Ksar el Ferch III, a photo from Tataouine, South

Photographer's Note

Another one of Ksar el Ferch, a half ruined granary in the desert of South Tunisia.

The following lines are a copy of my last post, which was shot on the same place.

In South Tunisia, ksar usually refers to a group of ghorfas that looks like a fortified village, although they weren't habited by people. Instead, they were granaries of nomad or semi-nomad people that camped near them part of the year. They were fortified to be more easily protected from robbery. Some of them are near or even inside villages or little towns, like the one in Medenine, but others, like this one, are in the middle of nowhere.

Ghorfa means 'room' in Arabic and it can be just that - one can ask for a ghorfa at a guest house or hotel, but it can mean also a small house like these ones, used mainly to store grain, although sometimes they could store other things like straw, olives, or even animals.

With the end of nomadism, much of them are ruined, although in recent years some of them have been partially restored to serve as tourist attractions.

Ksar El Ferch is located South of Medenine, some Kms North of Tataouine, which is a relatively important town of Southern Tunisia, whose name can sound familiar to any fan of the Star Wars movie saga, in which there is a planet called Tatooine. Many scenes of those movies were shot in Southern Tunisia and many sceneries are reminiscent of the landscapes and traditional architecture of the region.

jwmunro, ChrisJ, jmcl, cobbydale, adores, feather, cunejo200, Benedict, bostankorkulugu, sufi, axiotea, maloutim, xuaxo has marked this note useful

Critiques | Translate

jwmunro (286) 2007-02-25 21:05

Hello Jose -

Very nice details with this ultra sharp image. The image is rather contrasty but it does work, but I would really try to capture images like this when the sun is not so high in the sky. A polarizer might have helped with the fall off in the sky.

Thank you for sharing

John

pankajbajpai (376) 2007-02-25 22:00

hi jose,
great shot with good sharpness & detials capturted,
i liked the colour tones, the earthen tone 7 the blue sky against it makes a nice combination,
tfs & regards
pankaj

MIG13 (0) 2007-02-26 8:23

� impressionante a diferen鏰 entre a foto em B&P e essa em cores, iguamente bela, Jos�! O contraste entre as cores � o ponto alto, na minha opini鉶! Bom trabalho! Abra鏾! Miguel.

ChrisJ (172436) 2007-02-26 8:57

Hola Jose

Wonderful colour contrast between the blue sky & reddish adobe brick building. Superb sharpness & framing. The window adds interest. Tfs!

jmcl (14535) 2007-02-26 10:24

Hi Jose,

For me this is a picture of the heat. The clear bright sky working across the image the way it does .. the tones of the building .. the ruin building .. I feel like I squinting up through the heat to see this with you.
striking place.

John

leonorkuhn (16237) 2007-02-26 11:56

Ol� Jos�,

Voc� fez um registro muito importante. Realmente, a vida moderna � incompat韛el com o nomadismo, estilo de vida dos primeiros humanos e que est� desaparecendo da face da terra. A foto est� excelente, mostrando como foram constru韉as estas casas - barro, pedras. Muito boas cores e luminosidade.

Abra鏾s
Leonor

cobbydale (1958) 2007-02-26 15:34

Hi Jose, great detail and clarity on this one, and good POV and colours too.
TFS. Leon.

adores (46979) 2007-02-26 15:37

Ol� Jos�!
As fotos a cores destas contru珲es tamb閙 s鉶 muito bonitas! A textura das paredes ficou excelente. Gosto da forma como captaste estas constru珲es em diagonal e at� do sol forte, afinal este � um pa韘 de sol e calor. Muito bonita!
Anabela

batalay (41261) 2007-02-26 22:12

Hello Jos�,

I believe I like these shots in color even better than in black and white. In the sun-drenched North African towns � some intact others in ruin � the mud brick buildings and deep blue sky make an unmistakable combination that define the location. Excellent composition and exposure. I like very much the note, as usual.

Warm regards, Jos�,

Bulent

vincz (19113) 2007-02-27 4:31

Tres eimple et tres beau. cette couleur ocre sur ce ciel belu un peu sombre, ces craquelures qui semblent plus vrai que nature, tout cela contribue a faire de ce cliche une tres belle reussite. Bravo.

feather (51130) 2007-02-27 6:36

I do like the orange/blue contrast which is why I like it better in colour. It's incedibly sharp and detailed; we can see every crack. I didn't notice the branches sticking out of the top of the building on the previous shot. Do you know the purpose of them?
Kath

cunejo200 (7281) 2007-02-27 8:13

Hi Jose,
Lovely framing. I like how the granary occupies about 2/3 and the sky 1/3 of the frame. They provide good contrast. Details and texture on the building are very good. TFS. Danilo

Benedict (7076) 2007-02-27 8:42

sura mumtaz, jose! reminded me of my 'final' days in the desert of saudi-iraq border. TFS for bringing back memories to me. more of this kind, my friend!
benedict

Dpbours (222) 2007-02-27 10:20 [Comment]

Show Comment

paura (25802) 2007-02-27 20:35

Jos�,
A fotografia est� um primor de qualidade t閏nica e ponto de tomada. Muito bem executada.

Paulo

bostankorkulugu (42866) 2007-02-28 5:34

i like this series a lot stego... this one is very sharp and the texture of the wall is superb... low pov works well also...

cheers:)

korkut

:D

sarahnatalie (697) 2007-02-28 21:47

Nice one! Great POV. I really like the way the structure is juxtaposed against the sky; the colours are strong and effective. Nice work.
Sarah

sufi (9588) 2007-03-02 4:53

Merhaba Jose...
It's another wonderful composition from Ksar el Ferch... The colored version is beautiful too... Also beutiful contrast between the yellow and blue... The texture of the old wall is perfect..
TFS...
Stay well..
Salim.

axiotea (21651) 2007-03-05 1:30

Hello Jose,
A good quality image showing well the texture of the walls, color contrast between the sky and the half ruined granary.
Cheers,
Marilyn

UnTrained (0) 2007-03-07 4:12

Ol� Jos�,
nice capture but compared to the b&w predecessor less impressive like the workshop version of the predecessor. But it is very well balanced in light and sharpness and there are more details visible. To explore the wall and its structure this one is pretty much better.
Lieben Gruss, Ulf

emilbo (22616) 2007-04-27 10:33

Ola Jose!
Magnifique prise de vue dont les couleurs, la luminosit� et la nettet� d'image sont excellente. On peut voir tous les d閠ails de la structure. J,ai pass� par l� moi aussi en 2005 et j'ai trouv� tr鑣 int閞essant � voir ces vieilles constructions ravag閑s par le temps ou d閠ruites par des pluies torentielles.
F閘icitations!...
Emilius

xuaxo (6854) 2007-10-30 6:13

Ol� Jos�
Bem significativa imagem da constru玢o praticamente a cair-nos em cima. Boa nitidez e detalhes.
Um abra鏾,
F