Filmwasters
Which Board? => Photo Essays => : hookstrapped November 05, 2011, 01:07:23 AM
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I just got back from three and a half weeks in Eritrea, spent mostly in the capital Asmara. Asmara is a place where Africa, Italy, and Arabia meet -- a wonderful city with beautiful architecture, where la dolce vita still goes on despite not the best of economic situations, where people park their bicycles without locking them (talk about culture shock), and where men play this game on a billiards table in bars / cafes -- bars and cafes are basically the same thing, each serving coffee, tea, and alcohol though mostly coffee and tea.
I happened upon Bar Zeira early one Sunday morning, kept up most of the night by an Eritrean wedding celebration going on next to my hotel, rushing to catch a circa 1930s train (the whole city is basically circa 1930s) desperate for a coffee. Inside I found a very friendly working class bar with, as it turns out, the best coffee in town.
I heard the clacking of billiard balls from the back room and, as Bar Zeira became part of my routine I eventually worked my way to the back room and started hanging out.
(http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6040/6313794854_9decff8167_z.jpg)
No cue stick is used. Balls are rolled by hand...
(http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6221/6313795144_1d8d0676b6_z.jpg)
...often with a bit of English.
(http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6108/6313274223_413e516caa_z.jpg)
I never figured out the scoring.
(http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6226/6313274079_0dab6d8650_z.jpg)
Men gather there early each morning, generally by 7:30. This was a weekday. On Sundays the back room is packed with men waiting to take their turn against the winner.
(http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6229/6313273673_b68b3b4ed3_z.jpg)
Part of the game involves these five little things that look like miniature Parchesi pieces. Sometimes they get knocked down and that figures in the scoring but... I still don't get it.
(http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6112/6313794654_02c095de59_z.jpg)
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wonderful pictures documenting an interesting game - looks like a cross between bar-billiards (http://www.tradgames.org.uk/games/Bar-Billiards.htm) and pool to me.
I know you put a lot of thought into your use of light, and this gives this series great strength.
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stunning light!
Absolutely gorgeous.
What camera was this?
Do you have more shots from the train? I hope so! :)
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Thanks! :)
It's shot with the Mamiya6, Extachrome 100VS cross-processed. Yup, and I have pics from the train. I did only three little series with the Mamiya and color -- all the rest B&W with the Ricoh GR1. I kind of wish I had more Mamiya color but that's just how it worked out, where I established a degree of familiarity somewhere that pulling out the Mamiya was basically unnoticed, so no regrets.
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the color is wonderfully rich, and gives the series extra pizazz!
Are you compensating settings with your Mamiya 6- I know a lot of them have meters that register a bit off.
:)
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the color is wonderfully rich, and gives the series extra pizazz!
Are you compensating settings with your Mamiya 6- I know a lot of them have meters that register a bit off.
:)
No, I've found the meter on mine to be very accurate and reliable, though I use the depress-the-shutter-halfway-and-hold setting to deal with uneven lighting. Also, with the cross-processing, I over-expose one stop.
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Peter, these are stunning. The light, the colour; you have really captured them in a way that enables me to feel the place. I can't wait to see more.
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Thanks, Phil.
It's so strange with this cross-processed Ektachrome. Basically, in subdued interior light, even with hot direct light coming in through a window like these, the colors are relatively accurate... sort of, the orange warmth really gets accentuated. I have another set in bright direct sunlight which tilts heavily toward blue and green. And the third set was outdoors on an overcast morning -- the only overcast day I had in Eritrea -- and heavily goes toward green.
Still trying to figure it out, but I really like the colors on these. The lighting conditions of subdued light bring out the warmth. Maybe I should stop over-exposing the outdoor stuff... More experimentation ahead.
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I love the colors here. The shots really capture the mood.
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Wonderful colour and light. A great little story - well told.
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Warm-lit film. One of life's great pleasures! Really well used here too. Lovely.
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These are marvelous. I always appreciate knowing the basic technical details (which camera, which film, which process), so I'm glad you added that. I spent 20 years in the US Navy as a non-photographer, so all I have are snapshots from around the world, with no artistic merit at all.
Gorgeous colors, wonderful shadows, and an excellent story.
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Gorgeous work HS!!! I love it.