Portrait from Congo

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Archive 2009 · Portrait from Congo

Spyros D
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p.1 #1 · Portrait from Congo

Taken in Mudja, North Kivu province of Democratic Republic of Congo. C&C always welcome.
Spyros

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Oct 15, 2009 at 09:12 PM

george malamis
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p.1 #2 · Portrait from Congo

It is a beautiful portrait with your subject perfectly exposed. The only issue I see it that the background isn't complimentary. What I mean by that is the bright background competes with your subject creating some tension but without putting in him in any context which is what you would expect from such an environmental portrait.

Oct 15, 2009 at 09:28 PM

Steady Hand
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p.1 #3 · Portrait from Congo

Greetings Spyros.

Nice portrait.

I like the composition, the expression, and overall look.

I think it would look nice in BW too.

Good to see you here again.

Keep up the good work.

Oct 15, 2009 at 09:31 PM

Tim Ashton
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p.1 #4 · Portrait from Congo

Hi Spyros
This one I like a lot
glad to see you are still shooting which means you are well, even if you are busy
Best
tim

Oct 15, 2009 at 09:59 PM

dengar
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p.1 #5 · Portrait from Congo

Dang, thats a great shot. That would look great as a National Geographic cover.

Oct 16, 2009 at 10:45 AM

canon pants
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p.1 #6 · Portrait from Congo

fantastic. great expression. love how the eyes stand out so much. look at his hands and shirt, gotta wonder the story behind that. good to show your kids when they are not finishing their dinner.

Oct 16, 2009 at 11:06 AM

Jim Rickards
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p.1 #7 · Portrait from Congo

Spyros! I've missed your posts. Good to see you again.
This one has good expression and a very nice pose. Nice balance to the composition too.

As for the background, you chose the "darkly exposed subject against a bright background", which works well. It just doesn't add any context - we can't see what the bright background is - as pointed out by George. I see this as a very minor point. There may have been little back there to include, or what was back there was better left unseen.

Oct 16, 2009 at 11:26 AM

Ronny Mills
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p.1 #8 · Portrait from Congo

Excellent!!

I like the background and think it serves your subject well. "Environment" is not needed. This is a portrait not a photo essay on another starving black child ...

Oct 16, 2009 at 02:11 PM

ml744
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p.1 #9 · Portrait from Congo

george malamis wrote:
It is a beautiful portrait with your subject perfectly exposed. The only issue I see it that the background isn't complimentary. What I mean by that is the bright background competes with your subject creating some tension .

+1 on that.

george malamis wrote:
but without putting in him in any context which is what you would expect from such an environmental portrait.

-1 on this. I think it's a great portrait on its own and the showing of the environment is not necesarily instrumental to it.

Best,

Matias

Oct 16, 2009 at 02:25 PM

timhpark
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p.1 #10 · Portrait from Congo

wonderful portrait! his expression is very penetrating, and i like the way he's standing!

tim

Oct 16, 2009 at 04:16 PM

Carolyn1250
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p.1 #11 · Portrait from Congo

Wow, this is great, tells 20 stories in one image. The only think I could think of is to dodge a bit (and I mean a real little bit) around his eyes, forehead and lips. Brighten up the face a bit, because that is a powerful expression.

I like the blown out background, gives me the sense he is hiding or hidden in some way.

Oct 16, 2009 at 09:59 PM

george malamis
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p.1 #12 · Portrait from Congo

ronnymills wrote:
Excellent!!

I like the background and think it serves your subject well. "Environment" is not needed. This is a portrait not a photo essay on another starving black child ...

Just to reiterate my first statement - it is a beautiful portrait. What I mean by environment is that without the title I don't place him there from the rest of the photograph. Now I don't think you need to have Congo blazing in the background either but something that ties me in who he is. It is such a powerful portrait that I want to know more.

Oct 16, 2009 at 10:47 PM

Spyros D
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p.1 #13 · Portrait from Congo

Hi Steady,

Thanks for your comments, as always. Will try in BW and see what it gives. Best, Spyros

Oct 18, 2009 at 05:12 AM

Spyros D
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p.1 #14 · Portrait from Congo

Tim Ashton wrote:
Hi Spyros
This one I like a lot
glad to see you are still shooting which means you are well, even if you are busy
Best
tim

Hi Tim, great to hear from you as always. yep, still here, still struggling to find some time to take photos. Cheers, Spyros

Oct 18, 2009 at 05:13 AM

Spyros D
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p.1 #15 · Portrait from Congo

dengar wrote:
Dang, thats a great shot. That would look great as a National Geographic cover.

Thanks!

Oct 18, 2009 at 05:13 AM

Spyros D
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p.1 #16 · Portrait from Congo

Jim Rickards wrote:
Spyros! I've missed your posts. Good to see you again.
This one has good expression and a very nice pose. Nice balance to the composition too.

As for the background, you chose the "darkly exposed subject against a bright background", which works well. It just doesn't add any context - we can't see what the bright background is - as pointed out by George. I see this as a very minor point. There may have been little back there to include, or what was back there was better left unseen.

Hi Jim, friends:

Many thanks for your comments. About the background - it was a tough call. I chose in the end to blur the background simply because there was not much there, and I wanted to isolate him. Point noted about need for context.

best, Spyros

Oct 18, 2009 at 05:15 AM

Spyros D
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p.1 #17 · Portrait from Congo

Carolyn1250 wrote:
Wow, this is great, tells 20 stories in one image. The only think I could think of is to dodge a bit (and I mean a real little bit) around his eyes, forehead and lips. Brighten up the face a bit, because that is a powerful expression.

I like the blown out background, gives me the sense he is hiding or hidden in some way.

Carolyn, thanks so much! I will try out your suggestions. Best, Spyros

Oct 18, 2009 at 05:16 AM

Spyros D
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p.1 #18 · Portrait from Congo

Steady Hand wrote:
Greetings Spyros.

Nice portrait.

I like the composition, the expression, and overall look.

I think it would look nice in BW too.

Good to see you here again.

Keep up the good work.

Hi Steady, here's the BW version. Best, Spyros

This image is copyrighted by the owner

Oct 26, 2009 at 02:54 AM

srudy
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p.1 #19 · Portrait from Congo

Wow- the black and white takes the intensity up several notches. In the color version my eye seems to gravitate to his right hand, but in the black and white conversion I focus on the eyes. Nice work.

Oct 26, 2009 at 03:36 AM

paulhodson
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p.1 #20 · Portrait from Congo

As ever

Oct 26, 2009 at 03:40 PM

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