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Old scars on her the back


curra

The women were singing loudly and playing a little trumpet calling other Hamer people settled on the valley. In other side the men chating excitedly and in the midle a genuine alcoholic beverage which everyone drinks in great amount.... even little children. The neighbors come playing theirs trumpets and entered in the village crossing a simbolic gate built with dry branches.The women started to dance and suddenly appear in the dancing floor some men with whips in their hands . The women,relatives of the protagonist, in order to enhance the confidence on him, offering their backs to be whipped.(I couldn´t shot any pic at these moments , my fingers were paralyzed).To minimize the hurt they started a frenetic dance for a long time. Once finished the dance, they were to proudly show their bleeding backs to their husbands .The party continued till sunset when the young men make a row with many of the cattle of the tribe. The protagonist, completely naked, must jump and walk over the back of them many times till the elder of the tribe decide he has passed the exam then everybody sing and jump.........expressing any kind of joy


From the category:

Journalism

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As usual your pictures are excellant. I'm not too sure about the colour balance, but then I wasn't there so I'm not sure how it should look. A little more contrast on the skin brings out the detail in those wounds, a couple of which look frighteningly fresh. Oh anybody looking at this picture should click on the large button I think.

I can't imagine the pain.

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Marina, your exposure is spot on as usual so all the information is there. It's just a matter of fiddling in levels (many prefer curves), followed by hue/saturation. It's simple. Some of the skin tones and colours in these photos are interesting in their own right. Only you know what you saw! All the best.
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Marina, this is excellent photojournalism! and fully agree with gareth's suggestion (in curves, adjust the midtones) on the aesthetic. best - Gary
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Hi Marina:

 

I'm fascinatined by the sociology of this ritual. But on reflection, it doesn't seem so strange after all.

 

Even in the developed world, it seems many suffer profound pain and deep scars of one kind or another in order to fullfill the expectations of their "tribe." --jim

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Curra, I like the way you´ve cropped the image on the top, by this, you enhance his back, and make us look at it. Although someone has submitted an adjusted version, it still looks redish, is their skin like that, or do they use some kind of "make-up"?. This shot, without the other heads, and in BW would be amazing (I don´t know why, maybe due to our friend Luis, I am beginning to see in BW)

 

Take care! Un buen ponchecito...

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