Boats near Hue

[The_Traveler]

I am loading about 600 scans from some deteriorated APS film I found in a box where they'd lain since 2000.

They are surprisingly contrasty and I sort of like the impression one gets from further treatment.

 

[Geaux]

Ooooooooo, I like!

 

[Trever1t]

Vietnam is a photographers dream, I love this!

 

[IzzieK]

Would this be nicer with sepia instead?? Just asking...

 

[annamaria]

Really love it.

 

[mmaria]

yeah... really

 

[Designer]

One could experiment with different photo effects, but in this case, making it sepia wouldn't change much. In fact; it's nearly that already.

My eyes keep darting all over this photograph. The repetitive elements "change scale" as they morph from boats to clumps of vegetation and back to boats again. It's got superb balance, leading lines, and an "other worldly" feel. It's a keeper.

 

[Warhorse]

Vietnam is a photographers dream, I love this!

I heard from some vets that the lighting was better in 1968. :mrgreen:

 

[pgriz]

Wow, Lew, you had talent back then!

This is a great image. Echoing what Designer said, there is a play on scales that works very well.

Analysing the image, the entry point is the bright area in the upper center of the image. Not finding anything the eye then darts to the detailed spot on the lower left, which is the person rowing the boat. The implied motion and direction point across the image to the right, where we find more boats disappearing into the distance. The shape of the first boat on the right is echoed by the hill seen immediately to the left of the boat. Continuing that gaze cross the image we then see another hill barely visible on the left of the image. Sweeping down, and across the bottom of the image, we see clumps of vegetation creating a pattern that also recedes as the eye sweeps towards the horizon. The water surface appears smooth, reinforcing the stillness that seems to fill the image, but at the same time, there is implied motion in the posture of the person rowing the boat, and in the set of oars in the other boats.

The horizon is placed at the middle, but it works in this image as it creates a feeling of space. The toning implies age, yet at the same time conveys a sense of the yellowish light that we know happens during a heavy overcast. The water seems to show things just below the surface, hinting that there are things that are not quite seen.

In addition, it's an image of a place and a culture that I don't know much about, and both are intriguing.

Yes, it's a great image. Thank you, Lew.

 

[sashbar]

I would have probably removed that post above the near boat. It competes for my attention with the boat.

 

[The_Traveler]

Thanks, all, for the comments.
This was taken in 1998 using a film P&S during my first return trip but my intent was to remove that sharpness that one gets with 'modern' cameras and the obvious degeneration of the film in the APS canister helped that along.
I did try sepia but it seemed to me to have too much intent and that the faint touches of color here and there gave it that worn out look that I liked.

For those who are interested in the mis en scene of Vietnam during the 60's, watch 'the Quiet American'; the feel of SEA is just perfect. Much of it was filmed in Hoi An, a small town south of Danang, and the film had wrapped up filming not too long before we arrived.
It is an extended - and terrific - metaphor about Vietnam and colonialism.

The fact that the 'American' falls in love at first sight with the female protagonist is analogous with the way that many visitors become almost obsessed with Asia without really knowing it well.
Michael Caine was great, Brendan Fraser was remarkably good and Do Thi Hai Ye, the female lead, was essentially perfect in the role for a set of reasons that are too complicated and boring for explanation here.

 

[mishele]

I love how there are boats going into the shot, as well as coming out! Great stuff, Lew! I love seeing these shots from your travels! Please keep posting them!:heart: