Egypt Streets...

JAG

I am looking for an outlet to get feedback for my photos. I thought I would give this board a try. So here are some shots I have taken, mainly from traveling on a bus traveling through the streets of Ciaro and Alexandria on a recent trip to the Mediterranean. Let me know what you think of these please.

1. Jobless


2. Family Business...


3. The Cover-up


4. Under-pass home...

Quincy T

Thanks for posting JAG!

As far as these goes, #1 is pretty interesting, but the other three are just kind of meh. How'd you like the persistent and lingering stench that hangs in the air from the moment you wake up until you go to bed at night?!

JAG

Quincy T wrote: »

Thanks for posting JAG!

As far as these goes, #1 is pretty interesting, but the other three are just kind of meh. How'd you like the persistent and lingering stench that hangs in the air from the moment you wake up until you go to bed at night?!

Luckily I was there on the express tour. Was only on the ground for 13 hours then sailed out of their stinky oil and garbage bay. Sounds harsh but sometimes reality sucks.

Thanks for the comment on the photos. I also liked the first one. As for the second one, the light hit the window as we were barreling paste this scene. I was surprized that it came out clear enough to see the kid intently watching the man (supposing his father) bagging the bread. What really amazed me is that they were on the side of the road doing this. Not sure but there was a fire near by that I couldn't get into the shot, with a couple women cooking something, maybe the bread?

The thing about shooting from a bus is first you have a window to contend with and second you have only a limited time to shoot something that catches your eye. I call it drive by shooting...

Do you feel that I at least caught the essences of what life is like for these ppl in just these few shots? Yes there are many more aspects to their culture than this. But strip away all the tourist attractions and this is the feeling of what I really saw. I have more in my site under Mediterranean/egypt if anyone wants to see what I saw.

Quincy T

Yes, reality certainly does suck for those folks and anyone who imagines Egypt as some mysterious land of wonder...

As for your images in your portfolio, I think it's difficult to really take away a lot of "that life" from some of the shots, but, I also understand you weren't there to document the strife of the Egyptian people.

That said, I do find #68 to be really solid. I'd present that one here as well, maybe.

I've only got two left in my portfolio from my stay in Cairo, #51 and #52. The rest have been relegated to the archive, haha.

JAG

This one? I had one other shot of this and the guy in back was flippin' me off! Didn't even bother with processing it before I deleted it off the camera. Anyway I took a look at yours and it looks like you were in Athens also? Lovely places to see in the Mediterranean.

Richard

Yeah, drive-by shooting is difficult--so many things out of your control. I agree that the first is the best of the set, though I can't help but wonder what's out of frame to the right. The second suffers from the reflection in the glass--sometimes a circular polarizer can help. I think you could lessen the effect by converting the image to a contrasty B&W.

Quincy T

JAG wrote: »

This one? I had one other shot of this and the guy in back was flippin' me off! Didn't even bother with processing it before I deleted it off the camera. Anyway I took a look at yours and it looks like you were in Athens also? Lovely places to see in the Mediterranean.

Yep, that's the one! I like it, personally. I was in Amman, Jordan at the citadel there. I did not get a chance to go to Petra. I travel strictly business so it's difficult at times for me to take in every photographic opportunity.

I agree, though, you can certainly see some fascinating things in that part of the world.

M38A1

Titles aside, 1 and 3 were the strongest from my perspective. Having not been there, 2 and 4 look like they could have been taken anywhere. Yet 1 and 3 seem to hold my attention to study the shot.

Wearing all black, what was the temperature when these were shot? Curious.


On a side note, I have fond memories of my trips through Wasilla over the years...

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JAG

M38A1 wrote: »

Titles aside, 1 and 3 were the strongest from my perspective. Having not been there, 2 and 4 look like they could have been taken anywhere. Yet 1 and 3 seem to hold my attention to study the shot.

Wearing all black, what was the temperature when these were shot? Curious.


On a side note, I have fond memories of my trips through Wasilla over the years...

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The temperature was in the 70's I believe. It was in Autumn when we were there. The mediterranean temps/seasons run about the same as the USA.

Yeah I am particial to Wasilla also.

kdog

I love seeing shots like this from distant lands, Joyce. I think the exposures look great, imperfections and all which add realism. I am disappointed though that you deleted the shot with the bike passenger flipping you off. That would have been the highlight of the series for me, but maybe I'm just plain weird like that. :giggle

JAG

kdog wrote: »

I love seeing shots like this from distant lands, Joyce. I think the exposures look great, imperfections and all which add realism. I am disappointed though that you deleted the shot with the bike passenger flipping you off. That would have been the highlight of the series for me, but maybe I'm just plain weird like that. :giggle

I was tempted to keep it but I think that was his way of telling me he didn't want his picture to be taken. I can respect that, so I deleted it. Here he is still anonomous for the most part.

JAG

At the suggestion of Richard I have made this one into a bw. Two versions here, 1 with just bw conversion keeping the noise in. 2 with noise removal on ppl and gaussian blur on background, plus some adjustment brush on the light spots. Does it make it look more appealing?


1


2

torags

+1 on the first.

MarkR

#1 is quite nice. The pink pillars, the pattern of chairs, and the lonely figure gazing at the camera, they all work well together.
#2 B&W doesn't help-- needs a better, more intimate angle.
#3 I like a lot as well. Very dynamic and slightly intimidating as the black, faceless figures bear down.
#4 suffers from being shot from the back, as well as having too much empty space-- as opposed to negative space, in the foreground and the right hand side. I feel like the "real" picture is probably up and to camera left.

My six year old son desperately wants to move to Egypt, and study mummies. Perhaps I shouldn't disillusion him by showing him these photos.

M38A1

I'm not sure the re-work on the B&W version (1/2) do much more. The processing giving the illusion of unequal chemical distribution on the negative (ie: cloudy) seems to be more of a distraction then a benefit to the shot.

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JAG

M38A1 wrote: »

I'm not sure the re-work on the B&W version (1/2) do much more. The processing giving the illusion of unequal chemical distribution on the negative (ie: cloudy) seems to be more of a distraction then a benefit to the shot.

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I think I had mentioned above, or maybe I haven't, that there was a fire going on off camera to the right. So I think some of what we are seeing is smoke.

Thank you all for your input! I have enjoyed our interactions on these photos.

stanpustylnik

I like all photos you posted. They show Egypt society very well, at least how you saw it. I will not alter anything to avoid reality distortion. While most of us feel ourself artists, street photography does society documentary.