Facing an uncertain future, a photo from Aali an Nil, South

Photographer's Note

This is a photo I post with much hesitation. It is a scan from a Kodachrome slide, but obviously I had some problems with the exposure and it was difficult to make a decent copy. After doing my best to adjust the light and colours and to clean noisy areas (just about everything) I decided to show it because it has a nostalgic value to me.

I took this photo in the winter of 1983, during the same journey as my last photo from Egypt. It is registered here as being from Sudan, which it was at that time, but this city of Malakal is since 2011 part of the republic of South Sudan, recognized as an independent country by most governments of the world and the United Nations, but not by TrekEarth. ;-)

I was heading south from the capital Khartoum. Traveling through northern Sudan was complicated and time-consuming, but I managed to get on an unscheduled flight to Malakal in the northern part of the South. I spent a half day and a night in this city on the White Nile before proceeding south, to the main city of Juba, with a tradesman driving a truck with various goods.

I have no particular memory of taking this photo, but I can't see it without getting sad and wondering what could have happened to these boys. I always get such thoughts when looking at children I photographed decades ago, but in this case it is even more relevant to wonder what could have happened.

Only a few months later civil war broke out in Sudan and lasted for 22 years. After a few years of uneasy peace South Sudan gained independence in 2011, only to find itself in a new civil war two years later. In spite of a peace treaty being signed last year fighting is going on and the civilian population is suffering terribly. Malakal has seen some of the worst fighting and most atrocities, being one of the centers of the country's potentially very lucrative oil industry.

So, what happened to the smiling boys, possibly having their photo taken for the very first time? Are they still alive, now in their 40's? Are they members of any of the rag-tag militias marauding the country, did they flee to a refugee camp in the north? Please don't suggest I should go back to try to find out. Nothing could convince me to make such a journey today.

As a workshop I have posted a photo from downtown Malakal.

Here is a larger version of the main photo.

You can see a very approximate location of this photo at the Map: view.

papagolf21, kasianowak, jhm, Fis2, danos, rychem, ikeharel, PaulVDV, ourania, boa, alvaraalto, ChrisJ, Royaldevon, COSTANTINO, bukitgolfb301, macjake, tyro, Hansaphotos, king, robmal, Gigidusud, adramad, adores, mozafer, mcmtanyel heeft deze opmerking als nuttig gemarkeerd

Critiques | Translate

papagolf21 (152607) 2016-03-09 2:16

Bonjour, cher Gert,
La photo présentée doit être acceptée telle qu'elle est avec le temps qui passe. Les progrès réalisés depuis sont fulgurants, nous devions être moins exigeants à l'époque. Il n'en demeure pas moins que cette prise de vue évoque une période qui ne peut être effacée. Très bonne note d'accompagnement.
Un grand merci pour ce partage.
Amitiés.
Philippe

lousat (139332) 2016-03-09 2:26

Hi Gert.Obviously I do not ask you to come back to the scene to find out what happened to these guys, the area is really unapproachable and dangerous, as is happening in many other places in the Arab area. The two photos are a nice reminder of happier times, unfortunately, things have changed after your visit with this endless civil war that seems to no interest to great political men. Thank you for this post, old images that are talking about a dramatic event and always current.Have a nice day! Luciano

kasianowak (17676) 2016-03-09 3:30

Hi Gert
Of course the quality of our photos is something we try to achieve but sometimes it is more important what the images present and the memories, stories and the message attached to them.
I know what you mean when you wonder what became of these boys, I have several photos like that too. The trouble is most of the people living in such places become either victims or perpetrators of atrocities. In either case their lives get wasted. :-(
Malakal 33 years ago looks beautiful. Maybe I will go there one day to check what it is like these days?
Best wishes
Kasia

jhm (211736) 2016-03-09 4:38

Hello Gert,

I have a lot admiration for your much old pictures with the specially images.
A nice view and also a lovely daily life picture of 32 years ago.
Also your second picture is wonderful.
Composition and presentation are pleasant to look at.
Very well done, TFS.

