Portuguese cistern of El Jadida, a photo from El Jadida, Nord

Photographer's Note

I hesitated posting another one of my never ending series of Morocco, so I browsed for a while until I decided taking a look of the ones I haven't yet processed. I have this habit of trying to look more carefully at the photos only after I have post processed a bunch of them. I do that with scans also and that's the main reason I have relatively few photos decent enough to post and my insistence on the Morocco series.

This one was a nice surprise (I am hoping you feel the same, let's see), as I never thought that anything decent could came up when I shot it without any tripod with that light. Now I regret not having tried shooting some more.

The place is one of the main attractions of the Portuguese Citadel (locals refer to it as Cité Portugaise when they use French). It's greatest glory in more recent decades was being used for filming some scenes of Orson Welles film Othello. In the past it served as a room where the government of the city worked, as depot of arms and finally as a cistern. Strange story, using such an impressive gothic room as a cistern, but after all, this was an occupied city that was frequently sieged by enemy armies, so a large reserve of water was something of great strategic importance.

The Portuguese Citadel is like a small town inside a huge heavy walled castle built in the early 16th century, just after the town was conquered by the Portuguese, who were having their glory days then. Having started by conquering Ceuta in 1415, one century later they controlled most of the more important Atlantic ports of Morocco, from Ceuta and Tangier to Agadir. On every of those ports, they built powerful fortresses that were crucial to assure the defence with reduced forces (many believe that there weren't much more than a million Portuguese in the 16th century). Fortresses like the one of El Jadida (that was called Mazagão by the Portuguese and later Mazagan by the French) existed (some of them still exist) all over the coasts of Africa, Brazil, Uruguai, the actual Oman, Iran, India (mainly the West side), Sri Lanka, Malaysia, China and perhaps other places in the Indian Ocean.

The citadel of El Jadida is said to be the more well preserved Portuguese fortresses of that time, or at least the one where it's still more evident its Portuguese origin. I guess that one of the reasons of this fact is that the town was practically abandoned after the Portuguese fled in late 18th century and it only regained some importance in the 20th century. It is classified by Unesco as World Heritage Site. Quite frankly, it's a bit disappointing, at least for anyone who isn't Portuguese and/or isn't too interested in History. Nevertheless, I found interesting strolling its streets, still much "Portuguese" in the architecture, but at the same time already very Moroccan - every house that isn't completely ruined, which is a common event, is habited and there is much more life in the streets, namely because there are children, than in old parts of Portuguese towns and villages. I know that the distance to Portugal isn't that much, but apart from that and much similarities on some landscapes, Morocco is quite a different culture, so the impact is almost the same as finding something familiar in a much more distant place.

The town of El Jadida proper is rather modern, the citadel being the only noticeable antiquity, but it's a rather pleasant seaside town, bordered by a long sandy beach and it's easy to understand why it is a popular destination for the summer beach holidays of many Moroccans. Foreigners are quite rare, at least in August, and I think that the vast majority of them only comes here to visit the citadel.

I have posted a two views of the citadel, one as a WS of this post and more recently one as a post. On that post there is also view of the fishing port and the beach of the town.

Links to more info: Unesco World Heritage, Wikipedia, Lexicorient.

ribeiroantonio, osmarq, bostankorkulugu, cuneyt-sb, feather, bach37, dsidwell, adores, sufi, Donald, seb_p, tifah, pboehringer, balatrek, maltese, vonp, Bluejeans, vagabondtravels, javelot800g, zeca, salvator, skerdreux, noborders, paura trouve(nt) cette note utile

Critiques | Translate

nataliya (51) 2007-01-13 22:07

WOW! Surreal, just devastatingly beautiful! Mythical, what an amazing shot! Thank you so much for posting it, I love the atmosphere it creates!

ribeiroantonio (22730) 2007-01-13 22:47

A tua foto está muito gira apesar das condições de luz que tinhas pela frente. Ainda se podem ver muitos detalhes das colunas e dos tectos, o que é muito bom. Só não percebo o que são aqueles pontos lunimosos à volta do reflexo da abertura no tecto.
Sabes qual era a função original deste espaço e como é que podia funcionar como cisterna? É curioso ver aquela coisa redonda por baixo da abertura.
António

osmarq (921) 2007-01-13 22:56

Great use of lights and a very symetric composition, besides the place is interesting by itself. Congratulations.

