Silence, heat, blue doors Photo

Photographer’s Note

Silence, heat, blue doors - The Medina (Old Town)

The walls which once enclosed the Medina in Tunis long since disappeared, apart from a few town gates, and their place has been taken by a ring of streets around the old town, which is in the form of an oval measuring 1,500m/1,640yds from north to south by 800m/880yds from east to west. It is the largest Medina in Tunisia and the finest after the Medina of Kairouan. Originally going back to the ninth-11th centuries, it dates in its present form largely from the Hafsid (13th century) and Turkish (17th-18th century) periods. The French demolished its outer walls but left it otherwise unchanged.
The Médina, built on a gentle hill slope on the way down to the Tunis Lake, is the historical heart of the city and home to many monuments, including palaces, such as the Dar Ben Abdallah and Dar Hussein, the mausoleum of Tourbet El Bey or many mosques such as Zitouna Mosque. Some of the fortifications have now largely disappeared around it, and it is flanked by the two suburbs of Bab Souika to the north and Bab El Jazira to the south.
But east of the original nucleus, first with the construction of the French Consulate, the modern city was built gradually with the introduction of the French protectorate at the end of the nineteenth century, on open land between the city and the lake. The axis to the structure of this part of the city is the Avenue Habib Bourguiba, designed to by the French to be a Tunisian form of Champs-Elysees in Paris with its cafes, major hotels, shops and cultural venues. On both sides of the tree lines avenue, north and south, the city was extended in various districts, with the northern end welcoming residential and business districts while the south receives industrial districts and poorer peoples.

Tunis

Tunis (Arabic: تونس‎, Tūnis) is the capital of the Tunisian Republic and also the Tunis Governorate, with a population of 1,200,000 in 2008. It is Tunisia's largest city.
Situated on a large Mediterranean gulf, (the Gulf of Tunis), behind the Lake of Tunis and the port of La Goulette (Halq al Wadi), the city extends along the coastal plain and the hills that surround it. At the centre of more modern development (colonial era and post) lies the old medina. Beyond this section lie the suburbs of Carthage, La Marsa, and Sidi Bou Said.
The medina is found at the centre of the city: a dense agglomeration of alleys and covered passages, full of intense scents and colours, boisterous and active trade, a surfeit of goods on offer ranging from leather to plastic, tin to the finest filigree, tourist souvenirs to the works of tiny crafts-shops. (Source: planetware & tunisguide & wikipedia)

JanD, snunney, jlbrthnn, lucasgalodoido, bona, dta, pauloog, saxo042, vasilpro, Cretense, ChrisJ, pasternak, JCG trouve(nt) cette note utile

Critiques | Translate

lousat (15682) 2009-11-04 1:02

Hi George,no people inside...it's a great thing.And the perfect way to hear the silence...not easy to find a situation like that in arab countries..ehee..beautiful perspective,you manage very well the difficult light for the best result in sharpness and colors,thanks for share,have a nice day,Luciano

JanD (14953) 2009-11-04 1:06

Howdy Budapestman!
Amazing houses. Wonderful blue doors and windows. Nice lightness, very nice contrast. Original capture. Perfect black frame.
Regards.

PixelTerror (86416) 2009-11-04 1:06

Salaam George
Nice corner of the city, looks very empty but at this time of the day locals are busywith siesta while only pixel crazy tourists venture in the hot streets ;-)
I like these patches of blue disseminated in the image
have a nice day JY

snunney (35118) 2009-11-04 1:22

Hello George,
A fine atmosphere to this interesting composition; you can almost feel the heat coming off the walls. The lamp and the blue/turquoise doors introduce some well placed graphical elements to the scene. I like the point of view looking onto the archway with the little street running off to the right; it makes you want to explore further and see what other gems can be found. Very good colours and clarity.

LOOOK13 (3113) 2009-11-04 2:47

Salut.
Je l'aime beaucoup celle là, ce bleu est magique comme a Sidi Bou Said, on ressent le calme et la chaleur, un bon cadrage ...
bRAVO;

francio64 (11378) 2009-11-04 4:40

Ciao George,
molto carino questo angolo di strada. Anche la distorsione prospettica non è male!
Mi piace molto la gestione della luce e la resa cromatica tra i vari elementi.

