Serious Piercing Photo

Photographer’s Note

The Big Ear (a.k.a. Red Karen) and Long Neck (a.k.a. Padaung) share the same villages but don't mix together in term of houses. Of the 3 villages I have visited in Mae Hong Son, the Long Neck live on the same main alley, at the entry of their village, while the Big Ear live on an upper plateau, few steps further.

I've decided to present this profile portrait, like the Queen on our money and stamps, to have a better view at her "pierced" ear.

rigoletto, luisafonso, Floydian, PixelTerror, Dpbours, scobert, jjcordier, hello_ishan, AiresSantos, Wanda1, andante, plimrn trouve(nt) cette note utile

Critiques | Translate

marek-mzungu (480) 2008-01-09 0:30

great detail, v good portrait
rgds
m

rigoletto (26566) 2008-01-09 0:33

This is indeed a serious piercing Andre.
I would never have the guts to make such a big hole in anywhere on my body....
Colors are fantastic and the "Queen on the Coin" pose, thoughtfull...
Cheers,
Deniz

luisafonso (858) 2008-01-09 3:34

Beautiful colors André. And perfect sharpness and exposure. No lack of contrast this time. I guess you tweaked your display very well for your last uploads. I like your profile take. The smile is a nice addition here.

Floydian (30970) 2008-01-09 4:23

Hi Giant..!!!
Wonder why people just pass this picture without leaving a comment. This is not something we see all over the world, you have to travel far for it to see those people. I remember well that long journey but it was really worth it.
Not looking in the lens, a center position, for me it works. The fact that is is NOT looking in the lens is a very strong key here...i like that a lot. Reminds me on how those very old photo's of the last Indians from the great plains in US were photographed around 1900....as a kind of reminder to a lost civilazation.
I like it a lot.
Take care, Henk

Dpbours (220) 2008-01-09 7:11

Hi André,

Yep... That is pretty serious :-). Just imagine her wearing a bluetooth mobile phone earpiece. That would just look rediculous with such a fine traditional details. Don't know why that came to mind...
Works well, this point of view. I might have taken it from the other side, so she would have the light coming to the front and not on her back. But it's well balanced and works nicely.

Greetings! Dennis

carper (65350) 2008-01-09 7:48

a very good portrait here Andre.
I had a look into your archive and I am realy impressed from the good photo's you made. Your a good photographer.
like this one the pov is good the details are super, and the dof is good perfect shot, good photojob, have a good evening.
gr. jaap

scobert (5333) 2008-01-09 8:06

Hello Andre,
What I like most about your portrait is the illusion of depth that your photo displays. I like the photo angle that you used, ie shooting from the side and showing her profile. I love the layers, colors, and patterns of her clothing and the layers of her jewelry (her attire is gorgeous!). This is a fantastic portrait and I hope that this culture nerver dies out and becomes assimilated (ie "homoginized") into the cultural blandness of the modern world. Thanks for sharing this beautiful and interesting portrait of this culture.
Stan

cbrman (18981) 2008-01-09 8:41

Hello André,

J'aime beaucoup ce portrait très coloré ! La vue de profil donne une idée très net de la taille de cette boucle d'oreille ! C'est coutume sont tout de même très surprenante !
Une excellente photo de reportage !
Bien vu !

A+

Dominique

Rosa (4147) 2008-01-09 13:05

Bonjour Andre,
Joli portrait très coloré, un profil qui donne une idée nette de la taille de cette boucle d'oreille, C'est une coutume très surprenante.
grrr j'en ai mal aux oreilles lol.
Amitiés,
Rosa.

jjcordier (25036) 2008-01-09 21:43

André
Retour à cet art où tu excelles, celui du portrait avec ces couleurs magnifiques et le "détail" bien mis en valeur. C'est très beau!
Amicalement
JJ

barrufeto_77 (25897) 2008-01-09 22:38

Hi mr Portrait.

Is a pity she wasn't looking at you. Probably if you had taken the picture from the front, you could have enjoyed a lovely simmetry with that pierced ears.

Anyway, I don't know how you can get always that amazings portraits...

Tc, OScar

hello_ishan (1571) 2008-01-09 22:45

Hi Andre,
These types of things are common in some tribal community; I have seen photographs of another tribal who use to put a big ring in their lower lips for us it's really surprising. It's really a serious piercing.

Your portrait is very clear & colours are simply superb. Contrast/sharpness is also perfect.

Thanks for sharing this photo which tell us such type of things/culture.

RS

AiresSantos (42624) 2008-01-10 1:00

Hi Andre
Perfect portrait to show us this kind of Piercing from Thailand.
Beautiful colours, perfect sharpness and exposure
TFS and greetings
Aires

PixelTerror (86528) 2008-01-10 2:39

Salut cousin,
J'ai mal aux oreilles en regardant cela, d'autant plus qu'avec un suedois a ma droite et une norvegienne a ma gauche qui se parlent par dessus ma tete ca aide pas...
Un beau portrait de cote pour valoriser ce detail bien sur et avec ta technique eprouvee, mais franchement ce qui me plait le plus dans cette image c'est la peche des couleurs dans la partie inferieure, ca c'est du vrai rendu ROUGE !!!
Hej daa, JY

Wanda1 (11015) 2008-01-10 8:09

Hi Andre,
A nice idea to have taken this in profile. I always find these ethinic peoples of the world fascinating, and I am glad that they still hold on to their culture. You have captured some amazing details on her jewelry and clothing. Great work!
I think I will stick to my small piercings.
Regards
Wanda

andante (7092) 2008-01-28 8:15

Hi Andre,
I have to agree with Henk, what is wrong with everybody that have seen this image and say nothing about it!! It is a great portrait, just the fact that the lady is in profile adds a sense of timelessness, beautiful and sharp details. This photo is award winning material.
Cheers,
Enrique

plimrn (19688) 2008-02-08 12:20

Hi Andre,
The woman does have a very dignified air about her; well-suited to this queenly pose. Detail is impeccable through the portrait with a perfect DOF softening the background to non-competition. Colors are very naturaly with good clarity. The portrait & note share fascinating cultural details.
Wishing you health, love & joy in the coming year, Pat