Classic portraits, Ethiopia trip.
After a long period, I found some time to write a few words and post my next series of portraits of strangers taken during my trip to Ethiopia last April. my previous post was incredibly popular on social media sites and I got a huge number of comments and feedback – both positive and negative. I was a little bit upset because of various phrases of criticism about my works and it was something to think about. to tell the truth – about all this I thought during my trip. if my short appearance with my camera in this country and my attention to these people can help someone? how this right on the ethical level to break into a stranger’s “house” and to ask for something “egoistic” that every photographer is looking to get – a “beautiful picture”, “stunning portrait” etc…
But the point is – if a smile, moment of happiness, and children’s laughter are worth something – I had brought to Ethiopia and given people one Million dollars, not less. if I’m able to print a part of these portraits and bring them to the main characters of my portraiture sessions – I’ll be happy.
About this series. last time I put my attention that I always shoot in a horizontal (landscape) orientation. so, the goal of taking portraits for this series was to use the portrait orientation of the camera and to get out of my comfort zone. The classical poses of my heroes – their desire to stay in this serious mood. and you know what – this is exactly what I was looking for!
Enjoy the moments and portraits :
Thank you…
Lovely contemporary portraits, simple, and beautiful in a unique way.
Thank you for taking a look Maria !
Good straight on portraits Victor
Very nice indeed!
Thank you Deon !!
Incredible series:) I was going on looking at them and realising the effect they were having on me. They were telling me stories from a far away land which was till now to me only existed in books, documentaries and films. But your drawing of these people are so real and the scent of their lives are so vivid and candid 🙂 Thank you Victor for such an incredible series laced with humaneness 🙂
het Sat ! i’m sorry for this delay in my response – i missed your comment or didn’t got a message about.
you’re right – also for me it was too far land existing only in books and sometimes on tv, plus a representatives of the social community of Ethiopian jews living here in Israel. still have to return back there and to continue with portraits and observation 🙂
these are delicate portraits. they remind me of the early photographs western adventurers, explorers and missionaries took pictures of the wilderness and strangness of the people in africa and the american continent, both curious and inquiringly but also at the same time very cautious and preserving the people’s dignity. i love that attitude. many people completely have forgotten how to shoot people in that respectful way. very classic, very beautiful. i admire you for this.
wow Trillian how beautiful and exactly i said what i was in my thoughts all days of my visit there. i’m in love with a classic mood of portraits and always miss this in many portrait galleries
and sorry for the long delay – i found now that i missed a few comments (shame on me for sure !!!)
I can smell the scent of Africa through your pictures Victor, great work…,
Thank you Jayne !
I’m with Sar and Trillian! These are classic portraits, well captured, Victor! You should produce a book – I would buy it!
Your photography is far away from modern trends. You do what for me real photography is. You take photos in the real meaning. For that I admire you and your work.
a little bit late but still better then never Jurgen !
thank you for such kind words. one day i will produce a book with the classic portraits exactly like i would like to take them 🙂
That’s a really good idea Victor!
Beautiful portraits, and beautiful serious expressions
Thank you Pat !! They were so serious when saw that i direct my camera on them but laughed like a little kids when saw their faces on the display after this.
classic portrait, i like it.
Lovely portraits.
a simple and very powerful language in your pictures, Vic …
Thank you very much Ijon !!
outstanding portraits, so much character in each of them…
loved the previous post too, all portraits look so natural, you have cpatured what you have seen, a slice of life through your camera… it would be unrealistic to expect to cover all aspects of life in a short visit to a foregn country… love your work!!
Thank you very much for checking and very kind words. Youre right i saw very different things and tried to document everything wihh my photographs. The real stories are still unedited and only waiting for their turn. Thank you again !
Beautifully direct portraiture!
Thank you very much !
Love the portrait you´ve taken from both posts. All of them got something that make them different although they are also similar in some way. How you manage to take them? Do you ask them you are going to take a portrait of them or jus shot whenever you can? It is something I wonder as I´m not confident enough to ask people whether I can take a portrait of them. Besides, I think once you tell them they are going to be taken a picture, their natural expression disappears straight away. That doesn’t look to happen in your pictures. Great job Victor! Congrats!
Thank you Ricardo ! all these portraits taken with asking for permission, actually i wanted this classical “ready for portrait” look, that they get all the time when i asked for the picture. so when i got this wonderful “feature” i decided to make this collection of classic portraits. i think that they usual for some analog photographers from their childhood and getting these poses automatically.
about to ask people – i know how difficult it but i did the personal strangers portraits project and learned this kind of communication not too bad 🙂 here the link to some samples of my project http://www.victorbezrukov.com/folio/portraits/
thank you very much !
Excellent portrait photography!
huge thank you Jim !!
Lovely set of images Victor. Sensitive in the way they show the quiet dignity of the subjects. Thanks for sharing them. John
Thank you very much John !
these are amazing. excellent photography.
thank you very much !
I love this kind of portrait style, fantastic portraits Victor!
Thank you Sam !!
You’ve captured their dignity .. Wonderful collection!!
Thank you Annabelle !