Kindest regards,
John

Fis2 (170861) 2016-03-09 5:07

Witaj Gert!
Beautiful scene from daily life.
Excellent POV and composition.
Superb colors.
I like it.
Nice afternoon.
Krzysztof

jmdias (115252) 2016-03-09 6:09

gert

lovely smiles, so natural. something curious for the camera and some fun for them too. nice inclusion of the animal. yes, we ever think about the destiny of them while watching your old photos.

hugs

jorge

Sergiom (117241) 2016-03-09 6:20

Bonjour Gert,

Ceci est une très belle photo tirée de tes archives de 1983.Les deux jeunes ont le sourire fendu jusqu'aux oreilles et leur âne prend bien la pose dans un environnement typique de l'époque.

Amicalement

Serge

Nicou (193806) 2016-03-09 7:12

Hello
quel portrait de ces jeunes superbe avec le bel âne il est charmant cet âne et le sourire des jeune ils ont l'air très content quelle belle scène et compo superbe.
Bravo et amitié
Nicou

danos (110407) 2016-03-09 7:23

Hello Gert,
nice the view of the two boys from the Sudan as pose so cute in front of your lens so charmy and unique.A goof photo from '80s.

Regards,Danos

willperrett (14215) 2016-03-09 7:50

Hello Gert

You've done a good job with a trannie that has apparently given you a lot of bother! From where I'm standing, the image has a slight yellow/green bias; apart from that it looks fine at this size (although when I copy/paste it into photoshop, I can see what you mean!) As far as the subject is concerned, there is always going to be that question of "where are they now?" At least you found them in a happy place.

Regards

Will

rychem (72187) 2016-03-09 8:23

In the past it was not, and today it is not the richest country, but you found two lucky boys smiling to your camera, very nice scene
regards Ryszard

GyurMaster (24840) 2016-03-09 8:32

Dear Gert,

They faced it with a self-confident smile, but just like you I'm wonder if they can still smile. In case they survived the turmoils of the recent years at all. Noise is really visible mainly at the hair of the boys, but I don't have any right to blame on you for that. :)

Nice genre all in all.

Best Regards,
Gy.

ikeharel (113427) 2016-03-09 9:17

First, Gert, the scan is fairly good and the boys smiling are great moment collected.
As for the title: consequently to the events in this region in the last 30+ years, the title should be with a big exclamation mark, it was an uncertain future, for sure !
Just imagine, we have approximately 60 thousands refugees from Sudan and Eritrea in Israel - what are the chances one would recognize himself or know about those guys when seeing the photo... Let's hope for the best.
Excellent contribution to TE. Par-excellence.
Good evening,
Ike

PaulVDV (62978) 2016-03-09 9:52

Hello Gert,
I really like the picture in the workshop with the lane lined with trees and the round houses that look like they're built with bricks but they may also be of clay. The thatched roofs look gorgeous. Behind the foliage at the end of the road we spot a church with a high tower or perhaps a mosque with a high minaret. But since this is South Sudan, I guess it must be a church. A chicken is crossing the street at ease.
The main picture shows two boys who find it definitely great fun that they're picture is taken. It's sad that we can't assume that since that day their lives went equally beautiful.
Their roguish smile is heartwarming.
Best regards, Paul

ourania (51103) 2016-03-09 9:56

Hello Gert,
sadness about what they've been through since this photo was taken, hope that they made it and a big question, as always and as in our days too, why? Maybe their life wasn't so comfortable then but their big, sincere and generous smiles make the scene special. This picture would give them a precious memory of their childhood. The eye contact is mesmerizing. I like the perspective of the timeless scene in the workshop, it seems like an endless route. Congratulations and thank you!
All the best, have a great evening,
Ourania

boa (8039) 2016-03-09 11:10

Hej Gert,
ett mycket bra bidrag till TE idag. Bilden är fin även om exponeringen inte är 100. Man kan se hur de här pojkarna är glada över att få vara med på bild, extra spännande är det säkert när en vit turist tar bilden. Jag kan tänka mig att de berättade det för alla i byn efteråt. Mer intressant är din bakgrundsberättelse om Sudan! Om de blodiga konflikterna där som har pågått i åratal. Ännu starkare blir bilden när man funderar på de här pojkarnas öde! Bra bild med en utmärkt not!

