incongruous definition in·con·gru·ous (in käŋ′groo əs, -kän′-) adjective not congruous; specif., lacking harmony or agreement; incompatible having inconsistent or inharmonious parts, elements, etc. not corresponding to what is right, proper, or reasonable; unsuitable; inappropriate.
This complete past week I have been in Salvador in the State of Bahia, Brasil. Today I travel home, returning to Rio and to Nova Friburgo on Saturday morning. I did not bring my computer but am using Camillo's. I find myself handicapped by this, I count on my external drive and my photo archives to bring you some photos that represent our topics when not at home or the world is not right.
Yes I cheat, all the photos I use in the shoot-out are mine but often not taken the week of the topic. After all we can't always count on sunny skies when we shoot 'outdoor food' or a family gathering when it is time to 'relax' at the local park.
To tell the real truth, I have been uncomfortable with this topic. My purpose, as I have explained at other times; my purpose in taking photos and showing them on this blog has been to convince myself of what beauty exists in Brasil. To show this topic would be to show the discordance, the inharmonious parts of Brasil that I find so uncomfortable. To walk on the street in one of the riches barrios in Rio, Ipanema, to step around the beggar sleeping wrapped in an old cardboard box, to stop and take a photo of this unpleasant site is just not within my comfort zone.
This week I have talked of the blight in the cities and the garbage on the street - these incongruous sites - so at odds with the beauty of the oceans, the clear blue of the sky and the beauty of the shoreline and the mountains - but I've not taken any photos of garbage on the beach, I just don't want to save this on disc.
Yesterday I walked north from the hotel with my little camera and the idea of taking photos of a couple of things I had seen from the bus the day before. I'd seen a house facing the sea - let me show you -
I only took this one photo. While taking the photo a woman stopped on the other side of the street and started to jester and yell at me. What was she saying? I think she was frightened and concerned that I was using my camera out on the street. I was less than a block from a walled army base. My back was to the ocean and it was empty of people, the sidewalk two hundred yards each direction was empty. I had felt safe, now I was filled with fear - what signs of danger was I missing?
I walked back to the hotel, looking over my shoulder every time I heard footsteps behind me. I got back to the hotel and ate a complete bag of chips....Damn, regression. I hate this feeling of fear of my surroundings. I had felt this way back 6 years ago when I first arrived and thought myself past it. I hate this feeling of the world being out of balance, of not being as I thought it, the feeling that I am incongruous - out of place in this country. I was proud that I had been out walking each day, not hiding in the hotel and now I will need to talk myself out of these feeling of fear again.
("Jesus Christ is the Lord" - unknown art work intent)
Ginger, this is an absolutely beautiful and interesting post. I hate that feeling of fear too, and of being out of my comfort zone.
ReplyDeleteYou expressed this subject very well. I am very proud of you. It's definitely a challenge this week. One of the hardest, I think since I've been participating.
I have always liked to photograph "The other side.", things that people don't like to think about.
ReplyDeleteMy blog is just for pretty things but I am so comfortable in settings like you wrote about.
Love the last photo.
Ginger- when we see it all we can try to make a change. Great post.
ReplyDeleteYou should have seen me riding in the car this weekend with hubby, I kept saying 'Incongruous' out load so that hubby would keep it in his mind and help me look for stuff...this was not an easy task to do in one week...
ReplyDeleteGinger, I love posts that spring from the heart. Expressing your inner feelings as well as you do is a gift to those of us who follow your blog. In this case a few words painted a thousand pictures. Thanks.
ReplyDeleteFirst, I really love the old building. I want to explore inside it.
ReplyDeleteSecondly, I also know that fear, sometimes just an uneasy feeling in the gut that I want to take this picture but not sure what people will think or do if I do. I usually take. And thank goodness for telephoto lenses.
I didn't quite understand the assignment either, but you wrote beautifully. Did you mangae to find how exactly why the woman was shouting? Did you miss a sign." No photographing?"
ReplyDeleteI love what you have to say about this post. It is disheartening to see such poverty and neglect, but it's part of the honesty of the place to show it along with the prettier parts. That's what I like about travel, both in person and vicarious: getting to know another place with its beauty and its faults. I'll pass on the glossy professional brochures every time!
ReplyDeleteFear has gripped us all at times. You put this in such beautiful words. I felt fearful with you.
ReplyDeleteThat was a surprisingly different powerful post, GingerV. Sometimes a few carefully crafted words are better than a thousand pictures.
ReplyDeleteThis is a very touching shoot out post, Ginger. I would really not like the feeling of being watched or followed. It would make me fearful of a place I wanted to call my home. I understand your uneasiness. Trying to overcome the language barriers makes it difficult to know when it is safe to be a leader and try to create change for the residents. Although Rio has an incongruous mix, it also has people like you. You are a
ReplyDeletesoft, glowing everpresent light in your world. I admire your honesty. I hope the week ahead allows for some comfort and relaxation with friends.=D
Ahh, such is life. All mixed up...beauty and garbage...it's how we look at it, deal with it...perhaps influence it. Thank you for opening up Brazil to us, and her less desirable parts, isn't that a great metaphor for what it means to be human?
ReplyDeleteGinger a moving post... which is a lot of what I feel in my own home town. Some places I only feel safe to walk if Frank is with me. Some places we won't go at all in the community.
ReplyDeleteHello GingerV. I respect and appreciate your writing about incongruities this week. I have been to Brazil, and I have felt some of these same things. And I have felt it here at times in the US. Your gentle, perceptive response is special.
ReplyDeleteGinger, that word picture is as clear and as crisp as any of your photos. My son lives in Brazil and I think he has tried to explain the same fears and feelings to me. Now, I see it. Thank you. Oh, and he loves the contrasts, the incongruity.
ReplyDeleteI really like your Strip search experience comment. I have not given any awards, this has to be the best one.
ReplyDeleteLast week, I watched the Rock movie in that gold mine movie in South America, I was thinking of you.
I wonder why that woman was shouting she could have been the home owner ashamed of the condition of the building, or a mentally ill street person. And the fish out of water feeling you describe can be felt by people who live in the same place their while lives, when thrown into an unfamiliar situation. I do hope you go out and shoot some more, as your photos are amazing and beautiful and reflective of your life there.
ReplyDeletestrange places do that to us once in a while. not comfortable. must have been scary for you. great shoot out!!
ReplyDeleteI agree, your word picture is as good as a photo. I've only traveled in Mexico and I felt intrusive photographing activities of people whose normal was bathing in a garbage can or a shelter made of pallets. I'm so sorry that the assignment resurrected your fear. I live where the only place I'm uncomfortable is walking in to a tavern alone to get one of those great "bar burgers". You made me remember some places that I have felt fear right here in the USA.
ReplyDeleteIt's like I am roaming around Brasil while reading this post. The real scenario like seeing a beggar sleeping on the street is usual. Here in my country a lot of them. Sometimes I asked myself of so many questions.
ReplyDeleteThe couple of photos you've shared are perfect for this week's theme. It's beautiful but I can see the incongruous in it. Thanks for sharing.
Very powerful and thought provoking.
ReplyDeleteGinger...this post was very moving. I don't know if I could take photos of the homeless either...street photography is an art all its own.
ReplyDeleteAs I read this though, I was really drawn into your words. Well done.
:)
Excellent post, Ginger...you treated the subject matter very well...
ReplyDeleteThank you for sharing.