Rabari Woman
Gujarat India 2009 : A Rabari woman sitting in a side street sipping her tea.
She was so engrossed with watching the people come and go on the street that she didn’t notice me. I’ve always liked this photo, but felt that something was lacking.
Yesterday, I took an on-line class from Nik Multimedia taught by Scott Stullberg. Scott showed us how he uses Nik Silver Effects Pro 2. After watching Scott transform his photos from great to fabulous, I decided to see what I could do with my Rabari woman.
The photo was in color, but as the Rabari wear black, the color added nothing to the photo. I used Silver Effects Pro 2 to make the image black and white. I cropped it rather severely to emphasize her tattooed hands and her dark eyes. I added a slight sepia tone and a subtle vignette to increase the importance of her face and hands. Now the photo has much more drama and mystery.
Many photographers scorn cropping, but it’s part of our arsenal. I remember when I shot slides, cropping was out of the question. If cropping makes my image better, then, I’ll crop.
About the Rabari tribe: they are nomads. They raise camels, sheep and goats. They say they are descended from the households of Rajasthani maharajahs and consider themselves superior to other tribes. The men wear huge turbans, often a bright red color, and the women wear black. I’ve noticed tattoos like these on many Rabari women. Men may have a small one to fend off the evil eye, but they do not cover their arms and hands the way this women does. I suppose men don’t have time to sit around and tattoo themselves when they are herding animals.