The Spinning Maestro
by Julia Springer
Title
The Spinning Maestro
Artist
Julia Springer
Medium
Photograph - Digitally Enhanced Photograph
Description
This is a portrait of El Maestro - an 87 year-old indigenous master weaver who lives and works in his house, which is tucked away down a narrow lane in a small village between Peguche and Cotacachi, in the Northern Highlands of Ecuador. Here he is found spinning yarn using a wheel that he inherited from his father.
A true craftsman, El Maestro still utilizes the traditional backstrap loom to weave the woollen yarn into broad strips, and then employs a teazel comb - made from teazels collected locally - to soften the surface of the resulting cloth. High in the Andes, north of Quito, he loves to demonstrate his craft to passing tourists and to pose for photographs (...if you know how to find him!).
His face full of character, and with a twinkle in his eye, this image attempts to capture the friendly, benevolent nature of this hard-working and cheerful artisan; I hope he would approve of it!
The original photo has been post-processed to produce a more painterly effect using photoFXlab and other software from Topaz labs.
Uploaded
January 9th, 2013
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Viewed 968 Times - Last Visitor from Wilmington, DE on 03/29/2024 at 12:57 AM
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Comments (23)
Daliana Pacuraru
Wonderful and very expressive! I like the composition, too! My compliments, Julia! v/f
Julia Springer replied:
Thank you so much for your kind words, Daliana, and thank you also for the vote and favorite!
Marcia Weller-Wenbert
Wonderful portrait - I like the effect work you did with it post. v
Julia Springer replied:
Thank you Marcia. I would like to think it had done justice to such a gracious gentleman!
Julia Springer
Many thanks, Jack, for today's feature in "The Artful Photo Topaz Adjust Photomatix HDR Nik"