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Kal Khogali | all galleries >> Transition >> New Images > At the End of the Race, Shanghai 2006
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02-FEB-2006

At the End of the Race, Shanghai 2006

Canon EOS 20D
1/250s f/2.8 at 51.0mm iso200 full exif

other sizes: small medium large original auto
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Guest 10-Jul-2006 17:21
I'm not going to get philosophical. I'd just like to thank you for sharing what the world looks like through your eyes.
Click Hamilton10-Jul-2006 16:51
Everything together ..... it's far more than the mundane medium of photography that most of us aspire to achieve. Your powers of observation, assimilation and presentation are an amazing gift. You are driven from the heart of your soul and by your universal love of life. I have to wimp out here and simply say I'm in awe and I'm speechless.
Ken McColl25-Jun-2006 15:27
Very, very good title Kal and if I may join the conversation; Ruth's point is very interesting. I live in Bangkok..very exotic, but there's no guarantee I would make as good an image, its all in the seeing. However, to our 'western' eyes, we just dont get to see the cultural aspects depicted in Asian cities....but, we have access to our own form of culture... its just a different one. You see, when I read the title, and looked at the image, my thoughts turned to the end of a race.. as in ethnicity, because much of Asia's cultural minorities are under pressure. A little bit of double meaning in this one for me. Very well seen keeneye... :-) KMc
Guest 16-Jun-2006 18:08
Fabulous, Kal. Fantastic expression at her face. V.
Bill Harris16-Jun-2006 11:11
Interesting discussion. For the photographer I think, it's trying to see the world anew, wherever one is. And sometimes a detail can be more explicit than a whole scene. Wonderful shot Kal. Thank you.
Guest 16-Jun-2006 10:06
Thanks everyone for elaborating on what I was referring to, and thank you Kal, as always, for the look into your head at the time you took the image.
Guest 16-Jun-2006 09:46
Kal, you have a gift for this kind of shots: love the shoes&title, of course, but, before all, what a beautiful human portrait!
Guest 16-Jun-2006 02:47
The shoes make the image as a whole but it is the person that wears them that has the soul. Also, Hardship is not a thing that is seperate to a certain culture. A person that eats well may not suffer hardship in the sense of basic needs but can still suffer. Pain, suffering and hardship is universal, just and joy and any other emotion.
Guest 16-Jun-2006 02:25
Another striking portrait, Kal. You always give us something for thinking, and something moving in the same time.
Robbie D7015-Jun-2006 20:58
Yes this just Ooozes emotion and captures the viewers interest.
Knockout photography . Great !
Rob Rosetti15-Jun-2006 18:23
Bravo! Roberto
Phil Douglis15-Jun-2006 16:58
Your greatest strength as a photographer, Kal, is your ability to express human values in ways that challenge the imagination and intelligence of your viewers. It does not matter who the person is, or where they are. Exotic locales have nothing to do with it. This image uses incongruity of detail -- athletic shoes on a woman who hardly seems able to walk, let alone run -- to trigger an emotional response. I don't know if she was actually racing or not. It does not matter. Perhaps life itself is the race you are referring to. As Ruthie notes, you look beyond surface facts here to reveal a human soul.
scott clarke15-Jun-2006 15:45
Strange one Kal. She seems content in her place.
ruthemily15-Jun-2006 15:06
i think it comes down to what each of us finds as "exotic". i look at your pictures and i think, if only i could go to China, i could make pictures like that too. it's hard to see how candid pictures from england can be half as interesting. but then if i were a Chinese person, i'd no doubt be thinking, if only i could go to England...
every person on the earth has character. sometimes it's more immediately striking, but when it's not you just have to spend more time thinking what it is that makes that person who they are. it's not as easy when shooting candids, but it can still be done to a certain extent. you have to learn to be able to look beyond the surface and into someone's soul.
by the way, it's a very beautiful, character-ful portrait! :)
Guest 15-Jun-2006 14:54
I agree with you, Kal. yes, it is not unusual to see a scene like this. what is unusual is the shoes. the shoes seem quite "fashion" for her.
Kal Khogali15-Jun-2006 14:46
Jeroen, I don't agree with the first point, Character is everywhere, and it does not need hardship, just life...your subject here to make the pointhttp://www.pbase.com/simplephotography/image/61795229 I agree about the setting, not all settings work, but the different always attracts more attention to the viewer, hence a Chinese person would not necessarily find this image so unusual. The attraction of this image may be the woman, and her surroundings to most, but in my opinion, it's all about the shoes....K
Guest 15-Jun-2006 14:04
Excellent! And now I have a point of comparison too. Yesterday, I was just too late to capture a similar scene, but when I compare that scene with this image, two things would make my image less interesting by default:

The person. This woman wears her age, and you see it. In Belgium, people know less hardship. Poor as they may be, they will always have food and to some extent also a bit of luxury.

Secondly: the surroundings. The unpaved road, the eroded stones, the wooden door: impossible to find in Belgium, let alone Brussels. Maybe it doesn't strike people that much, but the setting is a very important element in every image.

Bravo for this exquisite composition.
david procter15-Jun-2006 13:38
amazing portrait/juxtapositon you keen eyed man. What a fabulous face!
Dougie Young15-Jun-2006 13:18
I wonder how long it took from start to finish!! She looks content, great shot Kal..:>
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