Village Markings Photo

Photographer’s Note

In many of the villages in Togo, facial scars are used to identify a person's native village. The parents take a hot knife to the face of the infant and burn the marks into the face. Each village has a different patten of scars/lines.

Should I take the flash out of the iris of her eyes?

siolaw, Glint, inuit66, SteveH, lestans, dragonslayero, touristdidi, kyzer trouve(nt) cette note utile

Critiques | Translate

Glint (3052) 2007-02-05 13:43

Hello Adrienne,
an intimate and immediate portrait. Very well composed. I like the way she looks straight to the camera. And yes, I think perhaps it would be better to have removed the flash from her eyes.
regards
Bev

bracasha75 (22303) 2007-02-05 15:37

Helo Adrienne
What a strong pic,greath shot
Exellent work
Cheers,Braca

inuit66 (659) 2007-02-05 17:15

Hi Adrienne. A very strong portrait telling the whole life story of this child. Silent, but very emotional expression. Very close-up and tight crop takes it to the limite, but is very good here. This fine portrait deserves sharpening, I think, and I have posted you a little workshop. Anyways, I like yours very much, it's a wonderful story told. TFS. Greetings, Jens :-)

[workshop] [compare]

SteveH (3993) 2007-02-05 21:39

Hi Adrienne, I think the crop is perhaps just a little too tight and that a bit more of the face might be better. As Jens has said it is improved with a bit of sharpening too. Great shot though and a useful note. Cheers, Steve

lestans (15486) 2007-02-06 9:39

Hi Adrienne!

Interesting note, a good information right in TE spirit.
And a very nice portrait, a good cut to show the girl's deep glance.
Thank you for sharing!

Livia

Lix (0) 2007-02-06 10:20 [Comment]

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sibencan (25) 2007-02-06 16:58 [Comment]

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dragonslayero (3108) 2007-02-07 12:49

Hello Adrienne

I mus tagree that this is a very personal and intimate portrait, but teh addition the note makes everthing all the more understandable.
It might seem like a horrible tradition to some people, but once upon a time I think this might have been quite common everywhere. Maybe similar to westeners like us using family names...

The portrait looks good, maybe a little too close but it still works great to shot the intimacy of a persons face and I must agree that the markings really become prominent this up close.
Thank you for sharing.

Odd Jarle

Charo (31677) 2007-02-08 14:01

Esta cara expresa todo un mundo, esperanzas, ilusiones, tristezas...
Muy buena.
Saludos
Charo

ElAprendiz (7370) 2007-02-08 20:48

Hello Adrienne
A too expressive face. The observed details, radiate the drama of this person, plenty of pain and suffering. Although it produces sadness to me, is a great taking.
John

TravelerNL (2967) 2007-02-17 12:31

Hello Adrienne,
This is a powerful portrait but due to this very tight crop, almost intimdating. If you would have zoomed out a little the village markings would have been visible as well (maybe even better) and you could see her entire face. Now her jaws and and neck are more or less grey because of the flash. Don't know if that is a sign you were too close.
Harko

msirin (433) 2007-02-18 4:56

Merhaba,
Modeliniz şahane nefis çok anlamlı çok beyendim.Paylaşım için tşk
elinize sağlık....

Danysub (708) 2007-02-20 17:05

Bella inquadratura.
Lo sguardo del bambino a qualcosa di misterioso ed interpretabile.
Brava TFS

Daniele

touristdidi (8561) 2007-04-13 1:33 [Comment]

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patelgm (117) 2007-04-18 5:32

Hello Adrienne,
Nice portrait.
Innocent, communicative eyes !
Great job.
Regards.
-Gautam.

avel9665 (210) 2007-04-19 4:13 [Comment]

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yang_yt (544) 2007-08-02 19:38

Too close to forget the face!
BTW,I share and enjoy your african experience.
TFS!

mirarer (4415) 2007-12-17 9:45

Hola Adrienne,
Has captado muy bien esa mirada entre temerosa y triste de muchos niños en Africa. Muy bien compuesta para acentuar la gran expresividad de esos ojos.
Saludos,
Mirari.

Benedict (7062) 2008-01-16 21:48

hi adrienne,
it is a fine compo but the sharpness isn't there. the sad facial expression is well presented.
benedict

kyzer (337) 2008-05-25 18:35

Hi Adrenne,

Great portrait shot and the note... could have been better if the image was shaper.. the softness comes from the exposure of the flash.

Intense eyes...

Cheers
Paddrags

pawelx (473) 2009-01-31 9:20