Senior citizens in Lhasa, a photo from Tibet, West

Photographer's Note

Three photos today that may be nothing special to most of you, but quite interesting to me. They were all taken in the street leading towards the important Jokhang Temple in Lhasa, Tibet.

The main photo showing an old lady leading a sheep was probably taken in the morning, judging from the hazy light and the wet street. There were often showers during the night. "Morning" in Tibet could mean around 11 AM, because of the strange fact that all of China is in the same time zone, adapted to the needs of Beijing in the far east. 11 AM in Beijing should normally have been 9 or even 8 o'clock in Tibet.

Here is a larger version.

Another obvious morning photo in the same area showing an elderly monk can be seen in a WS. Another WS shows another old man I met close to the temple.

All photos were as usual scanned from Kodachrome slides.

snunney, pajaran, Fis2, Royaldevon, papagolf21, pierrefonds, ikeharel, ikeharel, Cricri, jhm, alvaraalto, annjackman, mcmtanyel, adramad, ChrisJ, claudeD, PaulVDV, macjake, cornejo, kasianowak has marked this note useful

Critiques | Translate

snunney (130967) 2019-03-12 1:30

Hello Gert,
An interesting street scene with much to see, not least the lady pulling the sheep; something I have never seen before. The judicious square crop works well.

pajaran (102662) 2019-03-12 1:49

Dobar dan.
Interesantni i lepi pogledi, dobar tekst ...
Dobar rad skeniranjem slajdova, lepo pokazano sa fotografijama u radionici.
Lepe fotografije i secanje.
Zelim vam lep i uspesan dan, sve najbolje.
Paja..

Fis2 (155649) 2019-03-12 1:51

Witaj Gert!
Another fantasic scene from daily life.
Interesting picture from street.
Good POV, composition and colors.
Well done.
Good morning.
Krzysztof

Tue (82264) 2019-03-12 2:41

Hej Gert,
Den mærkeligt østlige tidszone som man bruger i Tibet betyder vist at indbyggere lever i en permanent tilstand af jetlag. Jeg har aldrig bemærket at så stort et land som Kina håndterer kun en eneste tidszone, men det lyder som noget kun autoritære magthavere kan finde på. Billedet viser et godt indtryk af den tidlige formiddag med menneskerne der går omkring torvet foran huset med de smukke vinduer.
Lars

ifege (32287) 2019-03-12 2:45

Hi Gert
I sometimes feel a little like the bent old lady dragging baggage. Where is she now? Great street photo.
Cheers
Ian

Royaldevon (75420) 2019-03-12 2:48

Hello Gert,

I'm not sure I approve of this 'nothing special' title because, for people perusing and internalising what they see, these photographs show lots of interesting and diverse things. There seems to be an amazing ethnic diversity, from over thirty years ago!
The building looks big and spacious, made from stone, rather than brick, with lots of added decorations rather than sculptures.
How funny that we should both post ladies with animals. However, there is so much contrast between the two, in the ladies, their animals and their occupation!
I was fascinated by the shoes (clogs) of the elderly monk. They looked too big and had no fastenings. He must have suffered physically if he had had any distance to walk! The lady in the main shot appears to be wearing more typically Chinese style shoes. There are massive contrasts to pick up from life in Tibet and life in Western Europe!

I have really enjoyed looking at these photographs, Thank you for sharing them,
Bev :-)

papagolf21 (152599) 2019-03-12 3:04

Bonjour, cher Gert,
J'aime ces publications qui respirent la vérité.
Les notes viennent compléter harmonieusement l'ensemble.
Félicitations.
Amitiés.
Philippe

Silvio1953 (205753) 2019-03-12 4:14

Ciao Gert, nice scene with old woman trining a sheep. lovely composition with a lot of people, wonderful colors, fine details, excellent clarity and splendid light, very well done, my friend, ciao Silvio

pierrefonds (103567) 2019-03-12 4:37

Hi Gert,

You have captured well a daily activity on the street of Lhasa The point of view is showing the details of the clothings and of the sheep. The light has a good effect on the colours. Have a nice day.