Well done!
Francesco

jlbrthnn (38433) 2009-11-04 5:45

Hello George,
That resembles at a court of prison, paradoxically convivial with the blue color, in spite of the typical grids with the windows. A superb image, a beautiful description of this district of the city. Excellent realization. Cheer.
Have a nice day
Cordially
Joël

lucasgalodoido (16615) 2009-11-04 5:48

Hi George,
and interesting and clean space here. I like of the old architecturial buildings. The quality is very good too. Great job.
Regards,
Lucas

bona (2397) 2009-11-04 6:05

Lovely place. the blue is so intense and pass good fellings. The acrtecture as you have showing here is always pretty too.
Thanks my friend.
Hugs
andre

mortijo (12318) 2009-11-04 6:27

An other nice shot in your Tunesia gallery Georges.Well composed, wel framed and with nice colors.
egards
John

npecanhuk (14274) 2009-11-04 7:01

Hello George!
I think the picture has such a perfect title because when I look at it those words are really the best ones to describe my feelings related to this image, among others, of course!
Sharpness, exposure, pov, colors and composition are perfect! Excellent photo job!
TFS - congratulations!
Best regards,
Neyvvan

dta (5601) 2009-11-04 7:06

Hello George ,
a very nice little square . The framing is excellent , as the light management . Those blue doors and windows are really attractive .
Regards

pauloog (6697) 2009-11-04 8:14

Hello George,
A good title that says it all. Light well managed with godo visibility in light and shadows despite the strong almost vertical light.
Regards,
Paul

saxo042 (15978) 2009-11-04 8:29

Hi George,
I like the POV you have chosen here, with a certain irregularity of all angles. The colour of all the doors and bars across the windows is very attractive and harmonizes very fine with the sandstone building.
Kind regards
Gunnar

amaryllis (17573) 2009-11-04 9:55

Bonjour Georg
nous repartons sur Tunis, avec cette photo de portes bleues et toutes closes, les fen^tres bleues également, une belle harmonie et une belle et douce lumière sur ce quartier calme
amitiés
juliette

phwall (5677) 2009-11-04 12:55

Hi George,
Nicely composed shot, you've captured the atmosphere of the Medina perfectly. I'd love to explore this place, especially what is beyond the archway.
Did you drop the contrast?? If you did it's worked well, its taken off the harsh look.
Even though the colours seem quite muted the doors and door frames contrast nicely against the cream walls.
A very interesting note too.
Regards
Peter

vasilpro (9058) 2009-11-04 14:07

Howdy George,
Another very constructively composition from Tunisia, with the interesting Tunisian architecture and useful notes.
Have a nice evening, Vasilis.

Cretense (56580) 2009-11-05 0:29

Hello George!

Beautiful architectonic picture with a peaceful atmosphere! Great composition and framing, flawless light management, the real "eyecatcher" are these fantastic blue doors! Congratulations!

Hercules

ChrisJ (70357) 2009-11-05 0:38

Hi George

Missed this one. The yellow & blue cyan colours go well together here. Good sharpness, framing & pov. Tfs!

pasternak (13452) 2009-11-05 1:48

Nice image, especially the color rendition is excellent

Cheers
A

JCG (25553) 2009-11-05 12:06

Hello George,

Zones shade and light which I like on this photograph, who give an atmosphere particular to this place deserted from Medina, heat was to be felt… The blue of the doors and windows bring a pleasant contrast. Pretty and interesting glance, thank you George.

With all my friendships and a very good evening,

Jean-Charles

COSTANTINO (22946) 2009-11-05 13:15

Hello
thanks for sharing this amazing shot with us,
fantastic capture like a postcard
the blue is my colour and the whole scenery is well presented,beautiful perspective and good light
management
regards
Costantino

pattabe (415) 2009-11-06 0:04

Hi George,

splendid beautiful courtyard, a great shot of the medina, very bright and clear, nice white-bleu contrast. well captured

Regards Freddy (Bangkok)

anesugur (16930) 2009-11-07 12:58

Hello George,
This is an excellent photo well captured!
Perfect sharpness, awesome color and so much details.
Have a nice weekend. Uğur