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Prayer for an Ancient King - Toti Calò
This picture was published in the review "Apulia", as a part of a portfolio documenting the celebrations of the 750° anniversary of the death of Fredric II of Hohenstaufen, the last and most loved King for us, true southern Italian men. Sonnar 90 wide open, handheld, Provia 100 pushed +2.
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| Posted: | 14-Jul-2001 |
Rating: 8.70 (30 ratings)
Comments
Remarkable.
An excellent shot. Nothing more to say. Congratulations.
Wilfred van der Vegte 14-Jul-2001 at 04:34Soft Beauty
Truly enchanting. I would be interested to know the reasons for your cropping it the way you did. Were you just removing unwanted distractions, or did you want to focus completely on her face?
Nik Trevallyn-Jones 14-Jul-2001 at 06:35Wow
Great photo all around, thanks for sharing it with us. -Karl
Karl Winkler 14-Jul-2001 at 07:48Beautiful
Toti ... beautiful shot, and an excellent crop. Very expressive indeed. Did she know she "was on"? Congratulations.
Knut Skjærven 14-Jul-2001 at 14:17Again ...
Toti ... I keep coming back this picture. It is absolutely ONE OF THE MOST IMPRESSIVE pictures I have seen posted to this site yet. If not THE most impressive. I have rated this a straight 10 and would have wanted to go even higher. Incredible that one can do such thing with a camera.
Knut Skjærven 15-Jul-2001 at 09:45Providing some answers
Thanks to all for the flattering comments and ratings! Nik: this is the result of a severe cropping of a horizontal frame, and yes, I've removed some distracting element, but first of all I've cropped the image this way in order to meet the publisher's requirements; I could have left a bit more of the girl's hand and hat, but I just haven't had the time to scan it again; consider also this scan is a RGB conversion of an original CMYK file (that's required for the off-set colour separation), consequently the original RGB file has an even larger gamut (read: subtle tones). Linc: yes, it was the 100F and, yes again, it pushes very well IF the available light is soft enough not to increase too much the contrast. It was a cloudy day, a situation which I find very good for pushing this slide film. Knut: no, she wasn't aware I was taking the picture, but then I asked the required permission in order to use the image for editorial purposes (the image has been already published, and it will be published again in my next book, "Graal", which will be published next Autumn). Thanks again to all.
Toti Calò 16-Jul-2001 at 00:51I don't really see this
And I know I'm going against the grain here - I've come back several times, but this shot just doesn't hit me with impact, and I much prefer many other pictures of Toti's. Maybe it's the lack of eye contact. I'm not sure.
Vish Vishvanath 21-Jul-2001 at 04:04moving
Very beautiful Toti. I read your comment about cropping, but I wouldn't change a thing.
Kevin Conville 29-Nov-2001 at 21:40A bit late, but
where the hell are you Toti?
George Shadoan 04-Mar-2003 at 17:36One of the most strikingbest
images I've seen at this site. I know you posted it two years ago, but I still love it. A photograph I would expect to see in N.G. (even a cover shot perhaps)
Gregg Humphrey 24-Apr-2003 at 19:50a "5" ??
Vish, I really can't fathom anyone rating this amazing image a "5" It is anything but "average" !
Gregg Humphrey 07-Sep-2004 at 10:41None
This is why I joined this site. To look and learn. I can almost feel the intensity of the woman's prayer. Another great image.
Keefo 28-Jun-2005 at 04:38crop is too tight
Ibbi 08-Apr-2008 at 18:41Looks like she's sticking 2 fingers up at someone!
Ibbi 22-Jul-2008 at 18:37