Archive for category ‘portrait’

Helen of… Litløya

Tom’s small fishing boat cuts across the waters of the Norwegian Sea like a tank vessel. Watching  how it approach the pier for anchoring, it seems to me nothing could stand in its way. With short, precise movements, Tom, an experienced fisherman and owner of the boat, anchors at the pier and invites us down on the deck, as the sea is retreating and the boat is far lower than the pontoon. We can’t say we went “on board”:). As it’s my first time on a professional fishing boat, my curiosity urges me to open the cabin door: the sonar, radar and GPS are easy to spot. I’ll see the rest “at work” as soon as we’re out in the open sea. Exactly as performed while anchoring, the same two precise movements are required for lifting the anchor from the pier, and here we are marching towards the open sea and the fishing areas. Until the free waters are within our reach, we can take our time admiring the hundreds of visible rocks or submarines which the Norwegian coast is well known for: they are the famous fjords scattered all over the Nordic coastline. If we were to think about counting the number of kilometers covering the Norwegian coast, we’d be surprised to find out it is four times larger than the Earth’s circumference. The purpose of today’s journey is not merely a fishing day with Tom, wonderful otherwise, but a small island called Litltoya in Norwegian (which means “small island”, as opposed  to a bigger “neighboring ” one), home of one of the most important lighthouses from the far northern Norwegian coast.

Tom skillfully manages the boat between the rocks edging the small bay where we can set anchor near a floating concrete pontoon (yeah, that’s correct, I didn’t misspell it ). We   anchor indeed and I try to spot the deck that will take us to shore. To joke a little, I’d say there’s no more deck left . Watching how the boat is tied to one of the pillars on the pontoon, I can hardly notice a motor boat anchoring near us. So this is how we’ll get to shore. The motor boat “captain” is remarkable. The captain arranges us on the boat fast and efficiently and in no time we are near the broken concrete stairs of the old pier. Until we realize it, here we are face to face with the owner, who, to our surprise is a woman.

It is said that a photo expresses more than a thousand words. To paraphrase this, Elena’s face says more than a thousand words.

Elena Maria is the owner   and our host on the “Small Island”. It’s one of those rare moments when you see someone for the first time but you feel like knowing them for a lifetime. She quit her job for an ONU agency in Cisiordania to follow her dream in far northern Norway .This must be “the spell of the great north”, that Jean Leroy-Guyo was talking about in his great travel book. In 2006, Elena brought her dream to life: she bought a part of the island where the old lighthouse is located (it was built in 1912 and functioned until 2009) as well as the small building where the lighthouse keeper’s family used to live. Three generations of keepers lived on the island together with a small community of fishermen. The community left the island back in the 50’s, so Elena Maria lives alone on the island. Well not alone, with her two cats .Does this dream sound familiar to you? I bet we’ve all had it as teenagers..

As it was lunchtime, we had a chance to get a taste of the local food (island food to be exact). There were some exceptions though:  nettle soufflé and rhubarb compote with sour-cream. Although I was born in Transylvania, where most of the dishes are served with sour-cream, the rhubarb compote was a “tasty” first.

I told Elena I wanted to “take” her portrait from the first time I saw her. The perfect moment was after lunch. The light outside  was to harsh during noon hours , so I asked if we could go inside the house where she could pick her favorite spot and spend 15 minutes chatting with me. She invited me in the living-room, a white room, simply decorated but in very good taste as only Norwegians seem  to know.

The key light I needed for the portrait was coming from a window that was big enough  to fill the room and turn it into a big light-box imperative for filling and soften  the  shadows from the opposite part of her face. The lighting plan was simple but as generous as can be. During our conversation, I took photos. Taking photos was the easiest part, the difficult one was choosing the frame afterwards.

