I broke the law, a photo from Ghardaia, Inland

Photographer's Note

Among all the conservative, puritan towns in the Algerian M'Zab valley, Beni Isguen is known to be the strictest. The city gate is locked at sundown and no outsiders are allowed to enter after dark. Photography within the city walls is prohibited, which of course made me very anxious to get some pictures there.
When this girl appeared through a hole in a wall, and noone else was around, I quickly took a picture of her. But she knew the rules and started to scream. Lots of other kids came running and started to throw stones at me to chase me away. I had to leave in a hurry to protect myself and my camera, also anxious that no adults would interfere and put me in bigger trouble.
I hope I can be forgiven for this crime since almost 34 years have passed. This picture from 1975 was scanned from a Kodachrome slide.

saxo042, boa, bukitgolfb301, MarcT, scroller, Asiulus, skippy007, kato, ourania, COSTANTINO, Selmik, Periko, Cricri, kasianowak, mcmtanyel heeft deze opmerking als nuttig gemarkeerd

Critiques | Translate

jasmis (58653) 2009-05-05 1:52

Important note. Fine pose of a model.
Regards.

saxo042 (38078) 2009-05-05 1:57

Hej Gert,
A memorable picture, at least for you. Maybe you caused her some traumatic memory of this event as well, but I hope she has learned to live with this. You at least you created a very fine photo here, good colours and a fine composition. Seems like you have a lot of very fine pictures in the deepest part of your archive!
Hälsningar
Gunnar

serp2000 (47063) 2009-05-05 1:59

Hello,Gert,
Fine shot! I like expression and point of your view. Good title and interesting note.
Thanks.
Serghei

nirvana73 (0) 2009-05-05 2:00

Hello Gert
documentarial shot
consider shot
thanks for sharing and important explanations
best regards
Ozhan

Jonathan_Tree (0) 2009-05-05 2:44

Hi Gert!
Wonderful portrait. Very dynamic composition. Amazing colors.
Cordially!

boa (8039) 2009-05-05 14:03

Hi Gert,
you were lucky twice i guess. For the first,you survived.For the second, you did a very good photojob.(and now we are lucky, who can see it :-)
Very strong facial expressions, great colors and composition.
Maybe a tighter crop would improve, i`m not sure. I like the blurry f.g, it leads the eye to the subject. Interesting photo, and i hope to see more of your old Kodachrome slides from your impressive list.
Bästa hälsningar
Boa

emka (158156) 2009-05-05 14:33

Hi Gert, Interesting note. indeed, in many countries making photos can be dangerous. Strange, that the girl already knew the rule. But all well what ends well and after so many years you have still this photo. And the girl is over forty... Splendid colours and very good quality.

Regards

Malgorzata

bukitgolfb301 (54014) 2009-05-05 16:44

Hello my dear Gert

Very nice shutter chance and good color contrast of blue and light chocolate. Framework is also perfect. Sharpness is a little lack due to a big trimming ?

Best regards and thanks for sharing

Takero

mikolaj_kawa (0) 2009-05-06 1:21

Hello Gert! Splendid colours. Perfect light and bright. Very nice scene. Good capture. Original work. Good luck!

Glint (6171) 2009-05-07 12:13

hello Gert,
it really looks like you stuck your neck out to get this one.Just as well you deicded to make a quick getaway. Still, you managed to get a shot with a lot of impact, both for its story and the image which is quite powerful.
Bev

Disabled_A (0) 2009-05-07 23:44

Hej Gert,
:) Sometimes breaking the Law is excusable because it produces very good photos - and what would we do without them? We would have rather a poor knowledge of what's going on in the world - in reality :)
I very much like the story in your Note and this moment which you captured with your camera :))
Kind regards,
Elena

molla (7129) 2009-05-08 1:40

Hej Gert,
Absolutley forgiven!!!
Like her hand a lot, in a way it complements the face a lot in it's own expression
Anders

MarcT (20964) 2009-05-10 12:55

Hallo Gert,
That's a funny and stupid story.
Good you got away without more trouble...!
Best wishes
Marc

scroller (3451) 2009-05-11 4:23

Hej Gert ,
Looks like a cheerful moment. A fine portrait with the blue colour!
Hälsningar
/Stefan

