Their backyard, a photo from Ile-de-France, Nord

Photographer's Note

Romanian 'Zigany'… Residing in there…Among the demolished ruins of some abandoned building… No roof, no windows…

I walked into their territory with the 15 euros and a pack of cigarette as a bribery for them (?)

They immediately friendly jumped upon me right away…

"Give money… You money… Me money… Give money"…

Within a short moment there were more than thirty people surrounding me…Talking, mumbling and… Arguing and fighting between themselves.

I don't know Romanian, they don't speak French…

There…

Smiling and gesturing was my way of communicating… And, I asked the questions… And asked and asked - knowing very well that they don't get me whatsoever…

Just talk, talk and smile and use your hands.

The things I understood were: They are from Romania and they are in France for several months…That's all..

One of the young men was yelling at them and talking to me about money…And the cigarettes…

I just couldn't get it… Money and money

But then…They were those who were smiling and kind…One of them offered me a chocolate and cookies… They posed for me, they tried to help me and then again… Constantly arguing between each other.

But then…They were those who were smiling and kind…One of them offered me a chocolate and cookies… They posed for me, they tried to help me and then again… Constantly arguing between each other.

The serie will be follow.

PS 1 : I did not crop the elements of disorder in the foreground and especially in the left corner, beceause I think that it makes part of their style of life.

PS 2 : You have to see this photo in a clear screan to appreciate all details. I worked it in two different screens, and it is possible that if your screen is dark, the photo seems too dark.

ymrk, delnaja, faubry, pauloog, Dpbours, cknara, rlrad, Booz, mpdre, Clairedelune, jlynx, Polonaise trouve(nt) cette note utile

Critiques | Translate

ymrk (15099) 2009-03-24 1:53

Hello Grazyna,
The beautiful portraits with good photolook in that place!How a lovely details,in the same time frame!
Take care!

Yağmur

omerozden (1259) 2009-03-24 1:57

hello grazyna,
i like the cheerful atmosphere.
you achieved eye contact and naturality simultaneously. i like the bw in this photo.
warm regards,
omer

mesutilgim (0) 2009-03-24 1:58

Hi dear Grazyna,
This one is perfect as well.
B&W was a good choice for this serie. Here again good pov and nice compo with many nice details.
TFS and best regards
MESUT ILGIM

delnaja (2056) 2009-03-24 2:04

voilà un n&b magnifique enfin. J'avoue que les deux premières de la série ne m'emballent pas du tout ... La scène ici peut faire penser à une scène d'un film. Pas mpal du tout en effet.

faubry (35447) 2009-03-24 2:19

bonjour Grazyna, ce n est pas trop noir du tout, et de toute façon même cela aurait accentué les contrastes qui sont parfaits pour moi et qui accentuent leurs conditions de vie, en Roumanie, il ne vivent pas si mal, car ils sont entre eux, dans des maison, ou leurs chariots

attention à ne pas donner trop d"argent...
je te redis si cela t'intéresse nous pouvon sy aller ensemble et en savoir davantage???
bises
francine

pauloog (11751) 2009-03-24 2:21

Hello Grazyna,
An excellent but maybe also sad scene of the life of these people, despite the smiling faces...
Well brought in black and white with a lot of details to discover.
Regards,
Paul

Dpbours (222) 2009-03-24 3:03

Hello Grazyna,

I so often have people complaining about my photographs being too dark. Well, get a calibrated screen I should say each and every time ;-).
Nothing too dark for me here! Wonderful atmosphere. And sometimes it's just better if you have no clue what they are talking about....

Dennis

hamady (753) 2009-03-24 3:12

Hello Grazyna,very naturalistic documentary street scene,good work ;o) Regards Jan

jasmis (58647) 2009-03-24 3:23

Mam mieszane odczucia, bo z jednej strony szeroki plan pokazujący ogrom otaczającego syfu, z drugiej chyba wolałbym zawężenie kadru i skupienie się na twarzach, czyli zdecydowanie closer... Ale to jest kwestia wyboru kadru. Jest jeszcze coś - zawężenie tonalne... Coś robisz z kontrastem, że tony są szaro-papierowe... podobnie było wczoraj, myślałem, że to przypadek... Nie jestem do końca przekonany do takiego zabiegu.
Tyle marudzenia, bo ogólnie - rzecz naprawdę na wysokim poziomie.
Pozdrawiam.

cknara (556) 2009-03-24 3:51

Candid scene.Interesting explanations.

rlrad (1845) 2009-03-24 4:33

Hello Graznya,

Wonderful image of the squalor humans can put up with. It is shocking and sad that people have to deal with this sort of lifestyle. You have captured perfectly the human spirit. The b&w treatment gives this photograph the seriousness it deserves.

Enjoying your series!
Reed Radcliffe
St. Louis, Missouri, USA

adrost (2378) 2009-03-24 4:40

Witaj G.