“Let the subject generate its own photographs. Become a camera.” – Minor White

Inaltare

Cand spui Manastire din Bucovina te gandesti automat la una din manastirile pictate a caror celebritate a depasit de mult granitele tarii. Acolo, la una din aceste manastiri, am incercat in vara sa fotografiez pe langa arhitectura si cateva momente din viata monahala. Cu sfiala normala unui astfel de loc am incercat sa prind cateva portrete de calugarite. Nu mi-a fost dat chip sa-l fotografiez. La aparitia camerei capetele se intorceau ca la comanda sau barbia era lasata in pamant. Probabil asaltul turistilor le-a determinat pe maicute sa se fereasca de camerele turistilor. Nu mai spun de inghesuiala din incinta manastirii care faca aproape imposibila o fotografie fara personaje nedorite. A fost ultima tentativa sa mai aleg ca destinatie fotografica o manastire “celebra”. Vorba proverbului “La pomul laudat sa nu te duci cu sacul”

Manastirea “Acoperamantul Maicii Domnului” sta aninata undeva la jumatatea Obcinei Mari, la capatul unui drum forestier, printre gospodarii si finete ale hutulilor. Nu e greu de ajuns dar trebuie sa stii ca acolo este o manastire. E mica, inca se construieste, nu e celebra, dar locul de amplasare e foarte pitoresc. Cateva maicute trebaluiesc la gospodaria manastireasca si se roaga in biserica inca nepictata la interior. Casian, prietenul si partenerul meu in organizarea phototururilor din Bucovina, ne-a facilitat accesul. Maicutele au fost de acord sa participam la ritualurile ce se obisnuiesc la slujba de Vecernie. La 4 dupamiaza toaca s-a facut auzita chemand la sfanta slujba maicutele de prin cele acareturi ale gospodariei. Amplasata in apropierea bisericii dar in afara ei, clopotnita impreuna cu toaca au devenit centrul atentie noatre. La mijloc de februarie, ora 4 dupamiaza inseamna lumina de apus Filtrata de cativa nori subtiri de altitudine, lumina venea aproape razant cu solul iluminand straniu clopotnita din lemn si fata maicutei ce manuia cu dexteritate cioacanele de lemn ale toacei. Dupa ce sunetul toacei a incetat maicuta a dat glas clopotelor tragandu-le cu aceeasi pricepere. Am vazut cadrul, am schimbat obiectivul cu unul scurt (17-35/2,8) si la focala cea mai scurta am tras o serie de cadre. Am urmarit miscarea mainilor si a clopotelor si am tras o serie de variante de sincronizare a miscarilor. Pe moment era greu de apreciat care este corelatia cea mai buna intre miscarile mainilor si pozitia clopotelor. Am pastrat aceeasi cadratura pentru toate variantele trase. Totul s-a terminat relativ repede si maicuta a intrat in biserica pentru a participa la slujba de Vecernie. Am intrat si noi in biserica si fara a deranja slujba am reusit sa fotografiem portrete si momentete ale ceremonialului. De data aceasta ne-am intors acasa la Casian cu cardurile pline. Greu de ales din seria de la manastire, iar miezul noptii ne-a prins procesand fotografii si discutand despre varinate de cadrare, compozitii sau tehnici de prelucrare.

Initial am procesat color fotografia selectata in cele din urma. Apoi am convertit-o in monocromie aplicand setarile corespunzatoare unui filtru rosu. Acesta are ca efect deschiderea culorilor calde ale spectrului si inchiderea culorilor reci. Palnurile continuand culori calde (lenmul, pielea umana) au fost redate cu tonuri de gri deschis iar planurile continand culorile reci (cerul, padurea) au fost redate in tonuri gri foarte inchise. Practic am pus in valoare lemnul, clopotele, fata si mainile maicutei, trecand in planul din fundal toate celelalte elemente. Aceasta punere in evidenta a subiectului mareste forta de impact a imaginii.

Seara vizionand fotografiile impreuna cu participantii la phototour, Casian, autor de proza si poezie, a gasit titlul: “Inaltare”.

“Spiritualitatea Înălţării se întemeiază pe speranţă”. – Wikipedia.