Let me introduce to you,


this is Lao Ma, the old horse,

(Lao Ma)

and this is its master Lao Baixing.

(Lao Baixing)

Every day Lao Baixing takes his horse to the field to work,
they have gone to work together for many years.
"shang ban", going to work, they have walked the way so many times,
they would find it in their sleep.


(shang ban)

Not far from their home they pass the green pavillion

(green pavillion)

then they have to cross the blue bridge across the red river.

(blue bridge)


On the other side of the red river, they pass several villages

(village 1)


(village 2)

After passing the villages, they have to
cross the red bridge accross the blue river

(red bridge 1)

Sometimes Lao Ma walks ahead,
then he has to wait for his master on the other side

(red bridge 2)

When they get to the brown pavillion, Lao Ma longs to have a rest in its shade,
but Lao Baixing pushes ahead to get to work.



Now they still have to cross the white brigde over the black river.


On the other side of the black river, there is a well of fresh water from the mountains,
and Lao Ma stops to have a refreshing drink.
Then he has to run to catch up with Lao Baixing who has walked way ahead......



I wasn't sure where to post this, I hope you enjoy, and any criticism is welcome!
Call me crazy, but I am somehow stuck with these little things and am enjoying it too

Greetings!

Uli

PS: FYI, taken with or without flash, post processing near zero, very slight curve adjustment in some cases.

A wonderful narrative. I fully enjoyed it. Not sure if "Critique" is the right area - but not sure what other area is right either...

Beautiful work Uli....

Many things to talk about this series.

I admire your consistency and continuity. To make a story with pictures and fit them all to tell a story is a lot of work but also something that you must be very proud of because you did it really well. It is like a big jump in photography, Uli.

I know you have worked a lot with series, when you visit places you tell the story with your images, but in this case is as if you had created a world that probably lives in you and you managed to make it real for us to see. I love this.

I also can see of course the influence of the Chinese culture in your pictures, I can imagine how much you will enrich your own life experience with your stay in that country, and how much your photography will benefit for this.

Congratulations for this beautiful work, Uli...

wow.. this is fantastic Uli. I love where you're taking this...
I don't blame you for not being able to leave it alone. I think there's a lot of exploring that can be done with this idea.

I can see a children's book coming along (www.blurb.com or similar?).

Have you tried it against different backdrops? The red is very strong, I wonder if the figures would carry more weight against a more neutral background?
Or for something different you could use landscape prints as a backdrop. Obviously they'd be OOF but the shapes and colours might make for an interesting experiment?

I really like this series, and having all-natural DOF instead of the artificial blur makes a big difference in that. And I agree with Kombi; I'm just waiting for the book to come out.

I also agree that the red background is very strong, but I like it. It's a very chinese colour and suits the figures and story.

Thank you guys very much!

I am glad there is some sympathy for me, I wasn't sure what people would think, and yes, I love this series.

Kombi, Mat, I was a bit surprised myself HOW red the red comes out, it must have to do with the light I am using.
I tried a brown velvet I have but didn't like it.
the only other thing I have used was white, which looks interesting but more agressive, not so happy.

I went back to the place where I got these yesterday to see if I could get more figurines, but unfortunately, there are only the clay ones now, no more made from lead like the guy and his horse.
I also looked around for stones and stuff like that, but didn't see anything I like yet. White (most stones where white) is always difficult, the horse is already burning out most of the time. Maybe I can find some rocks or something.
Things in the background will blurr toooo much, there will only be color patches, so I think I will stick with something mono, but should look for a different color.

so there is a shopping trip for me this afternoon, I know another place I could check....
Chinese people use all these things, both clay and lead, to decorate their fish tanks or ponds, this stuff is fantastic - in any sense!

If tyou have any more suggestions, I am always glad to hear them!

Greetings!

Uli

Kombi, I had a quick look at the blurb page, definitely interesting!

uli

Nice story, nice imagination, nice photo's.
Put them on a disc and get the school class to do a narrative. (homework)