Just an exercise (revisited), a photo from Kabul, East

Photographer's Note

L'image est pour ceux qui trouvent que je perds mon temps avec les photos de paysages.
Cette semaine 2 pompiers bruxellois et 1 d幦ineur belge au Liban sont morts en mission. Les pompiers sont enterr廥 ce samedi.
R嶰emment dix parachutistes fran蓷is sont morts en Afghanistan. Paris-Match fait la une des Talibans qui posent avec le tenues des victimes de l'embuscade...
Je ne sais vraiment pas si c'est une bonne chose de mettre toutes mes photos sur le site et ce n'est certainement pas parce que les photos de l'heure bleue rapportent plus de ces smileys stupides.
J'avais propos� de revisiter l'image � Brigitte , il y a d嶴� quelques mois...

This image is for those who find that I lose my time with landscapes.
This week alone 2 firefighters in Brussels and 1 Belgian deminer (Lebanon) died during their duty.
The firefighters are buried this saturday.
Recently ten French paratroopers died in Afghanistan. Paris-Match is showing Talibans with the equipement taken from the French during the ambush ...
I really do not know if it is a good to put all my photos on the site and it is certainly not because the blue hour fotkas are bringing more of these stupid smileys...
Brigitte revisited this picture a few months ago. I never showed it...

Model: C5050Z
Date taken: mardi 1 avril 2003 11:15:18
Exposure time [s]: 1/500
Exposure program: Creative (slow program)
Exposure mode: Auto
Exposure bias [EV]: 0,0
FNumber: F4,5
Focal length [mm]: 16,9
ISO value: 64
Flash: Not fired, compulsory flash mode, return light detected
Metering mode: Spot
White balance: Auto

thea0211, bibiweb, Photo65Net, rigoletto, Philippe, jjcordier, xavshot has marked this note useful

Critiques | Translate

thea0211 (1365) 2008-09-05 9:12

we do take peace for granted, don't we? :o(

i am also an admirer (dah ... that's a stupid thing to say, i know) of jobs like yours and of images like this but i am only faith spoiled and never been there, never been through anything alike (truth being said, i don't even have the guts to look at a car crash) and yes, you are right of course ... we should value blue hour shots more ... as long as we have them.

still ... we have to be reminded of this too, we have to know, we have to see - otherwise things will keep on happening again and again and most of us wouldn't probably even notice ... what to do then?

i try to feel what you feel and ... i wouldn't want to be you :o(

thanks marc

goodwill (4274) 2008-09-05 9:39

and thouands of soldiers have lost thier livs figfting with the militants and terorists in Kashmir.
Only those families know, who suffer...........in silence.
It needs guts to shoot a shot like this(even though its merely an exercise), and even more guts to view.

TFS it man,

Rajeev

roljoy (2409) 2008-09-05 9:57

Bonjour Marc,je vois que tu as 彋� en Afghanistan une guerre qui va 皻re dure a gagner, une photo int廨essante.salut Roland

bibiweb (8) 2008-09-05 10:18

(Re)salut Marc,
Tiens, voil� une photo qui me rappelle quelque chose... :o))
Je l'ai d嶴� dit, j'aime beaucoup tes photos d'Afghanistan, mais j'aime bien aussi quand tu postes des paysages ou autre chose. Evidemment, des photos comme celle-ci transmettent un message plus fort que la gouille des Fagnes, surtout avec l'actualit� du moment comme tu le mentionnes dans ta note. Le ciel un peu p滎e m'avait pouss嶪 � pr廥enter celle-ci en N&B mais finalement cette version en couleur me plait aussi.
Je viens juste de remarquer un d彋ail: le A+ sur le torse du soldat au premier plan, c'est son groupe sanguin?
Bon weekend � toi et aussi bonne semaine car je pars d鋊 dimanche matin pour quelques jours de vacances....
Bizzz
Bibi

Photo65Net (43144) 2008-09-05 10:21

Salut Marc,
J'aime bien ta note et le message v嶭icul� par ce post, comme d'hab' :o)
Bref, du beau boulot, bien revisit�.
Bonne soir嶪,
JB.

