bulgarian gypsies Gypsy Funeral

I was at a funeral in a gypsy community. Just a guy in a plywood

box. The faces of the mourners were amazing. unfortunately it was

very crowded and I had to do alot of cropping. This was my first

journalistic assignment. Tell me what you think!

Great composition and positioning of yourself. Were you scared to be so close to this funeral? How were these gypsies with your presence there? Well done, this is an interesting and emotional photo. The story is there with the mourning faces, the man's hand holding the coffin and obviously the deceased.

I was on the outside of the large group surrounding the 'casket' for a while. I was trying to get shots of the mourners faces but unsucessfully. Then suddenly at the foot of the casket the people all stepped back at once, sharply yelling at those who didnt move fast enough aside, and gestured for me to come right up to the casket. Space was still tight - and I was very surprised at the response because I had felt a little sacreligious taking pictures at a funeral in the first place. The last thing I expected was to be welcomed into this private world.

Nice image. Captures the moment. I would have liked to have some balance with some more people on the left though.

G'day Niki,

 

A disturbing image - given the subject and how they seem to be grieving you have captured the shot well. From the critique page I don't have access to the film/camera etc used but would have liked to see some fill flash and better quality film to bring the faces out a little more.

 

Mike Sea