Bobo-Dioulasso

Photographer's Note

Two more photos quickly snapped in streets of Bobo-Dioulasso, the second city of Burkina Faso, in January 1982. I probably won't even need to say they are both nothing special.

Two young ladies waiting to cross the street while doing their shopping. They both seem to have put on their finest clothes. The nearest lady looks remarkably well dressed in pink and grey, and carrying a perfectly matching plastic bag. Maybe she was to meet the gentleman in pink coming towards us from the left side.

I have no memory of taking this, but I suppose I liked the light and the colours and atmosphere. I still do.

In the WS a glimpse of a lady at home.

Both photos were scanned from Kodachrome slides.

ikeharel, Fis2, papagolf21, tyro, pierrefonds, jean113, ktanska, jhm, Ilonka1974, PaulVDV, PaulVDV, adramad, ChrisJ, COSTANTINO, worldcitizen, Royaldevon, macjake, mcmtanyel has marked this note useful

Critiques | Translate

ifege (47957) 2020-05-25 0:05

Hi Gert
Another interesting pair of photos.
cheers
Ian

Fis2 (170639) 2020-05-25 0:41

Witaj Gert!
Another interesting picture from Your archive.
Excellent scene from daily life, house makes impression.
Good frames, colors and light.
Well done.
Nice new week.
Krzysztof

pajaran (115779) 2020-05-25 0:43

Pozdrav.
lep pogled i trenutak, interesantan i dobar tekst ...
Lepo mesto i trenutak sa prolaznicima.
Lepo pokazano sa fotografijom u radionici, dobro uhvacen trenutak.
Lepe fotografije i secanje.
Zelim vam lep dan, sve najbolje u novoj nedelji koja je pocela.
Paja.

SteveH (8220) 2020-05-25 1:05

Hi Gert, Both great shots. I like the architectural elements in the WS. Glimpses into the past, although possibly not too different from today. What scanner are you using these days; you seem to be getting v.good results. cheers, Steve

papagolf21 (152607) 2020-05-25 1:27

Bonjour, cher Gert,
Les constructions ont-elles chang嶪s depuis ces cases r嶧lis嶪s g幯廨alement par les femmes, sauf erreur !
Un bien beau retour en arri鋨e.
Amiti廥.
Philippe

Silvio1953 (221463) 2020-05-25 1:29

Ciao Gert, nice daily life scene with lovely women, great view of binteresting village, wonderful colors, excellent clarity, fine details and splendid light, very well done, my friend, ciao Silvio

tyro (30513) 2020-05-25 4:00

Hello Gert,

This is a most delightful photograph of what looks to me to be a thoroughly pleasant place where I am sure I should feel very comfortable to visit. Sadly, I suspect that nowadays I might not feel so comfortable nor so safe as when you took this photo 38 years ago.

This street is clean, no piles of discarded rubbish are in sight, these two ladies are very smartly groomed and elegantly dressed and even the small motorcycles appear clean and almost as new. It all gives a sense of an atmosphere of general wellbeing, contentment and happiness where people and visitors can live safely and have all the necessities required for a simple life despite not being at all rich. But I can imagine that this same street today might not present such a happy picture.

And photographically I think this is a superb shot - it's clear and sharp and the colours are excellent - and I'm sure it appears just as you remember it when you saw it. A perfect scan from a perfect original Kodachrome slide!

Your workshop photo might not be quite in the same class as your main one but it does give us a view of the sort of houses which people here occupied. I presume that this lady's house was built of mud. It certainly looks quite substantial and, again, appears well cared for and not surrounded by piles of detritus.

Excellent!

Kind Regards,

John.

P.S. And I'm afraid this one just has to go into my favourites too! :)

GyurMaster (24818) 2020-05-25 4:41

Hello again,

The lights and colours of the Kodachrome are still amazing. I also like the harmony between the clothes of the woman on the right and the pink basket. Its trending again, by the way!

Best Wishes,
Gy.

pierrefonds (114347) 2020-05-25 4:55

Hi Gert,

You have captured well a daily life scene. The point of view is showing the details of the colorful clothings of the women. The light is bringing out the colours. Have a nice day.

Pierre

jean113 (27819) 2020-05-25 5:34

Hello Gert, two more delightful pictures from your travels in 1982.
The quality of your scanning is excellent.
It must be reawakening memories of your trips as you search your archives. A good feeling I hope?
I like the positioning of the two women in the centre of the shot; each one looking in the opposite direction, which then determines how we view the scene!
The fabrics that their clothes are made of are always so colourful.
The picture in the workshop is also very interesting.

Thanks for sharing, keep them coming!
Kind regards, Jean.

ktanska (44714) 2020-05-25 10:05

Hej Gert,
You are right, they are quite stylish. And luckily that lady glanced to the right, so you captured a side portrait. That orange moped catches my attention too.
Kari

jhm (211736) 2020-05-25 10:36

Hello Gert,

What a nice old picture with the nice women in foreground.
Sharpness and colours make your picture attractive.
Well panorama view too, TFS.

