I really like the shot. I don't know what is to the right of the frame, but I have a feeling that I would have composed it to include some of that, in order to move the pole to the left. I really like the texture of the smoke and how it plays with the rest of the picture. I didn't notice the first time I saw the picture, but it looks like the light at upper right is casting a shadow of its housing over the smoke. That's pretty cool, too.
Having grown up in a third world country and travelled a bit, too, I can confirm that your concerns are well-founded. There are things you can do about it, though, besides what most people think of. The best thing, in my opinion, is to get to know the people. I remember one time we were staying at a campground in Palenque, Mexico. One night everyone at the campground was robbed -- except us and the people whose home it was. Why were we not targeted? It's because we were the only ones who took the time to get to know the people. For obvious reasons, this suggestion doesn't really work in a city setting.
As for everyone else, they found their things in the fields the next day, minus the money. -- Victor
Guest
25-Feb-2006 11:12
Trav, you're right - that kind of travel would not be my cup of tea either - far from it!
Well, Olaf, I was...fascinated or surprised by the piles and stench of trash that this city of 1.5 million would begin to burn in great heaps every day, yet at night they were still alive. The pole was where the trash was burning so that's what I HAD to shoot, it wasn't a matter of choice.
And I think that this is the distinction between the set up shots that are so frequently popular here and travel photography. Very often there is very little time, no real opportunity to...map out what you might want to do photographically.
To be frank, You are afraid, you're in a strange city at the mouth of the Amazon, your Portguese is poor at best, sometimes gangs or clots of young people are wandering in and out of the shadows...you desperately want, not only want but need to keep moving, if only not to present a stationary target. This is just being smart.
If this kind of shot isn't your cup of tea, then Belem and the surrounding favelas late at night are not to your taste either...and believe me...this is Wisdom incarnate. No one does what I do...or very few people, and this is good.
I'm not bagging on the city or the people. People are people. I enjoy them and in return I am entertainment for them, it is a fair relationship...sometimes I even spend the night on wood or dirt floor. It is just my weirdness that I respond well to the kidness of strangers, (smile). Best wishes, Traveller
Guest
25-Feb-2006 10:03
Trav, I think I read somewhere in something you'd written that you like lots of detail for the eye to explore, and if I am wrong about that, this shot tells me you do. I can understand your fascination and this image has even caught some feel of the place, so in that sense it is a successful shot, but it ain't my cup of tea, so I find it hard to criticize. I do think I would prefer a less central position of the 'wired pole' in the middle. As it stands here, the composition suffers - all just in my opinion of course.
