[8 February 2007; Canon 20D, 24–105 mm f4 L at 47 mm, ISO 800, 1/6 at f4]
All content © 2010 Pete McGregor
13 May 2010
Woman and child, near Bhuj
[8 February 2007; Canon 20D, 24–105 mm f4 L at 47 mm, ISO 800, 1/6 at f4]
All content © 2010 Pete McGregor
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7 comments:
What a wealthy woman - just look at the amount of gold weighing down her ears!
Great shot!
RR, this was in the area devastated by a huge earthquake in 2001. Although she might be wealthy in some respects, her circumstances in others are far from opulent. I wonder, too, about the value of that gold in practical terms — is it a kind of insurance? An indicator of status? A kind of religious or cultural comfort? Maybe it plays a similar role to cars in our societies (without the purely utilitarian function)?
Chapa, thanks. As you can see from the technical info, I pushed this to the limits — the room was much darker than it appears.
My Middle Eastern experiences were a long time ago, but, from what I learned, gold fulfilled many of those functions - insurance, decoration, status indicators. It was generally considered safer to wear the gold rather than convert it into anything else, and this seemed to apply to men and women living in town, Much more significant for nomadic people, of course.
Thanks, RR. It's difficult for me to grasp the idea that wearing large amounts of visible gold is safe, but clearly the advantages outweigh the risks, at least in societies like these. I wonder how long that will remain true?
Puts to rest the saying, "You can't take it with you." She takes it everywhere she goes!
That's an interesting take on it, Paul!
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