Tribal Choreography, a photo from Arusha, East

Photographer's Note

When you visit the Ngorongoro area, you can take a tour to a Maasai village. After your decision to visit, the driver calls the chief and tells them to prepare for the coming visitors. The entrance to the village is 50 USD per car. When you give the money, the whole tribe suddenly becomes your friend for one hour, smiling, dancing, singing and jumping for you, showing you their cottages, telling you about their traditions and trying to sell you handcrafts for astronomical prices. I asked whether they wished to move to bigger towns for a modern life but they preferred to stick to their traditions, in addition to sticking to the much profitable means of tourism.
What they do with the money is a question mark, while they say they use it for water and education.

Here is the photo of their welcome dance. You soon forget the big hole in your pocket and lose yourself in a timeless dream for one hour. All in all, these are the legendary warriors of East Africa and it is a life time experience which would be too silly to miss.

ikeharel, ourania, No_One, timecapturer, ChrisJ, Romano46, mcmtanyel, gervaso, macjake, CLODO, Angshu, pyffepa, delpeoples has marked this note useful

Critiques | Translate

parvatibb (1387) 2013-09-07 2:47

Sırayı değiştirmişiz. Uzun amca bile var. Hatta WS'a istenirse Maasai'ler ile zıplanabileceği fotosu da eklenebilirmiş:)

gölgeler, sahipleri ve arkadaki ağaç çok uyumlu.
ben Maasai hiç koyamayacağım galiba...

Juzo (2151) 2013-09-07 3:25

Hi Deniz,
Great colour and profiles. I can see you have been travelling again, Tanzania is on my wish list. Enjoying seeing your shots form here.
Cheers
Justin

ourania (51103) 2013-09-07 3:30

Hello Deniz,
I love how the people, the colours and the movement fill the frame with interest and a sense of excitement. The way you've composed and cropped this photo makes the viewer feel they are surrounded by the the people, colours and movement. There are superb perspectives to different directions that transmit their dynamism to us and make the bouncing step of the Masai warriors very vivid. I also like the even tones of sky and earth and the well defined shadows. You took us really close to this experience and I hope you will post more pictures of what you saw in this village. Congratulations and thank you!
All the best, have a great weekend,
Ourania

No_One (4) 2013-09-07 3:59

hi Deniz,
How cool that these people realize how valuable and exciting their welcome and their dancing is to outsiders that they make money from it! Just like every other tourist spot in the world, and why not! This has allowed you to capture a very interesting shot, the colors are vivid and stand out brilliantly, and I love that you composed this not only with the dancers on the right, but with the figure on left in blue who creates a great depth and a whole other feeling to your shot.
Really nicely done.
All the best
Noel

subhendu_bagchi (26091) 2013-09-07 4:19

Hi Deniz, an interesting composition here with the tribes in there traditional dress. The lens distortion create an atmosphere which I personally enjoyed a lot. Those blue-red colours are really contrasting. The rows of local people with their shadows are nicely placed along the diagonal that they formed a triangle with the bottom. Excellent and eye catching one. Tfs.
S

dkmurphys (79209) 2013-09-07 4:23

Hi Deniz,
This is quite a spectacular scene. Very exotic and interesting, a presentation of their way of life. Well taken, enjoy a fine weekend.

Daniel

timecapturer (49288) 2013-09-07 5:33

Hi Deniz
like this! You have captured the very essence and movement of this dance and tradition so beautifully. A balanced composition and rich mix of colours that stand out so sensually in this dry African setting. Wonderful!

Enjoy the weekend - Brian.

holmertz (102846) 2013-09-07 10:04

Hello Deniz,
Personally I would feel uncomfortable watching people this way. On the other hand, who am I to deny them the chance to earn some money? Undeniably they make for good photos with their bright clothes and tall, slender figures. You composed this very well with the man in blue in the near corner facing the group and the typical savannah tree near the opposite corner.
Kind regards,
Gert

emka (158204) 2013-09-07 23:35

Hi again, How well you desribed it! of coure, it would ne much nicer to see them natural, but how to do it. You have no time to try to live them for alonger time and gaining their confidence. So such a theatre is better than nothing. The same was in Himba village in Namibia. And I also remember the villages in Egypt, near Assuan, that after the tour you get coca cola from fridge.
beautiful red an deep blue dresses and this umbrella tree behind.

Warm regrad

Malgo

ChrisJ (171888) 2013-09-08 0:46

Merhaba Deniz

I like the strong warm vs cold color contrast between the red and blue attire. The wide angled lens have given some interesting distortion. Good sharpness and nice repetition of the Masai. The diagonal line at right adds good dynamism. The sidelight has given nice repetitive shadows. Tfs!