cuneyt-sb (6576) 2007-01-14 3:43

Hi Jose
This is look marvelous, ur note is also very usefull,
reflection of dark is something else really, soo dark and the light drom up is not owerexpose very good timing and clever shot,
Well done my friend
Regards

bostankorkulugu (42832) 2007-01-14 3:45

what a place! superb reflections... good control of light... congrats my friend...
best regards
korkut

gemlik (983) 2007-01-14 4:02

Beautiful photo.your lighting very nice.
Regards
Bulent

UnTrained (0) 2007-01-14 4:39

Olá José,
this capture is nice, worth watching and well done. It reminds me to paintings from Escher.
Cheers, Ulf

feather (51130) 2007-01-14 9:16

What a good job you unearthed this from your unprocessed photos; it's surprising what you can often come up with from images previously passed over.
I'm assuming you lightened the darker areas in PP? I am very impressed you managed to handhold this at only 1/4 sec. You could have increased the ISO I suppose, but at the risk of introducing noise into the image. The central composition works very well here as you have almost perfect symmetry on two planes. I might have cloned the white spots under the white reflection but that is a minor thing. Good work.
Kath

[2] +

rigoletto (34279) 2007-01-14 13:29

Such a beautiful place and mystic lighting. You also do it well at the lack of light. Very soothing after images of places under the bright African sun.
Congrats José
Deniz

Dubsie (346) 2007-01-14 13:31

That is a really difficult shot, very well executed. I can imagine how difficult it must have been to meter the exposure and i like the end result...you have retained almost all the details.
A very useful note to compliment the visual.
Well done,
TFS,
Best,
Durba

dsidwell (9783) 2007-01-14 15:08

Very fine emotional photo here, Jose! I love the mood and reflection. Effective composition, too!

Gustaw (21670) 2007-01-14 15:47

Hi, friend!
Yes! It is very interesting. place. In my gallery are two pictures from this place. It is mistic place. Good light and colours.
Marek
Sorry, today my points are finish... Later.

jmcl (14535) 2007-01-14 15:56

Jose,

Beautiful place .. beautiful contrast of light .. great reflections .. there is a really wonderfully bizarre meditate piece of music called "Deep Listening" by Pauline Oliveros .. where they recorded in the endless reverb of a giant cistern .. I am going to go have to put it on now ...

wonderful image.

take care,

John

adores (46979) 2007-01-14 17:23

Olá José!
Já tenho visto muitas fotos desta cisterna, mas nunca nesta perspectiva.Acho que a luz e as cores resultaram bastante bem. A foto ficou muito bonita, foi realmente pena não teres arriscado mais umas quantas.è sempre motivo para uma pessoa ficar furiosa.
Cumprimentos, Anabela

sufi (9588) 2007-01-14 18:05

Merhaba Jose, my friend...
Oh my god... It's a wonderful scene, indeed...
The ambience is perfect... Also perfect light.
The reflection on the water, the colors and the details are wonderful... Well-done, my friend...
TFS...
Stay well..
Salim.

Donald (136) 2007-01-14 19:47

Hi Jose,that's what I like to see a good steady hand, a beautiful photo of a very beautiful place.
Great reflections from the pillers. great note!.
Kind regards
Donald

seb_p (498) 2007-01-14 20:43

Great discovery Jose.

There is just enought light to discovert different elements, and the more I look at it, the more I discovert. Love that. And by the way, that is a clean floor: I can't get reflection like that at my house :)

Later,

Seb...

tifah (836) 2007-01-15 3:03

you managed to capyure a complete atmosphere i this photo, the mood and light/darkness is very alluring and really draws the viewr into the cisterns. the reflections are super

pboehringer (770) 2007-01-15 18:29

Hi Jose, this is really good stuff. WOW ...! Pretty steady hand! I have to agree with some other critiques that cloninf the white dots in the reflections would have ehanced the final look. I'm very impressed of how well you managed the difficult light conditions here.
Excellent!
Cheers, Peter

henrytf (985) 2007-01-15 18:31

Bonsoir José,
j'abandonne pour une fois l'anglais pour le français puisque tu le comprends parfaitement.
Je pourrai d'autant mieux exprimer mon admiration pour cette photo superbe de par cette lumière qui se répercute dans toute la citerne, faisant d'autant mieux ressortir toutes ces arcades magnifiques. Je ne connaissais pas cet endroit. Il est à mettre en parallèle avec la Cisterna d'Istambul, autre lieu utilisé par le cinéma.
Amitiés
Henry

parbo (11092) 2007-01-16 15:40

Olá José,

Your capture is brilliant in this dark place while water surface is creating impressive reflections and daylight is creating splendid silhouettes of interior. Your workshop photo also valued at least a single post. Congratulations.

