United Colors of Nan, a photo from Nan, North

Photographer's Note

Nan...a northern province of Thailand where a lot of H'mong minorities have called their home.

These are the many faces of the children that I photographed. After a hectic day of community service, I cooled off in a nearby convenience store only to be swarmed by yet another throng of photogenic children. I couldn't resist their smile. I couldn't resist their request of another photo. This time, they froze like they're gonna have a class picture. I very well remember my elementary days. And i also remember a popular advertisement... The United Colors of Benetton (Nan).

I desaturated the background. i also adjusted down the saturation of the colors of the children and their shirts. Somehow, I wanted to show the purity of their face and soul. (Used my brother's D100 for this shot.)

Roly, cgrindahl, Rinie_Hoff, ChrisJ, jrj, cmartos, carper, eleparc, elroyie, jhm, hispic, Catli, Jeppe, RGatward, GrahamB, nwoehnl, Galeota, kaychambers, ale, Burnham, waysai, Pentti has marked this note useful

Critiques | Translate

henrye (3500) 2004-06-21 2:14

I think the desaturated colors work really well here. There are 8 different expressions in this photo, each telling a different story. Fantastic photo!!!

WoodPigeon (457) 2004-06-21 2:15

So cute! I love all these smiles...!

Your adjustments sure did work well! It makes their little faces stand out more and to be honest, I prefer these ones to those UCB adverts!

Super work as always Manny... definately one of my favourites!

cgrindahl (6113) 2004-06-21 2:31

This is a lovely shot Manny and I really applaud your choices for post-capture processing. These young faces convey so much, it is their presence that deserves our attention and not a display of lush colors. I'm originally from Minneapolis, Minnesota, in the middle of the United States with a very cold climate. I was surprised during a visit home in the mid 1970's to learn that a large community of H'mong families had come to Minnesota after the was in Vietnam. It appears from the faces of these children that these hearty people can overcome the challenges of their past. This is a fine shot Manny.

Rinie_Hoff (9340) 2004-06-21 2:45

Hi Manny, excellent shot! Goes right into my 'favorite' box! You captured eight lovely personalities here, all with their own smiles. You did a great job by desaturating, it is as Curtis says, our attention has to go to their faces, and not to their colourful cloths.
Thanks, Manny, for a lovely pic to start the day with!

Zanni (6108) 2004-06-21 2:57

Wonderful group portrait. Happyness is a children smile.

ChrisJ (171146) 2004-06-21 3:06

Great group portrait

pridel (233) 2004-06-21 4:14

C'est une photo d廥armante par sa candeur. J'adore les diff廨entes expressions des visages, notamment le 3e gar蔞n � gauche qui ne te regarde pas mais qui regarde ses compagnons, l'impression d'un grand partage avec eux. C'est tr鋊 beau. Merci encore pour tous ces sourires.

jrj (34843) 2004-06-21 4:39

Nice comparison in the title, well reflected from the kids - apparently not so sure where to put their focus - well maybe very typical for 'the little people'..
..and even a bottle of coke included.
Very good Manny

jhonny_blue (4956) 2004-06-21 5:20

Wonderful, wonderful, wonderful !!!!!
You are the master !
Fantastic shot, beautiful colours and expressions !
Very well done !

carper (96) 2004-06-21 5:26

Fantastic portrait of all those children.
I like the way you took it an I like the frame sice.
Yes Manuel this is realy good.

eleparc (24063) 2004-06-21 5:54

excellent united colors of Manny;-)) lol i love that shot and the desaturated colors work very well IMO.. just brilliant my friend.. i am a big fan of your shots from Nan! next time you go there, tell me, i'll come with you;-)) lol

cmartos (242) 2004-06-21 6:13

So many smiles and expressions on this one...They really convey particular emotions. Thought, I'm not sure about desaturation, but it's really a personal taste. The panoramic format and crop works really fine, I like it that way. Excellent catch, full of children's hapyness.

elroyie (2750) 2004-06-21 6:45

Great capture, great picture and very nice kids, it looks very authentic picture although they are looking to the camera.

jhm (211734) 2004-06-21 7:00

Another great portrait Manuel, every child has another one face expression, innocently shildhood. Very well done!

joseelias (0) 2004-06-21 9:02

Fantastic composition. It's full of subtle but very effective element that balance it. And this is because many things make us look to a certain point, the girl with the bottle.

