Roadside Services!, a photo from Sindh, East

Photographer's Note

Good Morning Everyone,

I hope Gert won't mind me hopping onto his time machine for a few minutes but to visit Pakistan rather than India.

Gert's photograph of outdoor services in Calcutta, reminded me that I had taken such a photograph in Karachi.

Of course, this was long before digital cameras but I hope you will just enjoy the photograph for what it shows.

Karachi was our first stop when we visited Pakistan and I remember being amazed at the differences between my little village in England and this metropolis in Pakistan.

The volume of traffic on the roads, composed of large cars, decorated buses, bicycles, rickshaws and bullock carts, all vying for the best position in the multi-lanes, was overwhelming!

And then, at the sides of the roads were barber's establishments, shoe shiners, etc; what life filled sights.

My powers of description seemed slight to describe the people, the noise, the colours and the buildings, when I sent cards home!

Have a good week, Bev :-)

Fis2, ikeharel, ChrisJ, pierrefonds, jhm, PaulVDV, COSTANTINO, jemaflor has marked this note useful

Critiques | Translate

Fis2 (170975) 2021-03-01 1:52

Witaj Bev!
An excellent scene from everyday life, the roadside hairdresser is impressive.
Good picture from Your archive.
I like collors retro.
Well done.
Have a nice new week.
Krzysztof

ikeharel (113519) 2021-03-01 2:34

Street barber picture, how origianl, Beverley.
Old stuff from long ago visit to a country I do not think I will ever visit.
Good afternoon,
Ike

pajaran (116097) 2021-03-01 2:48

Pozdrav.
Interesantan pogled i trenutak, lepo secanje ...
Dobro pokazano mesto i berbernica na ulici, lepe boje, kontrast i dobar tekst.
Majstopr radi svoje posao.
Zelim vam sve najbolje u novoj nedelji koja je pocela.
Paja.

everlasting (19680) 2021-03-01 3:08

a very good scan from your time machine, good contrast and sharpness, and a fine daily life scene. The elderly man seems not so sure of his head massage.
Now I am intrigued as to why you were in Karachi in 1997, I am guessing working.
We were in Karachi in 1975 on our way overland to India but in 1997 that couldn't have been your reason.

holmertz (102866) 2021-03-01 3:48

Hello Bev,
You are welcome to borrow my time machine. Just don't forget to take your handbag when leaving.
Compared to my barber shop in Calcutta this looks luxurious. The table full of perfumes and creams and the funny chair make this a very entertaining photo. It's also well scanned with nice colours and sharpness.
I was in Pakistan slightly later that year on a tour of Nordic journalists arranged by the UN, but we didn't go to Karachi, only further north.
Best regards,
Gert

Silvio1953 (221813) 2021-03-01 4:04

Ciao cara Bev, lovely composition with sitting man in a relaxing scene, splendid light, fine details, excellent clarity and wonderful colors, very well done, my friend, ciao Silvio

ChrisJ (171888) 2021-03-01 4:40

Hello Bev,

Kudos to you for visiting one of the many 'stans' (Pakistan, Afghanistan, Kazakhstan, Kirgizstan, Tajikistan etc) which are not always welcoming of both women or Westerners. A great daily life scene of the local barber in action. Tfs!

pierrefonds (114628) 2021-03-01 5:00

Hi Bev,

You have captured well the different expression of the men. The point of view is showing the action of the barber on is client and of another person waiting. The light is giving odd colors rendering. Have a nice dya.

Pierre

foxy (3461) 2021-03-01 5:13

Hello Bev,
Comparing the street barber with Gert, I'll definitely go for this one ( only if I'm desperate enough ).
The chair must be so comfy , this man has fallen asleep ( or the good services ) , wait a minute......he's about to get a 'cold stinging aftershave', that's will be a real shocker!!! , must be hilarious :-)

What's you described about these countries ( India and Pakistan ) and seeing the photos here......are truly a Culture Shock !!! I don't know whether I like to experience that :-) No doubt, it's an excellent sights for photography. Maybe, I'll go for that.

Thanks for sharing this 'borrowed time machine', make sure you returned it in one piece :-)
Loong

jmdias (115370) 2021-03-01 9:39

bev

a funny daily life view, the guys looks were enjoying your attention in the moment. excellent position of the personages. As I told to gert, I never saw such scene in my 3 weeks in india. I guess when you visited the country it wasn't a closed place as it is today. in these last decades many places were closed for tourism because urban violence and terrorism.

take care

jorge

jhm (211736) 2021-03-01 9:45

Hello Bev,

Depth in your archive, where corona are good for.
This is a fantastic picture with the barber in action, outdoor, this can not in our country!
Maybe an attraction for us all.
A lovely composition and excellent presentation.
Sharpness and clarity are superb.
Very well done, TFS.

Regards,
John

lousat (139400) 2021-03-01 13:14

Hi Bev,it must have been really a shock to see these scenes and this confusion for someone like you accustomed to the peace of the English countryside. The scene is very reminiscent of Gert's photo, scanned very well, and the characters also look like good actors. Have a nice evening and thanks,Luciano

PaulVDV (63026) 2021-03-01 15:59

Hello Beverley,
My first idea was that the man sitting down had an indigestion and needed to recover urgently.
Then I saw that there was no food on the table but articles from the hairdresser. This hair salon even offers the luxury of two hairdressers per client.
I understand that this is one of the scenes that you will definitely notice when you travel through a country as Pakistan.
It is one of those Asian countries where I have never been and somehow it scared me a bit. In the 1990s I knew several people who visited Pakistan and had fascinating stories about the hospitality of the residents. But just about everyone I knew, fell ill there ...
Best regards, Paul

ifege (48291) 2021-03-01 19:48

Hi Bev
A good scan from your vault and a fancier set up to some I've seen in Asia - just look at all the "product". Do we expect a series from Pakistan now?
cheers
Ian

COSTANTINO (116698) 2021-03-01 23:00

Hello dear Beverley and have a nice day
It is the first time I see something like this
in a few words I love photos
of this kind
regards
Costantino

jemaflor (147330) 2021-03-01 23:42

Hi Bev,
interesting scene about people in this country in this time, well framed, interesting note , tfs.

BennyV (34748) 2021-03-03 6:19

Ah, that's my kind of scene. At home I never go to a barber or hairdresser. I'm a do-it-myself person when it comes to hair, with the wife doing the finishing touches at the back:) BUT when travelling, I always make a point of visiting a local barber, as local as possible. It's always a joy and highlight on my trip. Steering away from fancy aircon salons, it'd be exactly this kind of professional I'd be looking for! Great!

Benny

GyurMaster (24852) 2021-03-03 8:41

Hello again,

Another goldie from your archives. I suggest you to carry on digging! :)

Gy.

vjmite (6628) 2021-03-05 2:43

Hi Bev,
A nice observation of daily life in Karachi. It's interesting to see the footwear, or lack of it, they have. I suppose the rent here is cheaper than a real shop, namely nothing at all. But I don't know how it would fare during a heavy rain shower.
Vince

mkamionka (74669) 2021-03-06 0:18

Hi Bev,
quite a charming street scene here, the quality is less perfect than of the following two Pakistan photos but I know how challenging it is. Even my photos taken after 2000 but in the predigital times are not always easy to rescue. They often look much better in the printout and digitalising them seems to be so difficult.
The scene is worth of documenting though, for us people from Europe it is probably a bit amusing since we never see scenes like that outdoor.
Very well seen and captured,
I think maybe a noise filtration software could make it bit smoother?
M