Over the years I have witnessed both men and women at work, in what are arguably, ‘brutal and/or hostile’ working conditions, yet it is in these very conditions where I have often found ‘beautiful’ portrait opportunities.
I came upon this young Ethiopian man, a member of the Bana tribe, wielding a wide wooden mallet like tool, as if it were an axe, bringing it down onto a large pile of white dried corncobs, causing a brief white powder puff of ‘smoke’ to rise from the pile of white corn, sometimes high enough that the ‘smoke’ would reach his face, leaving a white corn flower residue to collect on his face. All of that smashing would free the kernels from the cob, while at the same time rendering many of the kernels into white corn flour.
Fortunately, three meters from the large pile of white corn, there was a small blue house with a north facing wall which served up a nice background of color and subtle texture, and in combination with the soft light of the north side, a simple portrait was born.
Nikon D500, Nikkor 18-300mm at 300mm, F/8@1/200 800 ISO
You Keep Shooting!
- Bryan F Peterson
Great use of existing color and Photo!