Kadr zwyczajny az za zwyczajny jak na Ciebie.
Mozna byloby pewnie inaczje z tego wyjsc ale sciana i BW dalaj tu to cos co przekracza granice "zwyczajnosci".

Pozdrawiam
a.

michelloupis (0) 2009-03-24 6:26

Hello Grazyna,

An effective frame in my modest opinion :-)

This picture is alive. Oh yes! I see them moving and talking. This is a great shot, a fantastic documentary picture, very well processed with that delicious blur of yours.

I'm looking forward to the next one...

A fabulous day to you.

n.

Booz (14347) 2009-03-24 10:48

super, ze moglas tam wejsc! - swietny reportaz - taki spokojny - bez ekscentrycznych nerwow - ale przez to taki autentyczny
POzdrawiam
T

polter (7239) 2009-03-24 12:50

Folklor jak się patrzy. Cudnie rozmieszczone postacie wspaniale w tło wpisane. Co jedna to lepsza - malownicze i naturalne w swoim "upozowaniu". Wieje wolnością i taborami :))
Pozdrawiam ciepło T.

mpdre (1611) 2009-03-24 19:20

Marvelous background... wow... I almost get dizzy looking at this image... They seem to be superimposed on the background...
What a surreal scene!!!
You did a superb postprocessing here... Bravo Nina!
Andre

bantonbuju (51815) 2009-03-24 23:48

dobra scenka....
faktycznie, wczoraj jak ogladalem na crt wydawalo mi sie, ze zwalone totalnie kontrasty, ale dzisiaj - na lcd wyglada wszystko jak nalezy...

mocna ekipa, w mocnym otoczeniu swoich ruin... robia wrazenie... (najbardziej podoba mi sie takie "pierdolnik" tego podworka i rozrzucenie postaci po scenie... przypadkowe, a jednak lekko teatralne)

pozd. j.

Clairedelune (4923) 2009-03-25 18:14

Excellent, excellent, tout simplement excellent, Grazyna! Et là, j'inclus les deux autres photos, le projet est tout simplement excellent! Il est si rare de voir ce genre de photos sur TE. Surtout si on clique sur la page de "France", on ne s'attend pas à trouver de telles photos. Pourtant, n'est-ce pas ça aussi "to learn about the World"?
J'admire ton "guts", ton courage, ta détermination, ta volonté à sortir des sentiers battus. Chapeau photographe!
Et non seulement ça, mais les photos sont très bonnes. Quand je les ai vues, ça m'a fait un choc. Et je me suis dit que tu venais de franchir une autre frontière dans ton développement de photographe. Toutes mes félicitations.
Claire

MrCairo (0) 2009-03-26 3:00

Rozrzuceni po scenia zycia w najciemniejsze katy.
Znajdujemy sie i cieszymy kazdym promieniem ciepla.
Nawet na smietnisku.

Kapitalne.

Pozdrawiam
W.

P.S. Tlo tych cegiel !! Extra.

jlynx (12647) 2009-03-26 7:59

Witaj,
Fajna scenka, ale i odwazna Twoja postawa. Czy Ty nie kusisz losu dziewczyno? Wszystko wyglada jak na scenie jakiegos teatru podczas krotkiej przerwy w probie, a to przecie¿ ¿ycie tylko, widziane Twoimi oczyma.
To jest dobre.
Pozdrawiam serdecznie,
Jurek

nesiaZ (982) 2009-03-28 0:43

Hej Grazynko,
Ale towarzystwo ustrzelilas. Ja bym sie bala.
Bardzo ciekawe rozmieszczenie w kadrze.
Uwielbiam czarno-biale fotografie, maja to cos.
Pozdrawiam!
Anetka

tomescuc (3291) 2009-03-29 21:48

Straight out of a movie. Your best one of the series, so far, imo. The crazy horns from a Kusturica movie would perfectly complement the scene.
compliments,
Cristian

ps: it was worth the 12 euros ;-)

Polonaise (5802) 2009-03-30 12:27

I don't feel like being properly and adequately prepared to comment upon such class of a photography on the streets.
I know perfectly well what it is to go there, between the strange people of any place on earth, of any city streets and to produce the photography of such class.
Facing the demons…
Flashing your lens against people's faces.
Make the relaxed. Make them smiling ( or not !)…

Priceless document of the highest class, Grazyna.

kensimage (8563) 2009-04-04 18:19

I am amazed that they put aside their wariness enough so you could photograph them. They're in what's for them a strange country, where they don't know the rules, but they do know they are unwelcome--you could be some kind of spy for the police, as far as they know. How did you convey to them that your intentions were "documentary," Grazyna?

Anyway, it's a wonderful photo, a vivid depiction of the squalor they live in. It's great how they're interacting both with each other and with you. In those conditions, they have to stick together as a team (though a team with lots of arguing, I guess) and this image shows that they do. Regards, Ken.