First of all the look on her eyes and the fact that she's holding the bottle create an instant atraction, then the tall boy at the back increases the weight of this area of the image and finally the boy in blue points a direction where to look. Very, very well done.

Catli (550) 2004-06-21 10:12

Great composition Manny, our eyes are drawn to the little girl with the bottle. This could be a great ad for Coca Cola, even though I don't think it would be such a good idea! I love the expressions of each child here, the post processing is perfect for emphasizing this. Thank you for sharing.

Jeppe (18654) 2004-06-21 11:34

Wow - yes you surely got everything right here Manuel - The motifs great - I like to watch this bunch of kids - lovely.

By desaturate and using a title refering an add - you adds an extra dimension to shot - very fine work - thanks.

(Perhaps Benetton would be interested :-)

RGatward (20108) 2004-06-21 11:53

Back on your usual territory. Lovely group photo here, hard to get right.

GrahamB (939) 2004-06-21 12:16

Excellent shot. Each face with a different expression and the line of faces broken up by the little guy in blue and the tall guy at the back. Great PP work, the desaturation works very well.

nwoehnl (122) 2004-06-21 12:41

Very nice and engaging shot, Manny. I find myself looking at this from left to right over and over, getting genuine joy from their varying expressions and postures - utterly charming. The post-work to enhance this scene is spot on, as is the choice of title. Well done.

Galeota (10352) 2004-06-21 13:43

If you'd write books, they would probably be best-sellers if they had the same touch that you put in your photos. Saturation/desaturation is very well managed here. Not only photography but also post processing, are playgrounds for you. I'm not particularly fond of Benetton. But I like your united smiles.

avigur_11 (22535) 2004-06-21 17:31

Deasturation of the BGworks very well, Manny. I like the very happy faces, the Coca Cola bottle and the low color level of the overall compo, Well done.

kaychambers (1198) 2004-06-22 1:02 [Comment]

Show Comment

Burnham (2428) 2004-06-22 3:48

And Cocal cola in the shot too, hard to avoid not matter where you are right? :o) I acutally like the united colours of Nan better that those of Benneton, these seem less exaturated and more natural. Exellent work as always.

Points tomorrow

ale (1819) 2004-06-22 7:35

Beautiful Manuel,
they are so nice and sweet! The post processing is a great idea, it goes in my favourites!

ephemere33 (9743) 2004-06-23 15:17

j'adore cette photo manny, elle montre l'enfance inconsciente,les enfants renferment tous une expression tout a fait diff廨ente, elle est tr鋊 touchante cette image,ils sont fiers de poser pour toi,merci pour ce partage magnifique et magique..bi

waysai (611) 2004-07-03 13:21

Manny, I can tell kids seem to love you thru your photos. The kids are at their natural acts and listen to you when they think you are funny or sincere. No wonder you have many great photos of the kids. The best part is you can always convince us and relate them as TE kids. This is as great as other of yours. I wonder you have edited the faces of the kids because it seems to me their cheeks are so shining which make their smiles more brighten. The de-saturation make the skin color a bit pale IMHO. The crop was tight. Overall, great one indeed.

bartove (2866) 2004-07-04 1:21

I love that shot, The colors so tender age with their colourful cloths, and I love all these smiles.

umbrellaphotos (1901) 2004-08-02 13:57

a great picture of kids. The faces each have a different expression and a different story to tell. Nice shot.

fiedziu (1764) 2006-03-04 11:09