Pierre

ikeharel (105923) 2019-03-12 5:00

Daily-life from another era, Gert, par-excellence.
the old-lady face expression and the sheep were first to attract my sight - than the traditional costume of some people on the scene.
Well scanned old photo,
Ike

*** Added "Humorous" to the Medium on my picture, that would probably answer your question about real living there. Thanks.

Cricri (176) 2019-03-12 5:23

Hi Gert
Une scène de rue bien mise en image, très particulier la dame tirant le mouton, beaucoup d'animation en ce jour matinale, portrait sympat en WS
Amitiés
cricri

jhm (203039) 2019-03-12 6:03

Hello Gert,

Three photos today that may be nothing special to most of you, but this is not right.
I larn very gladly about other countries, also is this long time ago
Splendid picture sharp and clear.
Splendid composition and perfect presentation.
Very well done, TFS.

Have a nice tuesday,
John

Sergiom (117241) 2019-03-12 6:42

Bonjour Gert,

Cela fait bien sourire de voir cette très vieille dame faire prendre une petite marche de santé à son mouton. Cela fait assez drôle de le voir en laisse suivre aussi docilement.

Amicalement

Serge

alvaraalto (42280) 2019-03-12 7:29

Hello Gert,
The older Tibetan people are clearly in the centre to these three fascinating photos, but they are all beautifully placed in their daily environment, which also gives us a good impression of the younger Tibetans.
Excellent work
Have a nice day. Groet Rob

Nicou (193806) 2019-03-12 8:28

Hello

quelle iamgeet vue quel rendu sur le sol et ce pavage et quelledame âgéedans la rue avec son mouton elle le tireet les autres personnes quelle sècne originale et ocmpo sueprbe
Bravo et belle soirée
Nicou

rychem (72179) 2019-03-12 9:26

Is this scene possible today, can people walk with their animals in streets of Lhasa?
An interesting shot
regards Ryszard

annjackman (23019) 2019-03-12 12:01

Hello Gert,
This is interesting - a woman with a sheep on a rope and no-one paying any attention! A super record of this interesting place. The time zone fact was something that I hadn't heard of.
All the best, Ann

mesutilgim (0) 2019-03-12 12:53

Hello Gert,
Another good and interesting "oldie" in your gallery.
Taken with perfect pov and good ligth management as well as sahrpness. Again the typical nice warm colors of the analogue photography. Good usefull notes.
TFS and best regards
MESUT ILGIM

jmdias (102932) 2019-03-12 13:19

gert

I visited only the east of china and I didn't face any trouble with the hour, but I can imagine the error in the areas at west.when I was in the extreme east of brazil it was strange they have the same hour of my town, the shops are open even late at night, but it was only one hour difference in the real time, imagine two or more...
nice this scene showing as the rural life invaded the urban one.

take care

jorge

mcmtanyel (58830) 2019-03-12 22:21

Hello Gert,
I think the cutest of the three photos is the main entry. I like the blurred background in the WS photos, especially in the photo with the old man.
Regards,
MT

COSTANTINO (104191) 2019-03-12 23:15

Hello dear Gert and have a nice time
original version
a photo with traditional details
very well composed and the old lady
leading a sheep!!!!
an interesting scenery for me because
I am always interested in photos like
this one
welldone and wellseen
regards
costantino

gervaso (28177) 2019-03-13 4:18

Hello, Gert!

It's quite curious how a big country like China has only one time zone, and it's an interesting street scene you show us here, especially for the presence of such a dangerous animal (when it decides to hit everyone with its head, hahaha!). The portraits in the workshops are also very nice! Great job!

lousat (129979) 2019-03-13 5:40

Hi Gert,another great post from your archive,always interesting and useful The main pic is vert funny,i guess to see a scene like that with an elegant old lady in the shopping streets of Milan,with the sheep and not an usual dog..ehehe..curious thing! About the WS,i think that the old man say goodbye to you watching his face so happy,lovely capture of the monk walking too. Have a nice evening and thanks,Luciano

GyurMaster (21349) 2019-03-13 8:00

Dear Gert,

You didn't cut anybody's leg on the main photo and that is the point. :) Joking apart, the monk in the WS is also very good and would sell as a main upload. Your reflexes were good as you managed to snap the old monk being in a move with a shallow DOF. Of course the main photo is a good one, a real nothing special with a lot of things going on.