rigoletto (34279) 2008-09-05 10:22

I've seen your reply to me and visited the threads with Jerzy and Danos.
Now I fully understand the issue, and your note here supports my understanding furthermore.
You say that you are not a photojournalist, you are a doctor in UN, working in the bleeding areas of our world, and any of the heroes of your photos may be killed at any time...
"Losing time with fotkas versus a photojournalistic ethical dilemma...", the main argument i've witnessed in TE between photographers with different styles...
So, are you asking for the permission to quit presenting UN army's daily life photos, and start printing landscapes and cityscapes?
OK, why not? If you feel guilty for the things we request to see from you, you can change your priority, and i would never ask for any portraits or photos from Lebanon or Afghanistan any more. This is only and only your decision and niether Jerzy, nor I, nor anyone else has the right to decide what you are going to take and present here.
While we were talking like that, we were in demand of seeing some originality in TE's general concept, a different, and a very essential blood in TE's mainstream photographic style. Because in thousands of members in TE, only YOU have the chance to present some very very different things to us, and you have been doing this in a superb way up to now. Not only soldiers and miners, you also presented great portraits and daily life scenes of Afghan people and also people form Beiruth. This has been your main difference from anyone else in TE, and who else will show those to us?
Having those ideas about your photography in my mind, i was of course never aware of your ethical dilemma, and the troubles you have in mind. Well, i think this is the difficulty of people photography, a difficulty that you will never face while taking long exposure photos on tripod. And if this difficulty is becoming a burden for you, of course you are free to get to the landscape side. Who is gonna stop you for their selfish photographic demands?

For the photo: again a very dramatic moment in your daily life for sure. My deep respect and condolences for the firefighters, miners and soldiers who lost (and keep losing) their lives for the sake of peace and safety on earth.

The last but not the least: Peace on earth is the most difficult thing to maintain, therefore it is the most valuable thing ever in the history of humanity. Peace...

Deniz

[3] +

Philippe (11836) 2008-09-05 12:40

Bonjour, Marc. Apr鋊 avoir comment� le portrait du chercheur de mines l'autre jour, j'ai 彋� un peu secou� d'apprendre la mort du casque bleu au Liban. Je pense que montrer des photos telles que celle-ci nous fait mieux prendre conscience des dangers que les soldats de l'ONU doivent affronter. M瘱e si c'est un exercice, les visages des soldats sont graves. Peut-皻re qu'au niveau de la photo, un peu plus de place devant le soldat � droite aurait 彋� souhaitable. Il a un peu l'air de se cogner contre le bord de l'image.
Je te souhaite une bonne soir嶪,
Philippe

MarianneS (15338) 2008-09-05 15:21

Bonsoir Marc,
C'est peut-皻re juste un exercice... cette fois-l�.
Derri鋨e chacune de tes photos en mission, derri鋨e un regard ou un sourire, derri鋨e une compo bien construite, on sait que le danger est l�, omnipr廥ent.
Je ne suis pas convaincue que ce soit une bonne chose de poster ces photos et pourtant ce sont des photos-reportages d'excellente qualit�, sans voyeurisme, sans dramatisation.
C'est rare et donc d'autant plus appr嶰iable.
Merci.
Bise et bon week-end.
Marianne

jjcordier (79299) 2008-09-05 22:26

Marc
Tes photos-t幦oignages peuvent peut-皻re d廨anger certains mais elles rappellent la triste r嶧lit� de notre monde et sont toujour tr鋊 fortes.J'aime bien le "revisitage" de Brigitte en noir et blanc qui donne peut-皻re encore plus d'impact � l'image.
Amiti廥
JJ

zeca (19762) 2008-09-05 23:22

Hello Mark!
Its good that you've been reporting everything you can, registering the soldiers daily life. Life? For us, it is an opportunity to see the things by your lens, or by your view, and it always seems to be a different way comparing to the press view. So, TFS and keep posting your reports.
Take care!
Zeca

maltese (22909) 2008-09-05 23:22

Salut Marc
Continue � nous balader de l'Afghanistan aux gouilles des Fagnes en passant pr鋊 des chevaux andalous, cette grande diversit� et la capacit� de le faire avec qualit� me pla褾!!
Une instantan� r徼ssi et un bon t幦oignage de l'entra螽ement n嶰essaire de ces hommes.
Du bon boulot!!
Amicalement
herv�

xavshot (69835) 2008-09-06 0:18

Bonjour Marc
j'aime bien cette photo tout comme bon nombre de tes photos de paysage. j'aime bien la version coloris嶪 qui fait ressortir les couleurs militaires sur ce ciel gris. Juste un conseil : continue de poster les images qui te font plaisir... ce sont les plus belles ;o)
Xavier