Hälsningar/
Boa

ps. Det blev en solnedgång i dag, mina första tror jag. Jag tänkte dedikera den till dig men det kanske hade varit lite väl magstarkt, haha!

Cricri (176) 2016-03-09 13:29

Hi Gert
Félicitations pour avoir retravailler cette ancienne photo, très réussie tant dans les couleurs et les détails, belle et charmante image
belle soirée
cricri

carlo62 (81265) 2016-03-09 14:24

Ciao Gert
dopo aver letto la tua nota non ha nessuna importanza la qualità della foto, l'importante è il sorriso di questi ragazzi, spero vivamente che possano essere passati indenni da tutta questa storia e che possano ancora sorridere.
Saluti
Carlo

PiotrF (54788) 2016-03-09 16:55

Hello Gert,
Nice portrait from your archive.I like perfect exposure , good framing, clarity and sharpness.Nice presentation.
Regards
Piotr

alvaraalto (42804) 2016-03-10 2:20

Hello Gert,
The two boys seem to be optimistic about their future, but like you write in your excellent info: Time wasn’t at their side.
If we look at Arabia and Africa nowadays we don’t realize that in many of these region the situation is already for decades as bad as it is now. Maybe we can even say that it is a wonder that we had twice or thrice the amount of refuges in that time in Europe.
But I think hope for a better future you will hope to find in your own region. If you become desperate you try to find some new hope somewhere else.
Groet Rob

saxo042 (38078) 2016-03-10 6:51

Hej Gert,
Ett mycket fint fotografi med med ett välkomponerat innehåll. Lite förargligt förstås att TE inte räknar detta som ett eget land så att du kan öka på din lista. Men Norge finns ju ännu inte på din lista...
Hälsningar
Gunnar

ChrisJ (171884) 2016-03-10 6:51

Hi Gert

A nice scene from happier less violent times in Sudan, They look malnourished. There was a terrible drought on at the time. Bandaid - 'Do they know it's Christmas' was released in 1984. Good sharpness and exposure for a film shot. Tfs!

Silvio1953 (221729) 2016-03-10 9:39

Ciao Gert, nice scene, lovely composition with cute boys, fantastic smiles, splendid light and wonderful colors, very well done, my friend, ciao Silvio

Tue (92470) 2016-03-10 9:47

Hello Gert,
Beautiful portrait of the two boys. Their smiles are wonderful and one can only hope they had reason to keep on smiling for a long time, despite the troubles their country has been facing for many decades now.
Lars

Royaldevon (85932) 2016-03-10 10:35

Hello Gert,

I don't think you should worry about the quality of this photograph it is a good scan with only slight evidence of colour changes; what it does do, is relay the happy, carefree faces of these two boys. It contains such a sense of innocence; they are acting in a way that boys I knew would have loved to follow!
It is such a relief that one can't see into the future or these boys might not have been smiling so readily!
No, Gert, there is no suggestion that you should return and, you are probably much happier not knowing what became of them! You can still cherish a dream that they were okay.

My warm regards,
Bev :-)

abmdsudi (95869) 2016-03-10 23:37

Hi Gert
A joyful candid, time triggered with strong eye connection, expression and composition. The look on that faces of the big smiling fellas and the faithful donkey in particular is of great value on which i think is as good as you could ask for. Couldn't have been taken better. Well done, Congrats
Best wishes

emka (158204) 2016-03-11 0:08

Hello Gert, I have read that you have done a lot of work to get this picture without noise. And you succeeded well.
I like also (and maybe more) the photo in Workshops as it shows the street with the interesting round houses. But this view of two smiling boys with their donkey is also nice and important. Civil war for 22 years... what a suffering for the population. And what for? .
I also think sometimes what happened to the people I met. and quite often not after many years but just after a few years when a disaster hit the area. I am afraid that many people I met in Syria could be killed, maybe some villages in Thailand do not exist any more after tsunami.

