From Mali to Congo Photo

Photographer’s Note

This guy comes from Mali, one of the poorest countries of the world: the Human Developpement Index (a comparative measure of life expectancy, literacy, education, and standard of living for countries worldwide) place Mali at the bottom of the list (175/177).
Now he's living in Pointe Noire (Congo) selling batik and bogolan to foreign businessmen in Pointe Noire, the second largest city in the Republic of the Congo, and a district in the Kouilou province. It is the main commercial centre of the country and has a population of 663,400.
Batik is both an art and a craft, which is becoming more popular and well known in the west as a wonderfully creative medium. To make a batik, selected areas of the cloth are blocked out by brushing or drawing hot wax over them, and the cloth is then dyed. The parts covered in wax resist the dye and remain the original colour. This process of waxing and dyeing can be repeated to create more elaborate and colourful designs. After the final dyeing the wax is removed and the cloth is ready for wearing or showing.
Bogolan, or bogolanfini, is a Malian textile that has grown and evolved from its traditional base in the Bamana and other Malian cultural groups to play a significant part in the artisan culture of Mali. It also influences textile design internationally and acts as a representation of African cultural identity and symbolism.
Hard life? Maybe... but look at his smile!

sajjadali, Silvio1953, happypoppeye, brevbrev14, lestans, atus, Clementi, vonp, Deepforest, sevy, JohnMcG, mikeyeats trouve(nt) cette note utile

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sajjadali (422) 2007-04-13 14:38

nice and well documented picture telling the whole story of that two countries, the picture itself is very intresting with such powerfull colors of cloths and the smile of the shopkeeper is also very powerfull. Well done and TFS !

Zelanda (5692) 2007-04-13 18:43

Hola Alberto,
Preciosa imagen colorista y simpática, estupenda nitidez y contraste.
Saludos cordiales
Zelanda

happypoppeye (4060) 2007-04-13 20:38

Great color and composition. I like how the man is "sort of" looking outside the photo. I wish you couldn't see all the hangers but not too distracting, just a wall of all color would make a great background. Great story also.

Silvio1953 (40583) 2007-04-14 5:13

Ciao Alberto, un bel sorriso e splendidi vestiti multicolori, quel che basta per una bella foto, bravo, ciao Silvio

lestans (15357) 2007-04-14 9:05

Ciao Alberto!!

ecco che hai fatto sorridere un altro africano!!
Non sono convinta che i vestiti che lui vende siano realmente batik, quanto piuttosto stampati in disegni batik.
Veri o falsi , la foto è bellissima piena di colore e di dolcezza e io non avrei rinunciato a comprare qualche vestitino di quelli. ne ho uno quasi uguale preso in Thalandia, fra l'altro.

Un carissimo saluto!!

Livia

atus (15452) 2007-04-14 11:43

Ciao Alberto,
immagine molto bella dai colori sgargianti. La luce è molto ben gestita ed il contrasto è ottimo. E poi è sempre un piacere vedere persone sorridenti che magari non sono nemmeno abituate ad essere fotografate. Che ci facevi in questo paese alquanto poco visitato e per questo sconosciuto? Difatti non avrei mai pensato che ci siano pure degli immigrati di altri paesi lì. Vuol dire quindi che economicamente non è messo tanto male o mi sbaglio? Cosa c'è di interessante da fare e da vedere per un turista? Scusa per l'eccesso di curiosità...
Complimenti e buon weekend!
Attila

Clementi (42703) 2007-04-14 16:58

Ciao Alberto ,
bella immagine colorata e allegra,
mi piace come hai gestito la luce.
vedere un africano che sorride
e' sempre un piacere.
Giorgio

brevbrev14 (370) 2007-04-15 11:41

Caro Alberto!
bravo!!
bella composizione, molto colorata, e con un bel giovane sorridente!
mi piace!
ciao!
Spero tu stia benissimo!
Valeria

vonp (2235) 2007-04-16 5:52

Ciao Alberto!
Che bel monto che sei riuscito a catturare: bello il sorriso, belli i colori, magnifica la luce e la composizione. Bravissimo!
Mi sa che devo proprio farmi un giro in Africa...
Buona Giornata
Paolo

Deepforest (8813) 2007-04-22 5:06

Hi Alberto,
fantastic colourful composition, I think typical for Africa scene... I miss that type of views... :o)I didn't know that Mali is one of the poorest countries of the world, but sometimes statisctics don't reflect the reality; for example Zambia, this country isn't at the bottom of list, but in my experiences it is the poorest country I've ever seen... Zambia has the natural resources deposits, but profits don't go to the most of population...
You have done here excellent job my friend! I enjoy it.
Best regards,
Andrzej

jmdias (18635) 2007-05-14 20:58

alberto

It is a marvelous portrait, the colors are very nice and the model is well shown

Jorge

[workshop] [compare]

dilane (10144) 2007-05-24 5:38

bonsoir alberto
super photo de reportage pleine de couleurs
je rentre de bénarès et j'ai été dire bonsoir à tout le monde et malheureusement il ne me reste plus de point
nous ne sommes pas sans nous reparler
a bientôt
amicalement
dilane

sevy (12797) 2007-07-23 5:00

Hello Alberto,

Very nice shot, it makes me think about the ones of the National Geographic. This photo both learns us something and in the same time, it is very colorful and attractive to observ.

Yves.

mikeyeats (369) 2009-09-07 13:52

This is a great African photo, it says so much of what I like about Africa, north, south, east or west, smiles and lovely colour. no more to say.
Mike