morocco Baker of Asilah, Morocco

This a POW I really like. I've been to Morocco twice, the first time must have been almost twenty years ago and they have had the same plastic bottles already. This pictures takes me back to Morocco and my trips then and bring them back to live again. In my book this is one of the best things that can be said about a photograph.

 

The picture has a very honest and true character (in several respects). I wouldn't vhange a thing (especially not the water bottle), it's perfects as it is.

 

Finally kudos for pulling of a shot like this with a long exposure and tripod setup and still keeping the man relaxed AND saving the image from underexposed print film, which is much harder than saving overexposed print or underexposed slide film.

Congrats Michael. Not only are the colours and composition more than pleasing, but the little guy seems to have a half smile too. He seems happy enough with his bakers life. RE the bottle, it may not fit the overall Rembrandt quality but it contributes a 'sign of the times' to this wonderful contextual portrait. I find it heart warming and cosy. Well done.

The harmony of the tones is very appealing; a strong theme of golds, browns and ochres. The central idea of a simple man plying his trade is well supported with interesting details to keep the viewers attention. Personally I like the square format; it suits this image admirably. Excellent.

The core here is the baker, everything round him leeds to him. Even the bottle wich tell us the what time it is, in an otherwise timeless picture.

It is a lovely photograph. Congratulations.

Okay, Michael, now that we've praised you for a very worthy photo, how about some more technical details? We know that you are a prolific cropper, and so the inevitable question comes up: did you crop, and, if so, would you mind posting the original uncropped version for us to see (Marc's question)? Did you shoot this scene more than once at different settings? Why did you settle on f/16 at one second (also Marc's question)? What kind of post-processing did you have to do, since someone has suggested that this one was a "save" during the developing phase?

 

None of this is a criticism in the least. I would just like to know how you got it. As I have said in two previous posts, congratulations on a great shot.

Sorry, Michael. I missed your extended comment which mentioned your using the wrong film back. A good save indeed!

Michael, congrats on a fabulous picture, well deserved POW. I checked your portfolio and one thing is striking: consistent good compositions, saturated colors, pictoresque kind of mood throughout your work. Hats off; I would like to learn more about your technique.

thank you for sharing. 7/7

I thought my seed picture would be the POW this week so I am a upset a little but this picture is a good one. I like it. I like that people are upset by the bottle and some like it and some dont. To the peopel that like it I say lets add some more modern things like a beer or a microwave.

What more can I say? This is so perfectly composed I would have taken it for an extensivly planned studio shot and more. I failed to find any flows. Photogrpaher skill, co-ordination and favourable circumstances produced an excellent picture. Well done and be proud of it

I just needed to see it again and be happy for your well deserved win .As to the frame,i looked so atentievely at the picture that i realy cant remember the frame-guess that's a good thing because it means that it's not disturbing .

Your photo did it. It was succesful because before I saw your comments I thought Rembrant myself. There is definetely something Dutch about this painting although in Morrocco! Can't exactly pin why this feeling is...Maybe the orange color... House of Orange etc hehe Also reminds me a little of Vermeer or even Boticelli. It has a rennaisance/baroque feel to it. Definetely not a modern baker; a very rustic theme.

This is a masterpiece.The composition is perfect, except the small blemish of a bottle,mentioned by others.

Congratulations on POW Michael. i'm glad that you have noticed the mix-up and we all can enjoy this image. Large black area might have a negative impact if it were adjacent to the edge. Here it's surrounded by areas with detail and located close to the center of the symmetrical composition. Some viewers say that it heightens their curiosity and stimulates to look around more closely. Very interesting shot and a good vehicle for discussion. Regards,

The picture is good, very good in fact... Almost every good point of it were already discussed on the forum... but I do have a question about the composition of that picture: I'm a the only one who find the composition a bit unbalance? I feel like the left side (the cookies side) get so much of the attention that there is nothing left to see on the right side of the picture? I dont mean that this is real bad, but it is the first thing which appears to me after I went over my first sight... But I did love and still love that picture, more than all the subject, only a very very good photographer could have turn such a subject in a work of art.

Good photograph, I agree that the bottle shouldn't be there.

It's a superb image, with no doubt. The light, bouncing on the walls, is astonishing, and it strongly reminds the works of Rembrandt and other great masters of painting.

Congratulations!

I think it's a composite, just like last week's POW, and the bottle's put in to give it a modern touch...The picture of the bottle was made in 1997 in Oberstammheim, Switzerland, with a cheap point and shoot camera, I saw the damn thing down there myself, the rest of it was taken in 1883. Nice picture though! Congrats!

Great shot! This is so like a beautiful painting but too realistic to be one. Love the subdued tone.

I still think that this is a good picture, I love morocco... and also the plastic bottle, and I also still think that the frame is "kitsch".

best regards Stefan

I am so glad to see Mani S. (see above) ask why the bottle "blemish" needs to be expunged. If we delete the water bottle, shouldn't we pin a delicate red feather to the fez to give these gloriously subdued and harmonious golden tones an arresting counterpoint? Should a photograph like this say "look what I found," or "look what I fixed"? Judy Ben Joud's "Hungarien Rhapsody" is wonderful fun. How much of that do you bring to this?

I have absolutely nothing against the plastic bottle, and the lighting is great, it does not matter that the detail in the oven was lost

I was taught the a good picture always tells a story.

The worn walls and age of the baker speak of long, arduous decades of work. The water bottle says how tired the baker must become, obviously needing hydration during his job. The tray of rolls is proudly and elegantly displayed as if to say, "Here is the product of long hours, by the sweat of our brows, and made by expert hands for the enjoyment of all..."

Don't underestimate the frame. The picture is heavenly. The only downfall is that I don't own the rights to it ;-)

I know the bottle has been 'done to death', but maybe it is noticed so much because its colors are out of sync with the rest of the picture? How do you feel about retouching it, would that ruin the picture, or improve it? What drew my interest to this picture was the big black hole behind the baker, I wondered what I was looking at, and wanted to see it better. Now I have the munchies. Congratulations on POW.

I find there is nothing really interesting in the whole upper right part, while the bottle feels out of place not because it's plastic but because it's clear and shiny while everything is dark. Burn the bottle a little and you are done, or just leave it this way since it's a great picture no real need to mess with it.

 

Simone

Top credit for the composition and metering. Also the post PS work. The bottle really makes this picture for me - if you want something else go dig in 70's National Geo's.

It (the debate about the bottle) reminds me of pictures of South American forest tribes lighting their 'smokes' with BIC or Zippo lighters, it just adds to the overall vision.

Move on.