Another entry for Post A Week 2012! For this week’s theme ‘Contrast’, I chose two photo’s that I had already intended to desaturate before the theme was announced, because of strong sun and interesting plays of light.

The first shot was taken during an all-day barbequeue in Catania, where I retrieved my camera from it’s hiding place specifically to capture the slats of light filtering through some overhead bamboo. My unwitting subjects are from Germany, USA and Italy, it was a great multi-cultural affair.

The second shot is from Catania’s pescheria (the daily fish market) where I wandered about taking snaps. It didn’t take me long to realise the best part of the market was the loud back and forth conversations between the fish sellers, alongside their typically Italian emphatic hand gestures. I switched to my zoom lens to try and capture the atmosphere discreetly, without too much success. This gent was easier to shoot as he wasn’t busy jumping up and down like the rest of them!

Below are some more shots from the pescheria that capture a little of the atmosphere and the ‘Italian-ness’ of the market sellers. I haven’t edited any of these, and probably could have got better shots if I hadn’t been afraid of upping the ISO setting on my camera! Some of the guys are busy bantering with each other and bartering prices with customers, while others work behind the stalls to prepare the seafood that’s ordered, only looking up to chuckle or show irritation at all the blurb.

Mental note made to go back and snap some more soon. This week I am also publishing photo’s for the theme ‘Indulgence‘ (from last week), although I nearly used that same set here as ‘Contrast’. However, I chose these photo’s from India for their message rather than for composition or light.

Peter Parkorr