Living it this way..., a photo from West Bengal, East

Photographer's Note

Recently I was going through my old negatives, and found several frames which I thought of sharing with you all...

This photograph was taken in Canning, a village on the south 24 parganas of West Bengal. It's close to Sundarbans, where you will find Royal Bengal Tigers...and it has the largest mangrove forest in the world.
Although I have gone to this place several times, this photograph resulted from my first visit there. That day I was there,I trawled the village and went wherever my mind would take me to...the village folks here are very friendly, some even offered me lunch...and allowed me into their private spaces, which I felt was quite nice of them, given the fact that they survived on bare resources...and I was a complete stranger to them..

robertosalguero, Miks, kri54, kaZ, Dpbours, SamB, AnimeshRay, sayan, designsoul, MayaG oznaczył to zdjęcie jeko użyteczne

Critiques | Translate

partha (14023) 2007-09-11 23:05

Hi Siddhartha,
I can get the essence of the strength of B&W photograph through your shots. Excellent angle of view and nice POV. The positioning of the subjects look brilliant here.
Regards.
Partha
NB: There is a shake there in the KUMORTULI shot. I will upload some and I suppose u will like some of those.

arnabchat (7233) 2007-09-11 23:29

a very good work in monochrome. like the contrast levels, light is well controlled. a good subject chosen, an important one so to say.
TFS, Arnab

Andro (4) 2007-09-11 23:43 [Comment]

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nerve (10231) 2007-09-11 23:53

contrast is a bit too high maybe but still very nice.. Composition is good too. I love his posture and his side look. good image.
cheers.

Miks (1717) 2007-09-12 0:03

It certainly is a very powerful double portrait with a lot of layers. Youth-age, light-dark etc. Each of the figures could have been a fine portrait by himself. But together the image is very powerful. Very well composed. Difficult light clearly and a few burned out areas. But to me it does not harm the overall image the least bit.

Thank you for digging this one up and making it digital for us!

Best,
Mikkel

nickthegreek82 (1708) 2007-09-12 0:09

This is Great!
Excellent b/w! a very nice b/w print and a very interesting composition!
Thanks for sharing~

kri54 (1515) 2007-09-12 0:23

trčs bon contraste, belle prise, pov original et trčs artistique

kaZ (768) 2007-09-12 0:27

Great B&W picture ! Very well composed.

robertosalguero (292) 2007-09-12 0:34

The house is quite interesting because of the door. Good image with excellent placement of the people.
The black and white works fine here to avoid colourful distractions. Good work Siddhartha.

Roberto

Furachan (0) 2007-09-12 0:35

Mature and resonant work, Sid. The young and the old sharing the same space, so close and yet so far apart. Ageless theme, powerful visual. This is very good indeed. As for the scanning, what was lost and is the contrast too harsh, or sharpening optimized, I cannot really say not having seen the film...
All the best,
Francis

Dpbours (222) 2007-09-12 1:01

Hello Siddhartha,

Nice one... I'm in a black and white mood today after some discussions on colour vs. black and white on the forum ;-). This one clearly shows why black and white is there to stay. Be it with post processing, black and white filter or either the unreplacable Ilford 400...
Excellent.

Greetings,
Dennis

Ulishna (2268) 2007-09-12 1:51

Hello Siddhartha,
very impressive and interesting photo!
Perfect monohrome work.
Julia

servane (629) 2007-09-12 3:24 [Comment]

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bwiti (402) 2007-09-12 4:41

There is a very beautiful atmosphere in this one... I love this black and white and the attitude of both characters which do not pay attention on your presence.... Congratulations and sorry for my poor english...

photographer123 (6248) 2007-09-12 9:11

hi..
very good shot..composition is very good..placement of elements works well here..wonderful double portrait...best wishes...subir

faubry (35447) 2007-09-12 13:11

very great shot.... very sad life.. reportage shot, great.
bravo
francine

hamster (104) 2007-09-12 16:26

Hi! Beautiful wide angle, fantastic place and interesting individual of the old man.

SamB (1948) 2007-09-12 22:48

Hello, Siddhartha--
Nice piece, very powerful, the old man lost in thought, not even very interested in the camera pointed at him, while the boy can't help but look at it. The lighting is nice, highlighting the two figures against the dark backdrop, and the picture just carries a feeling of intimacy with the subjects that defies easy description.
Thanks!
sam

AnimeshRay (9089) 2007-09-13 8:28

Wow! Man, this is a classic! The muslim man's up-turned face in conjunction with the boy's direct gaze, the detail and the tonality, all combine to make this fabulous photo. A favorite!

After what I read in your note, I would love to go there too!

Homerhomer (4080) 2007-09-13 17:24

hope you find more gems like this in your shoe box ;-) this is awesome, I absolutely adore this type of portraits, the setting is superb, as oppose to the contrast of young and old I see wisdom and curiosity.

Like the contrast, can't find any foults in this photo, superb.
Peter

prantik (1136) 2007-09-14 6:52

Perfect! That's all.

P

sayan (2617) 2007-09-20 0:18

Hi S,

A splendid work in b/w. Very strong composition. The expressions are wonderful. A perfect post.

regards

sayan

designsoul (17843) 2007-10-10 19:16

Another gem... like a poem. Too beautiful for me to try to write something stupid of it. Simply love it... the old and the young...
sasa

brevbrev14 (140) 2007-10-25 3:55

Hi Syd, woow...wonderful image!
really a great emotion to see this one...
the light is superb, the expression of the old man and the young boy..
past and present...
this one goes in my fav.
superb work!

ciao!
Valeria

marietom (34611) 2007-11-11 12:22

Hi Siddharta,

Trčs belle photo noir et blanc, avec une superbe expression pour ce petit garçon.
Marie

MayaG (2415) 2008-06-26 13:36

Siddharatha, Siddhartha...how special your name is to me, the first 'serious' book by Hese I read a looong time ago, and then have gone back to it again and again so many times...:)

Your gallery is a true revelation to me, your photography is great!
This one is brilliant, the light and the angle...the feeling. It's perfect.