Best Wishes,
Gy.

adramad (67006) 2019-03-13 11:21

Hello Gert.
Very interesting are the three photos that you show us today, with the atmosphere of the street in Lhasa and the two WS characters. I think you should be the only foreigner that walked through its streets, ideal this lady pulling the sheep.
Very nice color, with good sharpness and optimal lighting.
Well done. I like it.
You have a good day.
Very best regards.
Luis.

ChrisJ (160036) 2019-03-13 14:44

Hello Gert

I wonder if the old woman is taking the sheep to the butcher's market? Or maybe a shave for its fleece, if it still has a few years of life left in it. Good fg sharpness and shallow oof bg. A superb scan too. Tfs!

claudeD (47754) 2019-03-14 5:28

Hello Gert,

You have certainly shared very interesting scans of your old shots from Tibet.I like all this street sceneries very much. Tfs.

With regsrds from Luxembourg

JC

PaulVDV (54865) 2019-03-14 13:29

Hello Gert,
Beautiful pictures from the daily life of elderly people in Lhasa who certainly do not have a good financial position.
The young lady we see just behind the older lady is wearing colourful clothes. These colours and the white hats remind me of the Tibetans I saw in Xiahe. I also remember that another traveler then made the comparison with people from the Andes.
On your main picture we see particularly beautiful windows on the background. These will certainly please Krzysztof.
Best regards, Paul

emka (152228) 2019-03-14 16:24

Hello Gert, Now we are the senior citizens :(. Difficult to recognize in what places the pictures were taken. I have a similar photo like this one I mean, with the sheep. .
Yes, it is quite strange that all China is in the same time zone. There should be four time zones in the area. When I went by trans-Siberian, I passed several. But on the clock on the railway stations everywhere was the time of Moscow. All was very confusing.

Kind regards MAlgo

carlo62 (81265) 2019-03-17 14:27

Ciao Gert
la pecora non sembra felice di seguire la donna, chissà che intenzioni ha...
Questi sono dei "niente di speciale" molto speciali, oltre che a raccontare una tua storia vissuta, ci mostrano un mondo ormai lontano e tu hai immortalato persone e gesti che non esistono più.
Saluti
Carlo

macjake (96157) 2019-03-18 2:37

Hi Gert
I really like that WS photo of the man with his feet cut off, thats a good one. Interesting visual. Here in the main shot, the funny part is how the sheep really doesn't appear to want to go where its being lead. Looking at the bg scenery, I wonder what everyone is doing just standing around...looks like everyone is doing...nothing... :) Good one, lots to view and explore. cheers
Craig

romanaa (8310) 2019-03-18 12:12

Hello Gert,

very captivating street life picture is taking us into the past. I am wondering what would the same street look today.

Best regards

Romana

Miguel82 (47106) 2019-03-29 5:02

Gert, that senior lady is bringing a sheep maybe to the temple or to the market. I can see the local Tibetan architecture in the bg with wooden decorated windows. Excellent daily life photo, good sharpness

cornejo (61504) 2019-04-05 10:30

Hello Gert, good picture of this interesting scene of everyday life in such a remote place, very well captured in this interesting image, with good sharpness, light, color and quality. A great job perfectly done, my congratulations my friend. Thanks for sharing this interesting work.

Good night and happy weekend.
All the best from the south of Spain.
Angel.

kasianowak (15826) 2019-04-13 2:18

"Never cut your subject's feet off" is one of those mythical rules (like the rule of thirds) that some people will always religiously criticise you for not adhering to... but it's breaking those rules that creates some of the best photos. This man's feet would have drawn the viewers' attention away from his hands and would weaken the image.
I think he was just blessing you but, 33 years later and not present at the act of photo-talking, I may be totally wrong.
Have I just written a whole critique about a WS shot?? Oh dear, that must be against TE rules... ;-)
Seriously though, great series of photos of senior citizens of that amazing city I won't be able to travel to as I hate the process of arranging permits. ;-)
Ps. I also really like the background in the other WS but not MORE than the main subject but I think it's a fantastic photo because of BOTH of those elements.