Dogon Boys
A Dogon village in Mali 2001 or thereabouts
I scanned some old negatives from a trip to Mali yesterday. I was hoping for a good shot of a Dogon village but because we arrived in mid-day, the monochromatic color of sun bleached earth and dust covered trees and adobe houses make the quaint huts rather indistinguishable.
I did see this delightful photo of two little boys lost in play. The posture of the naked boy says he is alert and ready to do battle with imaginary foes. Remember when you imagined foes?
A Dogon Village
By darkening parts of the photo that are not important for my purpose, I have directed your eye to the conical roofed storage huts that give Dogon villages the feeling of being built by a coven of witches. The flat roofed buildings are the homes. The roofs are used to dry millet and other crops which are then stored in the huts.
The viewer’s eye goes to the lightest and brightest part of the photo. To emphasize your subject, make it lighter than the surroundings.