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Varanasi India

i see you...

This little girl instantly caught my eyes among many excited children during my visit to a local village.
She may not be the prettiest or the cutest but I truly adore her shyness and humility.
I discreetly positioned my camera at her and took a quick shot while the other children
were almost fighting to be in front of my camera.

How about you? Are you someone who prefer to take a back seat and escape the attention,
or someone who’s eager to be seen?


(And hi everyone! Here is the start of my new series, episode two to the traveller :-)
While I’m finding time to catch up with my comments, I’m also lost, not knowing what to process
and what to post. I finally decided to go with my personal faves that tell abit about my experience
and my thoughts. Not necessarily creative and may risk being cliché travel shots.
But it’s alright as they simply mean something to me that I would love to share with you.
Hope you’ll like them as much as I do. Thanks.)

* Special thanks to Chris for his lovely stylesheet :-) *


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Yves Rubin11-Feb-2007 08:55
Beautiful Ray!!! You caught the inner beauty of this girl perfectly, as well as her outer.
Sue Robertson04-Feb-2007 04:15
I have never thought to compose an image in this way.. very inpsiring . it works beautifully. v
Chris Sofopoulos02-Feb-2007 08:30
I always love the photos with two faces in the frame.
The expression of this girl is the most interesting and strong in this image.
I love such photos that expression becomes the basic characteristic!
v
Jose Paulo Andrade27-Jan-2007 19:48
Very good "double" portrait!!
carol j. phipps26-Jan-2007 07:00
Love this.
Guest 24-Jan-2007 14:01
I'm with Ray: you have a special gift for those shots!!
The composition is excellent, as well as the beauty of those smiles. I love the discret one of the boy, and the deeply human of the girl... She is not the prettiest? maybe based on the magazine's criterias, but she is on the humans one.
... It's so great that each time I come to see this image, the magic is still there. Thanks for the emotion, Ai Li!;))
Ray :)21-Jan-2007 20:09
You have a special gift with people Ai Li.
ltolksdorf19-Jan-2007 06:53
Lovely portrait. V
Guest 19-Jan-2007 01:03
Fantastic expressions, once again. They seem to feel very confident with you.
Love how you made the focus here.
Sheila18-Jan-2007 08:26
I love this. The girls face which is the focus with her tentative smile, but I love the boys calm and gentle expression.
Guest 18-Jan-2007 02:31
This is fantastic !! Love the composition & her smile..
Looking forward to seeing more of your great work.
Guest 16-Jan-2007 21:03
Hah! I will sure keep following this gallery very closely! You're off to a good start!
Rob Rosetti16-Jan-2007 19:23
The way you see is the way we all love you!
This shot is evocative, brilliant, and warm.
Dave Wixx16-Jan-2007 18:25
I love your use of dof in this. I'm looking forward to the completed gallery.
jude16-Jan-2007 15:55
You captured her sweet shyness.. looking forward to more.
Bill Harris16-Jan-2007 15:41
Lovely Ai Li. Looking forward to your work again.
Cindi Smith16-Jan-2007 15:39
A wonderful composition of wonderful children. I love it! V
Guest 16-Jan-2007 12:12
This image oozes your special warm personality and your talent to see through the crowd and see the real beauty in the girls smile. She is so proud to have you take her photograph and by doing so youve made her feel special, Like you do many here on pbase. I love the dual focusing and the look on the BOYS face, sort of angelic. Looking forward to the rest of the series Ai Li. The most important thing to remember is that you do not have to please anyone with your photography but yourself and if an image means something to you personally that is all that matters. A great start:-)
Guenter Eh16-Jan-2007 10:41
This is definitely lovely and heart-warming AiLi! The two faces - on in focus, the other one out of focus - this works excellent!
...duncan16-Jan-2007 05:25
Interesting way you shot this.

You asked about attention and where I, or anyone would like to be, most of the time i would rather spend out of the spotlight and behind a camera or somewhere else.

BTW: Photographs that mean something to the person who took them tend to transcend to the person(s) viewing them.
Guest 16-Jan-2007 02:22
what a wonderful way to start a new series!
I love the composition and the way she looks at you. I don't mean this in an unkind way but her goofy teeth makes her even more adorable.
Photographing children always makes you feel nice and warm inside doesn't it?
Roe..16-Jan-2007 02:09
I can see that she like you and feels special because you're taking her picture..Ai Li I've missed you and can't wait to see more..
Jen Bixler16-Jan-2007 01:54
Wow.
I don't see shyness here. She seems content and there is such a glow in her eyes.
No way that your travel shots are just the norm...I'd bet money on it.
~V~
Kathy Pedersen16-Jan-2007 00:26
Beautiful and heart warming, that childs smile goes straight to my soul. I can easily see how she grabbed your attention. So glad to have you back posting with ua again! A beautiful way to start! Voted
Craig Persel16-Jan-2007 00:01
Gorgeous. :-)
Martha Albuquerque15-Jan-2007 23:26
Yes! I will enjoy all of the series Al!
welcome back! voted!
J. Scott Coile15-Jan-2007 21:05
Heart-warming!
Guest 15-Jan-2007 20:48
I am glad to see your new work, Ai Li! And I really forsee a very human and personal touch to this gallery. This double portrait is technically an excellent work on the DOF and a daring composition. But it is also a very touching image, with a such sincere smile that tells us as much as on this little girl as on you, and your capacity of connecting with people.
Richard Calmes15-Jan-2007 20:11
I love this type of DOF work! Excellent work on your subjects! Love the tight crop too! V
Victoria15-Jan-2007 19:56
This is turthky beautiful, beautifufl inside, not appearance!!!!!!The great respectable 'shyness and humility' is shining here !!!!!!!
Guest 15-Jan-2007 19:10
The thing that surprises me here is that there is no trepidation from either of them. The girl may be shy but like the others she is intrigued and happy to see you. I wonder if we would all be welcomed so openly!
Phil Douglis15-Jan-2007 17:49
I don't see it as a portrait, Ai Li. It escapes categorization. Lets just call it a "grouping." The smiling child is using the person in front of her as a shield. Both are reacting to you, but in different ways. People respond differently in groupings -- I tried to make that point in an image I made last month in a Moroccan school --http://www.pbase.com/pnd1/image/72904451 . It is in such differences that an image can find its meaning. It does in mine, and certainly does in yours. I also salute you for feeling free enough to crop the child at right in half -- she is there, but not there at the same time. A thoughtful starter for this gallery of travel photos, Ai Li.
Stu15-Jan-2007 16:47
Good to have you back, I've been looking forward to this. Lovely couple of portraits to begin with - I like it purely because I think you can see an element of shyness in both of them, but the colour across the jumpers and her headscarf links them well too.
Guest 15-Jan-2007 16:30
The composition works for me.
Mission accomplished...I see and feel her shyness and humility. The focus is on her weathered sweater and she wears it so proudly. V
Guest 15-Jan-2007 16:16
Looking forward to seeing more of your great work. I'm not sure how I feel about this particular shot - with a portrait, I like to focus on one dominant feature, typically the eyes. With three eyes, a find it a bit distracting. I suppose it works better once you read the caption, but it doens't look like the girl in front is neccearily competing to gain the attention - she looks more in the way. Anyway, looking forward to more!
Galina Stepanova15-Jan-2007 15:56
Based on my previous impressions of your galleries, AI Li, and on this first photo in new gallery, I anticipate another thoughtful gallery of humanity.
Good luck, I will follow.
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