The Costermonger
Uzbekistan 2013…Market Portraits
I bet you’ve never heard the word “costermonger”. I hadn’t either until I read a Masie Dobbs mystery. It’s an old-fashioned term once used in England. It means a vegetable seller. This handsome woman sold her cauliflower in the market of Tashkent. At first she demurred when I asked for a portrait, but then decided, “what the heck!”. She grabbed up a cauliflower and held it out to the camera. Perfect! The portrait reminds me of those early paintings done of wealthy farmers in New England centuries ago.
Our costermonger stood under a canopy. Her face was in shade, but the bright sunlight hitting the ground in front of her bounced a soft, diffused light onto her face. This is a flattering light for a woman of her age and older and maybe younger, too! It’s great light! Her face is somewhat turned so that one side gets lit completely but the other side has a soft triangle of light on her cheek. This is 3/4 lighting. It is my favorite.
Lesson: In the middle of a sunny day, take your subject into open shade and try to get some soft bounced light. Look at their face to see what is highlighted then turn their head to find the most flattering pose. One thing, never touch a person you are posing. Tell them or show them but don’t touch them.
The problem I had with this portrait was the whiteness of the cauliflower. The eye of the viewer will always go to the “whitest and brightest” . If I hadn’t toned the whiteness down, it would have been a portrait of a vegetable. It wasn’t easy to darken the thing and still have it look like what it is. Well, it is rather nasty looking but I decided it is ok as her handsome face is the STAR!
The Patriarch
We met this man in a chaikhana or teahouse. He wears a hat called a kalpak. There is a district of Uzbekistan called Karakalpakstan. Kara means black. Kalpak means hat. Stan means place. The place of the black hats. Don’t you just love that?
I wanted to take his portrait as soon as I saw him. He looks powerful and wise. The light from the open door struck his face and emphasized his rugged features. That is ok for a man. For a woman, you want softer light. The problem, no matter who or what you are shooting is that you don’t want hotspots. You can avoid that by turning on your highlights warning, or bracketing your shots. I didn’t do either and so I had to burn in the bright areas on his cheek and the side of his nose. Ideally you want detail.
If Looks Could Kill!
Shot in the market in Fergana Valley. A man counting his money. Everyone in Uzbekistan had a fistful of cash due to inflation. Torie and I decided how much money to take each day by how much we could fit in our money belt.
This man was about 30 feet away from me. We were walking through the market, me with head swiveling, looking for the shots. I spotted him counting his money and quickly grabbed a shot. I don’t think he liked it particularly.
He, too, is under shade with light reflected from the ground. He, too, has 3/4 lighting. The focus is sharp. He is handsome. He’s doing something interesting. We don’t often see people counting wads of money in public here in America. I wanted viewers to notice the money in his hands, so I dodged them just a tad. It is up to you to direct the viewer’s eye by darkening and lightening your photo.
To shoot your own market photos of handsome Uzbeks, contact Penelope at www.uzbekjourneys.com