Taking the curse away! Photo

Photographer’s Note

Every Saturday you'll find beggars on the roads with these steel vessels, with some oil inside. What you're supposed to do is either completely ignore them (which I do) or drop a coin into the vessel.

Now, the logic: In India, everyone is very religous and believes in astrology (im sure u already know that) and there is this one god called Shani Devta who brings on a dark phase in your life. Now when these guys come, they keep calling to that particular god and you're supposed to throw in a coin so that shani just moves on without stopping or coming your way. (I hope this makes sense..I'm sorry I don't know how to explain it further :()

This little boy (who i thought was cute and full of life under all the grime and dirt), on other days just stands at the red light and begs, but on Saturdays, along with the others comes out with his 'kit' hoping to make more.

Indians give into this more than normal begging as the "RELIGIOUS" factor comes in. I couldn't get rid of the green on the left corner (that was the auto I was traveling in and there were 2 other people with me and I was left with hardly any place to sit in)

The sun was at a funny angle and as you can see, I couldn't really manage the picture well.

Tech: Cropped imaged, added border

cgrindahl, orme, RGatward, christina, kinginexile, Kenny10pin, elihesamian, shihwei, Endy, jrj, ChrisJ, Jeppe, Rinie_Hoff, cetrocomix, phi729 trouve(nt) cette note utile

Critiques | Translate

cgrindahl (6109) 2004-09-24 12:06

Another fine contribution Smrithi with an excellent note. I was surprised to learn as I read about your great country, how incredibly bound to superstition and ritual many folks are. You describe one aspect of that very well in your note. Begging, of course, is an ever present phenomenon. As a westerner with a white face, I received a great deal of attention from these folks when I was traveling about. There is no doubt even a person of modest means in the west is wealthy by comparison to those in India living on the streets.

This is TE at its best. You share one piece of the reality of your home. I did a workshop to reduce the glare a bit, though I appreciate the sun in India can be brutal. But on your comments that the sun was a problem in capturing this image, I offer you a version with less glare. See what you think.

[workshop] [compare]

orme (6746) 2004-09-24 12:14

A great portrait shot, Smrithi, and quite different from the normal 'portrait' types. The boy has 'haunting' eyes. I like how you have captured him peering out from behind the can that he is holding up. An interesting and informative note.

Yannick31 (913) 2004-09-24 16:07

Salut Smrithi, bravo pour ce superbe portrait, j'adore les portraits fait en inde, je trouve que les gents de ton pays sont vachement photogénique!
Alors pour ce qui est des enfants c’et encore plus joli.
Merci pour cette belle image amitiés,
Yannick

Hello Smrithi, cheer for this superb portrait, I adore the portraits made in India, I find that the races of your country are bloody photogenic!
Then as regards the children it and even prettier.
Thank you for this beautiful image friendships,
Yannick

RandomCameraGuy (3063) 2004-09-24 16:09

The composition is nice, but the quality is lacking a bit there Smrithi. The background is overexposed and the subject is too dark. This could have been avoided by metering on the background (or by using the Multi-point metre on your cam). You say the sun was at a funny angle but you could have compensated with a fill-flash. By doing the above 2 things you would have had a well exposed background with a sharp and well lit foreground.

As for the green part, if you select that in PS copy to a new layer, then using "Saturation" adjust the "Hue" bar to change the colour, or the "Saturation" bar to desaturate. Voila, no more distracting green thing!

Also be careful with over-cropping. As you can see in this image, too much cropping leads to alot of pixellation and noise. I recommend always shooting at your maximum pic size and quality!

Hope this is helpful!

christina (2040) 2004-09-24 17:20

Very interesting note!He is a beuatiful child and I feel bad his childhood has been robbed from him. i think you captured this in your phot. A child with his innocence taken from him.
Good work!
Christina

oochappan (22032) 2004-09-24 20:15

It is still amazing how nice you can frame this perfect composition and POV with so few few digital data to go on. The photo is great and shows that with some technical improvement it will be outstanding. By the way some use this to make black and white and add a lot a artificial grains to cover up the technical shortcomings, still I would prefer this shot as it is.

kinginexile (2440) 2004-09-25 0:57

Not bad for a car shot, and better than having missed it, of course, as it's perfectly illustrating your useful note. Another indian face inviting us to reflection...

RGatward (19749) 2004-09-25 2:56

Don't worry about it making sense, I never expect religion or superstition to make sense. Well you didn't ignore this little guy, to good photographic effect. The green in the coner dosn't bother me, especially since it's also reflected in the can, but the background is a little OE, worth a bit of PP for that. Anyway, nice shot.

hdl (6737) 2004-09-25 6:28

Oil? Now, again a very nice post. The sun may have been at a funny position, but it doesn't bother the image to my opinion. You create a very special sentiment in the composition; rather dark and the expression on the kid's face is very emotional. A picture like this makes us think... I hope you gave him a coin, wouldn't want you to end up in a dark phase.

Kenny10pin (19301) 2004-09-25 11:52

What a great picture, the begging says it all in this picture, it isnt very sharp but the message is there

elihesamian (26091) 2004-09-26 7:17

You did great Smrithi.It's excellent,very strong,effective,...very well done,...no need to words more,..EXCELLENT.

jrzufferey (7249) 2004-09-26 8:50

Bonjour Smrithi, Joli portrait de ce jeune enfant au travail. L'image est très belle, merci de nous la partager. amicalement/jr

waskahegan (0) 2004-09-27 14:42

The picture is great, the feeling however is harsh.

Endy (1025) 2004-09-27 23:56

Excellent note Smrithi! I like his expression, very special, he is expecting something :). Nice use of the light for this portrait.

Well done!

paido (944) 2004-09-28 12:21

Great picture! the boy is really caught in an interesting angle, which opposes the angle of his arm raising the vessel.

I think you could have the bottom-left corner cloned-out because it doesn't fit in the color palette.

Jeppe (18623) 2004-09-28 14:35

Thanks Smrithi - Yes I believe to have got your point in the note - every trick counts when it comes to begging and get the most from the "costumers" - very fine portrait and the the light makes the shot even more moody and the boy looking real poor.

ChrisJ (70443) 2004-09-29 3:23

Sounds like an Indian version of 'trick or treat'. I also loved the news report last year about debt collecting in India, where transvestites would publicly harass people who were way behind with rent payments or their bills! lol.

jrj (34779) 2004-09-29 4:43

Another strong contribution in your 'daily life' series Smrithi. A little lack in sharpness and light - but still a very interesting overall impression.

Rinie_Hoff (9334) 2004-10-26 17:07

Hi Smrithi, I think it's an excellent daily life picture from your country. Avery good portrait, caught at the right moment, the boy gives you quite a look!
Your note is excellent, and very TE-worthy. Thanks very much.
And BTW, you are spoiling me with green smileys, AND you added me to your favorites. I'm honoured, really!

phi729 (2099) 2005-02-16 15:49

Hi Smrithi :)

This little beggar, dressed in rags, is really touching. You very well captured his face's expression : With his black look, he seems suffering. The steel vessel is well placed in the frame and leads us in the subject of your note on the superstitions and beliefs in India. Well done, Smrithi. It's a beautiful shot, touching and very well composed.