Freedom to roam, a photo from Jammu and Kashmir, Nord

Photographer's Note

Having put so many photos of the Gurjar on and never showing the livestock I thought it was about time to show the flocks of sheep and the shepherds.
I have no idea how they make their money only that on the way to the high summer pastures they do sell some of their stock. I also suspect that wool is reasonably used. Having looked on the internet there is not a great deal about these people, their culture and way of life. Quite strange really considering that nomadic ways of life are dissappearing.

dragonslayero, stego trouve(nt) cette note utile

Critiques | Translate

dragonslayero (3592) 2007-03-29 5:04

Hello Simon

I really like this style of photo. Not just the fact that it is a B&W mountain landscape, but the fact that when removing the colours you have created such an anchient looking photo.
The theme here with the shepherd and the sheep is excellent, it fits perfectly to the background.
DOV has been used greatas well, the distance fade is excellent. Not just the sense of distance but the way the foggy shroud is created.
But do you what I think would look even better?
I would have tried using the colour verison and simply desaturated it as much as possible and thus creating the same faded look you get on old 1950's movies and magasines.
None the less, that is up to you. But as it is, the photo looks great.

Odd Jarle

muzz (259) 2007-03-29 14:29

Hello Simon

Beautiful picture of the Shepard and the sheep.
You are right their nomadic ways of life is disappearing fast. and because of the political problems, its not even being documented.
There is just one organization in entire Jammu and Kashmir who is trying to document this is http://www.heritageofkashmir.org

Regards
Muzz

stego (24132) 2007-04-01 20:24

Hi Simon,

A wonderful mountain scene, with an intense nostalgic mood that is created by the subject itself, the antique look and the fabulous pov, with the herd dispersed and the shepherd on point where the lines of the valley converge.

It is great just as it is, but I didn't resist using it for training my skills on the use of blended layers and opacity masks to correct the oe on the bg. I posted the result on a WS.

Regards, José.

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