WArm regard s MAlgo

COSTANTINO (116580) 2016-03-11 0:10

Hello dear Gert and have a nice time
excellent photo with a hidden question
what could have happened to these boys
your capture shows the feelings
of the boys with the expression
on their faces
your title describes everyhting
welldone and wellaccepted
regards
Costantino

pajaran (115989) 2016-03-11 7:10

Dobar dan.
Lep pogled i trenutak, interesantan i dobar tekst ...
Dobar rad sa lepom fotografijom u radionici, lepo pokazana deca sa magarcem i ulica, dobar kontrast, lepe boje.
Lepe fotografije i secanje.
Lepo popodne i sve najbolje za vikend, srecno.
Paja.

Good day.
Beautiful view and the moment, interesting and good text ...
Good work with beautiful photography workshop, nicely shown children with donkey and streets, good contrast, nice colors.
Beautiful photography and memory.
Nice afternoon and all the best for the weekend, good luck.
Paja.

mjw364 (1466) 2016-03-11 12:15

Hello Gert

Your post processing efforts are worth it though the boys teeth seem a little unusually white relative to the rest of the scene. It is sad to imagine what may have happened to these two young men and it serves to remind us how lucky we are in Europe to be free from the conflicts that befell Sudan.

Your heartfelt note seemed a little sombre or melancholy, though. Sometimes our memory reconstructs things in a way shaped by the information we receive from our western media and maybe their lives turned out to be ok.

I once had a student who escaped from Rwanda having been held prisoner as a boy soldier by the Hutus. He told me he lived in daily fear of having his hands chopped off, which, apparently they did most days to children for the sheer hell of it. He eventually arrived in the UK via Amsterdam and we crossed paths as he pursued his goal of becoming a social worker. Having passed the course that I taught him he gave me a thank you card which simply said "thank you, you made me believe" - in what he didn't say but I can only imagine that I myself would end that sentence with "anything is possible" or "in my self". This encounter in my career as a teacher was possibly the most rewarding experience I had from the profession and it will stay with me forever. He now works as a Social Worker in Coventry.

The reason I am telling you though, is because these two young men may in fact have gone on to live safer and fulfilling lives as my student did. Our imaginations don't have to imagine the worst, though often they do.

Have a good weekend.

Cheers

Mike

eldancer1 (36343) 2016-03-11 14:38

The situation in most third countries today is very sad and depressing. Famine, war and diseases are killing so many innocent people. I hope that things will get better but chances of that happening is very slim. At least those boys are smiling. TFS

bukitgolfb301 (54014) 2016-03-11 16:10

Hi dear Gert

Again so precious and fashinating archives from you.
This image has just flash backed passing through 33 years, so fantastic to see---. You seem to have so endless and priceless stocks as such. I wonder how they are now, if they are fine, they are around 50 years old---.

All the best and have a good weekend! Takero

macjake (98456) 2016-03-11 21:25

Hi Gert
yeah, this country isn't exactly on my travel list, sorry to say. I wonder when it will be safe to travel to, it will be at some point. Good for you to have been here, how many people can say that?

the boy standing has something funky going on with his mid sections, perhaps that happened during the scanning process?
but thats nitpicking, its a scan from an old photo so who really cares. For sure I agree with your thoughts and comments about these young boys, guess we'll never know.
I also wonder what happened to the donkey - sorry, just trying to add in a bit of humour :)
another interesting blast from the past in a country no longer accessible, great TE shot
cheers
Craig

macondo (20449) 2016-03-11 21:26

Hi Gert.
Fascinating, yet again, and as you suggest in your note, extremely poignant to reflect upon. The quality of the scan is excellent, even in the high res version in which the boys' eyes stand out more and we can see plenty of well preserved detail in the bags on the donkey's back. Pondering what might have become of young people in poor war-racked countries like this takes us to the very essence of photography. Here, in this frozen moment 33 years ago, the boys are smiling and apparently without anything to worry about, with the possible exception of good nutrition. I wonder, like you, if they are alive today. And if they are, what might have happened to their innocence?
Regards,
Andrew

tyro (30513) 2016-03-12 6:01

Hello Gert,

First of all, you should make no apology whatsoever for the quality of this scanned colour transparency. Despite all the technical difficulties we all experience with the TrekEarth website from time to time, the thing that (in my opinion at least) puts TE head and shoulders above other photographic sites such as Flickr, etc. is that photographs should be judged not only by their technical qualities but chiefly by their subject matter and also by their accompanying note.

