it's a great shot, and a memorable one at that!
Raluca

kwazireal (181) 2007-11-06 3:35

I like this image very much. The size put me off a little, and there is noise and just something else that nagged at me. Then I saw the first workshop and found myself in basic agreement.

Please take a look a the second workshop for some additional ideas.

Not mentioned in the workshop, the first step was actually to view the histogram. This revealed significant amounts of digital noise a levels 1-2 and 255. I clipped all three levels (1,2,255) before proceeding.

[workshop] [compare]