Best regards,
John

Miguel82 (47110) 2020-05-25 11:21

Gert, the houses made in mud and straw protect its occupiers against the heat, these building materials keep the interior cooler. The two ladies are going to cross the road, i like their clothing style. They carry some vegetables they purchased at the market. Fine colors, good sharpness, interesting photo note, regards.

jmdias (115046) 2020-05-25 11:54

gert

I liked the architecture and the pots in the WS and the personages in the main post. I presume these women are ever well dressed like the indian women, even the poorest ones.
TFS images from this country probably I will never visit.
take care

jorge

Tue (92302) 2020-05-25 12:02

Hej Gert,
Et udm熳ket billede med disse to stilfulde kvidner i farverige kjoler, som st緳 tydeligt fremme fra den mest brune baggrund. Ogs� det klare lys hjalp med at vise farverne meget godt. Jeg kan godt lide at m熡dene der k鷨te forbi er lidt sl鷨ede.
Lars

Ilonka1974 (10289) 2020-05-25 12:24

Hi Gert,
Beautiful picture .
Excellent presentation.
Lovely composition.
Well done.
Best regards
Janusz

lousat (139170) 2020-05-25 23:35

Hi Gert,another very nice and interesting scene from Bobo village with the ladies waiting to crosso the street,always elegant and colorful,excellent capture of poor houses in the WS too,and the quality is another time very very perfect!! Have a nice day and thanks,Luciano

jemaflor (147018) 2020-05-25 23:52

Hi Gert,
interesting local view of daily life, well framed these women, interesting perspective effect with the view of the street, tfs.

emka (158030) 2020-05-26 0:06

Hello Gert, Both pictures are nice and interesting, the decision of what to choose for the main upload was difficult. Here there are nice clothes of the women (and the fig tree in front of nice mud houses), in Workshop interesting house. as always, very good quality of the old picture and excellent scan.
Best regards MAlgo

Mesut2 (74) 2020-05-26 3:49

Hello Gert,
Another nice capture & interesting entry in your gallery. Again both photographycally and informative perfect TE job.
TFS and best regards
MESUT ILGIM

ikeharel (113241) 2020-05-26 4:34

One more in a series with daily-life scene from a far away country, a place most TE members would never visit, Gert.
A fine scanned picture, enliven action, light and colors were superbly rendered.
Good afternoon,
Ike

rychem (72187) 2020-05-26 7:21

Photo taken almost 40 years ago, but I think it could look very similar today, very nice two photos
regards Ryszard

PaulVDV (62846) 2020-05-26 8:36

Hello Gert,
As you've described earlier, also here trees form partly the street scene.
I like the view of the houses with the adobe architecture.
In this respect, the photo in the WS gives us an even better view.
Nice with the long shadows on the road.
Best regards, Paul

adramad (72934) 2020-05-27 10:39

Hi Gert.
Splendid qualities of these old photos, which are still very current today. In this image the two women stand out in their colorful costumes, while at the WS we see a very humble house, built with adobe from the red lands of the area, very poor, I deduce although I was never in Africa.
Good sharpness and optimal lighting, gives great quality to the image.
Well done. I like it.
You have a good day.
Very best regards
Luis.

ChrisJ (171794) 2020-05-27 13:53

Hi Gert

A very good scan with natural looking colour and excellent sharpness. Good warm cold colour contrasts between the rust red earthen walls and road and the blue sky. Tfs!

COSTANTINO (116377) 2020-05-27 22:48

Hello dear Gert and
have a nice day
simple photo taken during
the daily life in streets of Bobo Dioulasso
these young ladies seem really well dressed
with their modern bags...
I like this capture and I would like
more to see them in front...
regards
Costantino

worldcitizen (16048) 2020-05-29 13:06

Hello Gert,
This is another nice capture, with bright colors and a view of daily life for the residents of Bobo. I like how the woman in pink smiles as she turns her head to the side.

Royaldevon (85862) 2020-05-30 1:38

Hello Gert,

Two photographs that draw a bigger picture for me.

This main one is delightful.
The ladies look so smart in their colourful attire.
They are halted at the roadside, checking for traffic (probably bicycles which make less noise than motorised vehicles and need to be seen rather than heard), and yet their shadows guide us onwards and encourage us to look deeper.
It really is a very well composed photograph with an excellent dof.

Your w/g alerted me to the houses, which I hadn't really internalised from the main shot. They are so primitive in design and construction, mud walls, possibly unchanged for centuries.

I get a sense of a very laid back country, happy in themselves and contented.

Have a lovely w/e,
Bev :-)

macjake (98402) 2020-05-31 0:43

Hi Gert
the WS is so visually interesting, how on earth is that home built? Ironically, I bet it'll last longer than current modern homes. and ya, compared to some other photos you've posted from Africa, everyone in this scene is dressed well, clean, neat, very presentable, quite impressively so. I wonder, did the locals approach you at all, to talk? great shots
cheers
Craig

mcmtanyel (68383) 2021-11-08 21:09

Hello Gert,
A precious street scene! I like the colors of the main entry and the simple architecture in the WS photo.
Regards,
MT