Your original photograph was probably taken quite hurriedly to capture these two smiling boys as they passed you and the lighting conditions, what with the very strong sunlight and the deep shadows cast by overhanging trees, would be a real challenge to any photographer nowadays armed with the most up to date digital equipment. And this image is so precious as it captures a wonderfully happy moment in time from 33 years ago - a scene that anyone now risking travelling here would be most unlikely to experience today. So, yes, despite some relatively minor technical problems with this picture, it is a joy to see and examine as well as its being, together with your extensive note, very thought provoking.

Your note is, as always, fascinating and informative and, together with your two photographs, does indeed make us wonder what quite happened to these two happy young boys or whether, indeed, they might still be alive. Your workshop photograph gives us a fine view of what Malakal looked like all these years ago.

A perfect upload for TE.

Excellent!

Kindest Regards,

John.

Hansaphotos (11381) 2016-03-12 8:02

Hei Gert

Glemte forresten å kommentere at du hadde en drøm om Bergen. Ganske utrolig! Ser jo at du ikke har ditt naboland på listen ennå - velkommen skal du være!

Uavhengig av teknisk kvalitet formidler ditt bilde en flik av dagliglivet i denne afrikanske byen for over 30 år siden, på en varm og fin måte. Selv om oddsene kanskje ikke er de beste, la oss håpe det har gått fint med de smilende guttene i dette flotte portrettet. Takk for at du delte:)

Ha en fin helg.

Hilsen Erling

king (4242) 2016-03-13 1:30

Hello Gert,
Thanks for posting this picture.
I understand your doubts about a happy future for these smiling boys.
Maybe reality has been mild for them....
For the country as a whole surely not.
Regards,
Huub

robmal (2439) 2016-03-14 15:22

Hello Gert,
You showed us very interesting picture which together with the note said this sad but true story. I think it is an amazing daily life shot, well done.
Best Regards
Robert

Gigidusud (21679) 2016-03-15 14:04

Hello Gert,
The most important thing is the atmosphere that emerges this photo, and I am very pained by thinking what became poor children the poor animal too. What a cruel world.
Thanks for sharing.
Gigi

adramad (73006) 2016-03-16 14:06

Hello Gert.
After a vacation in the Canary Islands, I am back with you all my friends, in these pages ......
My congratulations for the fantastic result of such an old photo.
The image is great with those two little boys so smiling, one mounted on the donkey and the other next to it, very dynamic image.
Good colors, very good lighting and excellent sharpness.
Well done. I love it.
You enjoy a good day.
Best wishes.
Luis.

serp2000 (47063) 2016-03-26 9:53

Hello, Gert,
OMG! They are so long and tall... It reminds me a distrofia muscular, but they have the smiles... As you said TE doesn't recognized South Sudan as an independent country. What should they do for this status?

I also can't understand why so many people travel around the world only to take photos of themselves. Perhaps it is an internal compensation systems...

Best wishes! Serghei

adores (46979) 2016-04-02 15:22

Hi Gert!
That's the problem about taking photos of people when we travel, those thoughts always come to our minds when we watch them. In this case it must be even stronger because of everything that country has been going through. They looked so happy and in peace then, hope they are ok now. The photo is very good and above all, it's a great post for everything it represents. Thanks for posting it!

mcmtanyel (68623) 2016-04-19 21:09

Hello Gert,
The world seems to be in much more turmoil today than when I was growing up. The Middle East is up in flames, so is Africa and there seems to be no peace on the streets of the West. This photo is reminiscent of peaceful times, but a bitter sweet one.
Regards,
MT