Asiulus (1184) 2009-05-11 23:40

I like this picture, and it's the story behind it makes it easier to interprete. When I looked at the thumbnail, I expected laughter - well, positive emotions anyway - not scream... You had lock there were no adults.
How close were you?
Best regards
Joanna

skippy007 (12510) 2009-05-13 17:52

Hello Gert, After 34 years of sleepless nights you should be forgiven, you have paid for your crime. When I looked at the title before reading your interesting note I thought it was the child that broke the law, not you. If the children were throwing stones at you I wonder what the adults may have done to you. Nice shot with good colour & a good reproduction, certainly worth looking at & enhanced by your well written note,
Thank you
Regards
Santo

scalerman (26900) 2009-07-07 6:58

Gert: I've been remiss in my TE visits of late - fewer critiques and some apathy I'm afraid. Great shot here - impromptu humour and a fine composition. The kind of travel image I appreciate. best, c

yquem46 (38752) 2010-01-18 7:24

Hej Gert
this one came at random on the welcome page of TE
I missed it when posted but no wonder as I wasn't yet on TE at that time
Excellent for an oldie, scanned! I'm impressed
Nice expression of the kid
I guess that I'll pay more attention to your galery, now on
Best regards
patrick

kato (11630) 2013-07-29 22:51

Hello Gert,

This is a documentary photograph, so it's impressive to see the spectacle in which a girl wearin blue dress exposed feeling and has roared out towards you through a hole in a wall. Probably, she was keeping the rule of this town faithfully and honest. You are visiting every corner of the earth as a journalist, and know well different culture/values and climate. Can say only one thing, when we look back on the history of the past, closed society that adults teach children the particular values and religious beliefs look as that society/people would have been left out of the trend of the world. However, it looks like a persistent problem. Well composed to moment and excellent tone/clarity.

Kind regards,
mikio

aliabazari (22175) 2014-12-05 19:20

Hi Gert
Beautiful portrait of a happy child. Good lighting and attractive colors. Well performed.

ourania (51103) 2015-11-13 13:40

Hello Gert,
your quick capture produced a striking picture. I guess time has appeased the feelings raised by the incident, but the scene still is so vibrant and alarming. It expresses dynamism and intensity and it's easy to feel upset watching the girl's dramatic expression. The stong colours are very attractive and intensify the scene and our reaction even more. Congratulations and thank you!
All the best, have a lovely weekend,
Ourania

COSTANTINO (116490) 2016-04-21 2:04

Hell dear Gert and have a nice time
all your photos bring your personal stamp and
a message here the title explains everything
you created a very fine photo here 34 years
before greetings
regards
Costantino

Selmik (3641) 2016-06-15 8:56

Hi Gert.
What a beautiful and sincere in every emotion photograph. It was quite risky to do such an action, but You made it perfectly and thankfully with no bad circumstances after.
Salut to your courage and interest to make and share such a wonderful photography!
Regards.
Mike

Periko (9107) 2016-10-31 18:03

Hi Gert
A decisive moment indeed! You caught an authentic expression with high quality.
Your experience was interesting and a lesson for you.
Thanks for sharing this great work.

Regards
Pedro

Cricri (176) 2018-05-02 8:49

Hi Gert
J'aime beaucoup son expression, la couleur bleu qui illumine son visage, un très beau portrait capturer au bon moment
Amitiés
cricri

kasianowak (17676) 2019-07-29 12:34

Unbelievable, what a story. I know places like this exist (similar adventures happened to people visiting orthodox areas of Jerusalem...) but I've never heard of this one. Glad you got away alive!
The photo was worth the risk, not only it is a unique, almost impossible to take portrait, it also displays a cultural phenomenon - a girl shouting only because her photos had been taken by a stranger. The vivid colours make the image even more attractive.

mcmtanyel (68503) 2019-08-18 20:17

Hello Gert,
I forgive you. I am afraid I would not be as courageous as you. I wonder how this place is dealing with the ubiquitous cell phones of today. 👍🏻👍🏻
Regards,
MT

jmdias (115156) 2019-12-25 4:43

gert

curious in fact this girls screaming. a curious flagrant and a special note. I ever likes to break rules about "no-photo", sometimes I get success and other times not.
take care and merry christmas
here a very hot day, not snow out there...

jorge