Friendly Regards,

Ertugrul

balatrek (7455) 2007-01-18 17:40

Hola Jose,

Interesante lugar, la luz de esta escena ha creado una atmósfera misteriosa, parece sacada de una película, me gustan los reflejos en el agua, aportan un punto de interés en este trabajo muy importante, la composición también es buena, simétrica y con un gran resultado final, te felicito.

Saludos
José

batalay (41261) 2007-01-19 21:27

Dear José,
This is an ethereal picture, or perhaps I should say "two pictures for the price of one." In the town of Edirne which was one of the Ottoman Empire's prize cities, there is a 16th century sanitarium, including an asylum. Its intrior is highly evocative of your photo. There, I was told, the metally ill were treated with sublime music.

Your note is highly informative. You probably know the 'Sunken Palace' -- actually the Royal Cistern -- in Istanbul, where the roof is held up by several hundred columns, all with different capitols.

Warm regards,
Bulent

maltese (22907) 2007-01-20 15:37

Bonsoir José
Heureusement, on a quelquefois de bonnes surprises en classant ces photos!
Celle-ci a un charme particulier, c'est un bel édifice mais avec une part de mystère.
Je me suis permis un WS en espérant que cela ne dénature pas ta photo
Amitiés
Hervé

[2] [workshop] [compare] +

superpau (1464) 2007-01-20 20:10

Hola Jose
la foto es un poco oscura, pero ya fue solucionado en el WS.
Es dificil sacar este tipo de fotos, con tan poca luz y en donde el uso del flash solamente arruinaría el efecto que se busca.

Una foto diferente de Marruecos, en donde no siempre se ve el sol y la arena!

Besos, Paula.

capthaddock (28790) 2007-01-21 20:40

Hi Jose - I like the symmetry, and great note, fascinating place, too bad the interior is not better illuminated.

vonp (2235) 2007-01-24 2:30

Ciao Jose,
Great composition: the light is magic and color look so natural.
You took a good picture.
See you soon...
Paolo

Bluejeans (64251) 2007-01-24 8:43

Ola Jose , muito interessante estas construçoes deixadas pelos portugueses pelo mundo , a tua foto ficou muito boa para as condiçoes de luz no local , parabens!!
Um abraço Gonçalo

pastadog (13111) 2007-01-24 13:53

It's a magic place, Jose, and although a few already posted in TE (including mine), this one is excellent in appropriate exposure and horizontal format, regards, Daniel

vagabondtravels (6511) 2007-01-24 21:00

Hi Jose

Great relfection. Nice comp. A good TE photo and note.
Realy well done.
Ben

Benedict (7076) 2007-01-31 23:47

now this is what i call- a masterpiece! clarity is excellent that i can see the slightest wavy movement on the waters...and the refelctions, what can i say....?
benedict

zeca (19762) 2007-02-06 10:48

Olá José, meu xará!
Muito boa exposição, capturando bem o local sombrio! A arquitetura é muito bonita e a composição em si muito interessante!
Abraço,
Zeca

cgaudencio (189) 2007-02-10 19:56

Very beautiful and shady picture, was very good the reflex. It seems like Dracula history.

You got an good efect on a dark place.

See you.
Gaudencio

salvator (19110) 2007-02-27 3:48

Hi Jose,
Wonderfull composition and colors, accompanied by beautifull reflections, and very nice symmetry.
ı wish you a nice week. Best regards. Salvator.

Stepan (27210) 2007-04-26 16:54

Très bonne réalisation technique, dans un endroit difficile à composer et à capturer. Belles symétries et réflections.
Stéphane

noborders (1010) 2007-12-15 2:46

Hi Jose, I've been looking for infos about that same cistern this morning and was not as successful as you !

Your photo is totally different from the one that I posted today from the same place, the POV from the same place differs and there is much more symetry, the only common point is that apparently you also saw this beautiful place without sunshine. And your photo is much less grainy than mine !

As your note is so interesting, I hope that you won't have any objection if I add a link to your photo in my today's post...

Very atmospherical, reminding me more here of the film "Othello" !
Bravo (et amitiés - c'est vrai, tu comprends le français, j'oublie toujours !)
Cath.

paura (25802) 2008-01-07 2:15

José,
Uma bela composição, com elementos bem alocados a partir do bom ponto de tomada e com adequado controle de iluminação. Os reflexos são mais que interessantes.

Abraço

Paulo