baba_flies (8829) 2008-09-06 3:46

Hallo Marc! Ich waere schon laengstens verschwunden, wenn es nur um die blauen Stunden ginge und ehrlich gesagt liegt mein Ego gottseidank nicht in den Tiefen dieser Website, wenn ich mich auch ab und zu beleidigt fuehle, manchmal zu Recht oder auch zu Unrecht. Im letzten April oder so haette ich den ganzen Kram am Liebsten hingeschmissen und ich dachte mir, was fuer ein bloeder Scheiss hoere ich mir an und diese Lobhudelei untereinander ging mir auch auf den Sack, fuer Fotos, die oft niemand beachten wuerde, wenn man sich nicht laufend gegenseitig auf die Schultern klopft. Aber eben, dann sind es verschiedene Leute, die einem dann doch mehr verstehen als man dachte und es macht das Ganze wertvoll. Waere schade, wenn dies das Ende einer tollen Reportage ist ueber etwas, das so weit entfernt liegt und hier so nahe gebracht wird, ohne dass man das Gefuehl hat, dass "der" es uns "geben" muss, ein Zeigefinger auf die Welt quasi. Irgendwie so ... Gruss, Barbara.

noborders (1010) 2008-09-06 6:58

Ta version est plus bleut嶪 et certainement moins bruit嶪 mais je dois dire que le bruit ne me d廨ange plus tellement alors que ce qui est trop liss� et neat ne me pla褾 pas trop donc ici, je pense que je pr嶨鋨e la version de Brigitte.

Par contre, j'aime ce c矌� partiellement d廥aturis� et le fait que tu aies gard� quand m瘱e les couleurs.

De toutes fa蔞ns : encore une photo diff廨ente de celles qu'on voit par ici, je m'en r嶴ouis !

Merci de l'avoir post嶪,
Bises et bon weekend,
Cath.

bantonbuju (51815) 2008-09-06 22:53

if i had a guarantee that i wouldn't be sueded by deniz, i'd just do copy-paste operation from his text...
to be honest - i often wondered about your feelings while participating in all those "events" and holding your camera... somehow - subconsciously - i expected you would come with this sort of dilemma one day, it was just a matter of time, i thought...
and i thought if i were in your shoes i would also have the dilemma but i wouldn't hesitate to post the photos of the sort... i thought - hey! don't those people of good will, those (actually) heroes deserve some tribute? but of course! their job, they efforts ought to be respected, also in public... and our te community is a kind of both demanding one, and sensitive... i think we can recognize where the "border" of good taste is...
marc, no problem with the landscapes etc. i'm with you here from now on, just drop few things with the action at times...
and you can be sure - if you post a dull, lower than the average quality photo of some ruins - i'll be there, too.. next time - with some detailed remarks...:-)))
bw, j.

Polonaise (5802) 2008-09-07 15:05

Bring them in, Marc...
Simply - bring those people of yours in here... To the TE pages...
Never enough of them... Real people...
Those are not the silly fotkas from the streets...
Those are not the pseudo-artistic photo-idiocies served to us by the most gifted (?) among us...
Finally - those are not the boring beyond description - nature or postcardish photos served to us in millions (per hour - that is !)- on every photo site possible - pushed into our throats like the dumplings into geese necks - by non other but ourselves (???)...
These are photos from the world far away... A world that seems to be further away than the planets...

Good photos ... Bad photos... Who cares ?
Bring them in...
Those are THE ONE AND ONLY photos in short (very short) supply on TE !
You know better than anyone else Marc, that we have everything in here... Everything - except the main events of the world's affairs...
The world around us is trembling with the big events, great happenings� Those incredibly passionate, screaming faces on TV screen, burning flags, and clinched fists...
Tears, horrors, but also gigantic shows of the human achievements...
And what we got in here...?
Yet another fotka with the canals in Belgium (awarded with 300 points for its originality (?), or some mountains covered with the blue snow, or the shadows of the human silhouettes on the empty trottoire...
Yeah, sure� I've never seen them before !

Anything that's unique and different from the main stream - it should be greatly appreciated, Marc.
And you have that treasure in your vast vault� You have the photographs from 'out there'�

Never hesitate to bring them in, brother� Ever�!

��.

BTW: Your nature photos stink �! ( like 99 % of the nature photos on TE )
The remaining 1% are fine�(Oops�That's about 5000 photos - given-take a few !!! ) :-)))

��..

Love brother, love and smile

��