By the green mosque, a photo from Nampula, North

Photographer's Note

Taken a couple of days ago in Ilha do Mocambique, a small island forgotten some 2500km from Mozambiquan capital Maputo.

It is less than 3 km long but has more than 1500 years of history. Until 1898 this was the capital of the Portuguese colony of Mozambique and the focal point of their trade and industry. The island was a major Arab port and boatbuilding centre long before Vasco da Gama visited in 1498. The island is an amazing melting pot of cultures with influences of Madagascar, Tanzania, India, Portugal, Brazil, and the Middle East, even if 85% of the inhabitants are Muslims.

Today, the island is a maze of narrow streets hemmed by tall buildings with a bustling harbour and market.

I decided to work there in a school for the Art in All of Us activities. It was a long trip from Lilongwe (capital of Malawi) to get this Pearl of the Ocean. No direct transport to do the about 1000 km to the Island. It is then with patience, smile and craziness that we traveled 180 km of minibus, 60 km of pick up, 15 km of bushtaxi, 7km of bicycle, 10km by foot, 180 hitchhiking, 550 km by train, 4 km by foot, 125 km of minibus, 55 km of minibus to reach the embark to the Ilha. It was worth the nearly 3 days and nights of travel and transpiration. Kids of the visited school were really amazing and so creative ! Their drawings and poetries will be uploaded soon on our website (www.artinallofus.org)

This picture was taken early morning in front of the green Mosque. It was prayer time. A magic moment we spent before school starts !

No photoshop on this picture. Straight from my Nikon D200!

Anthony

All proceeds from sales of pictures will go to the art education project of Art in All of Us (WWW.ARTINALLOFUS.ORG).

Prisley, Isabelle, world-travel has marked this note useful

Critiques | Translate

Jeppo (17645) 2009-02-09 3:27

ciao Anthony,

great portrait and good crop to have 2/3 background green and 1/3 blue/brown�
nice expression

ciao
silvio

pisces (782) 2009-02-09 3:36

Hi Anthony!
Wonderful portrait with beautiful colours and a great POV!
TFS
Maria

jalab_temen (2193) 2009-02-09 4:07

Anthony, not just the colors, but the lihgts, the texture of the child's skin and the wole composition is really beautiful. Thanks for sharing, Jalab

ninaL (21348) 2009-02-09 4:21

Bonjour, Anthony.
Un tr鑣 beau portrait pris dans une composition attractive mais dommage pour le petit format...sais-tu d関elopper les formats sous PS jusqu'au 800 pixels de large ?
Amiti閟, Grazyna.

giorgimer (35017) 2009-02-09 4:43

Hi Anthony,

wonderful portrait, good idea for the BG. Would also be effective in a wider format.

TFS

Gio

gelor (3233) 2009-02-09 5:29

Bonjour Anthony,
Un joli portait int間r� � une composition int閞essante. Dommage que l'image ne soit pas un peu plus grande.
G閞ard

rikko77 (10861) 2009-02-09 5:35

Hi Anthony, it's a very interesting, colorful shot. Good use of wide angle and perfect light metering.
Congratulations and have a nice day!
Rik

Prisley (1485) 2009-02-09 5:50

Hi Anthony,
This pic has great innner potential. I mean it is an excellent compoisiton work and great perspective. But to me it would worth a curves adjustment to free the exploding potential of the colors of your pic ;)
Excellent informative note by the way.
Cheers,
Pris.

grantlp (2113) 2009-02-09 6:13

Hello Anthony,
I really like the close view of this young girl, which has an appealing and eye-catching distortion....you must have used quite a wide angled lens. Her facial features and colourful headress create an impactful portrait. The long green wall does not distract from the girl and makes a characterful background, reflecting the environment she is in. My only suggestion is that you must try to post a larger image....make use of the maximum size allowed. Overall well done.
Cheers Grant

leo61 (0) 2009-02-09 11:06