Romano46 (18472) 2013-09-08 10:16

Ciao Deniz
la tua bella serie di foto scattate in Africa appare assai interessante per la particolare presentazione da parte tua. In alcuni casi rinunciare al colore a favore del bianco e nero è una scelta audace, però il risultato ti dà sempre ragione e cio solo perchè la nostra mente è abituaua ad associare l'Africa con il colore, così come spesso siamo abituati ad un uso delle ottiche tele piuttosto che grandangolari perchè si va alla ricerca del particolare lontano più che del vicino.
In questo caso tu hai usato un grandangolo ed è stata una scelta vincente perchè ti ha portato ad immergerti totalmente nel gruppo dei Masai, i quali con i loro abiti vivaci e le loro azioni hanno creato una bella composizione nella quale anche le loro ombre sembra vogliano creare dei grafismi.
Colore ed azione, le ormi vincenti di questa foto che riprende un mondo che con il tempo e l'avanzare del progresso è destinata alla scomparsa.
Complimenti sia per questa foto che per tutte le l'altre che l'hanno preceduta.
Ciao e buona serata
Romano

mcmtanyel (68707) 2013-09-08 20:56

Selamlar Deniz,
Bu insanlar pek zevkli, çivit mavisiyle kırmızı pek güzel gidiyor, ikisi de toprağın bejinin üstünde pek güzel duruyor. Canlı renkleri, zarif adımları marifetle yakalamışsınız.
Tebrikler ve teşekkürler!
Saygılar,
MT

gervaso (28177) 2013-09-10 4:51

Hello, Deniz!

The place must be wonderful, and it must be a nice way to be received there, with typical dance, very good to take pictures! The strong colors of their clothes make the image really interesting! Very good job!

Tezic (17867) 2013-09-10 14:46

usta selam ;) yokluğumu aratmaman hoş olmuş ;))

macjake (98486) 2013-09-10 17:34

Hi Deniz
hmmm....yes, i've heard of such 'tourist traps'.
perhaps thats a bit strong of a word to use, but you know what i mean.

you could easily have a debate club debate this subject for days and days...whether or not to pay the money and does it have an honest positive or honest negative effect on the people's involved...the truth is the answer is almost impossible to accurately determine.

as for the photo, i love it of course.
and you're right, it'd be silly to miss this experience.
the wide angle lens collected alot in the tiny frame, and the colors work extremely well.
cool shot and cool experience
cheers
craig

mjw364 (1466) 2013-09-11 3:28

Hello Deniz

Colourful image with excellent depth and lines. Love the line of shadows that takes your eye into the shot.

TFS

Mike

CLODO (45116) 2013-09-11 5:17

Hi deniz

good play with the human perspective underlined by the 2 primary colors of their cloth against the sand. The deformation due to the use of an ultra wide angle does not affect me.
Cheers
CLODO

willperrett (14215) 2013-09-11 8:08

Hello Deniz
Vivid contrasting colours, dramatic wide-angle, interesting subject matter, close to the action. What else could you want?
Regards
Will

Angshu (56760) 2013-09-11 23:54

Hi Deniz
This is not the firs time I am hearing this of course, but the world is going towards more & more 'commercialization' and everyone wants to make money by whatever way! I go to our state of Gujarat & people ask money to be photographed...the same in African, South East Asian counties...photographers oblige for the sake of an 'unique' photograph which would "sell for USD 500" (! :-))and the practise becomes even more 'acceptable' and rampant!

Nice picture of the tribesmen in bright red & blue cloaks..the distortion in the FG due to the wide lens lends his head to a queer shape on the left..

Best,
Angshu

bostankorkulugu (42866) 2013-09-13 2:02

geniş açı fazla mı kaçmış buna yoksa soldaki abi zuzaylı mı? :P

ctesi hastanedeyim, pazar görüşelim uyarsa...

faubry (35447) 2013-09-27 14:37

hello Denyz, i like this silhouette at the left, it give most impact! a lot dynamism here and beautiful and warm colors;
Francine

pyffepa (625) 2013-10-10 9:23

Merhaba Deniz,

I like the fabulous colors rendered by your photograph.
En extraordinary composition with that blue and red clothes.

Congratulations.

Iyi aksamlar,
Patrick

EstudioChispa (2182) 2013-10-10 15:11

The colors here make this shot -- the incredibly rich robes against the soft hues of the dust and the sky. Well seen, Deniz!

All my best,

Russ
Austin, Texas

Didi (61589) 2013-10-10 16:46

Salam Deniz

I rememer you as an old member here
Well done for this nice local scene
Interesting triangle of the group
Well done
Best regards

delpeoples (60342) 2013-10-11 5:18

Merhaba dear Deniz

hehehe your very wry - or should that be "dry" note - has left me smiling. You tell it like it is. Both sides know that they're taking you for a ride, if not morally then certainly financially, and both are happy to go with the flow, and so the world continues to spin. I wonder what they'd do if you didn't have the 50bucks. But as you pragmatically point out, to come face to face with these legendary warriors is a once in a lifetime chance and you did right to grab that chance with both hands.

As to your photo, it strikes me as being very reportage. The combination of the wide angle lens and the unusual POV (shot from the hip or from the chest??) gives it such an artistic effect. The rich colours and pin-sharp definition remind me a lot Patrick Hubert (yquem46's) work. An extraordinary photo in terms of subject matter, photographic technique and image quality. Congratulations.

Have a lovely weekend
Lisa