SDM FILTER

This series was inspired by the film Slumdog Millionaire. More than the storyline it was the storytelling that sparked this series. The edgy-gritty feel and tone of the following pics have been inspired by the edgy, gritty and vigorous visuals of Slumdog Millionaire. If you have seen the film you will know what I mean.

LOVEY DOVEY

This little fellow here is an insomniac...just like me. Unfortunately, on those rare ocassions when I actually do fall asleep, he makes it a point to keep me awake with his dove-babble...but he is such a doll and I don't have the heart to chase him away...

EYE OPENER

I believe that when you have a camera in hand you tend to look at things differently. You begin to SEE the world around you. What you see below is actually the fencing around my apartment building. And I have been passing by it for the last six years, without actually SEEING it. It is only today that I woke up to its splendid beauty bathed in the evening sun.

Sunset

FLOWER POWER

Nature will never cease to excite me!

SMOKY SATURDAY

I read about photographer Steve Paxton's methods of photographing wisps of smoke. I fell in love with his `smoky' photographs. According to Steve anyone can do it, all you need is incense sticks, strobe light, reflector, black cloth and a few other parphernalia along with some imagination. I definitely had incense sticks (I'm Indian right?). No strobe light. But had a pencil torch. No reflector. But had white paper. Black cloth. Check. But then I realised it was just me and my camera and I could either hold the torch light or the reflector but not both. There was noway I could place or clip these items to act as stand alone accessories. So I just improvised a lil bit on Steve's method.Chucked the reflector away and held on to the torch. Once I began clicking, it was more like a game -catching the wisp of smoke with the torch light -it was great fun. Beats going out on a Saturday night! In the bargain I got some lovely photos too. Well, atleast to me it looks lovely...:)

PHOTO GURU

This is one of those photographs that I always turn to when I get a little doubtful of my abilities with the camera. This pic gives me the confidence to pick up the camera again. It also reminds me that one doesn't create any beautiful images, they are already there, we just need to allow ourselves to see it and then capture it.

STORIES WITHIN A STORY

My friend and I went to see Iranian photographer Shadi Gadhirian's works. There was a series called `Out of Focus' (OOF). It was about women in Iran who remain invisible inspite of their acheivements and accomplishments in life. They are always relegated to the background -out of focus!

Here my friend is in front of a photograph from the OOF series. To me this picture was all about creating a new story within a story. And the beauty of it is that the interpretations of this story vary depending on the individual.

Sometimes, your mind distorts what the eye sees because at that moment in time distortion gives you a feeling of euphoria-something that we all crave for from time to time. Distortion helps you create something unique which you know is not possible in real life, yet you want a glimpse of it. There are many layers of distortion in this pic -in its mood, in its intepretation, in its colors, in its message. This pic represents `that moment in time' for me.

I always believe that a picture tells different people different stories. It speaks to them. And there is no right or wrong stories. They are all true stories. True to the individual that tells them and those that hears them. This pic tells me a story, which is entirely different from what it tells you. So you hear own story and if you have the time write and tell me your story.

TALKING HANDS -PART 2

Humans hands speak a universal language. Watch the hands of fellow human beings and you can hear the unspoken language. It's a dialect of life. And that's why I like freezing frame on human hands -to capture the meaning of the unspoken words!
(Go to archives for TALKING HANDS -Part 1)

FASCINATION CONTINUES PART 2

(Click on photos to enlarge)

A LIFETIME IN THE MAKING

I think these photos are going to be few of my all time favourite portraits of my mom, especially the first picture. And to think that one cannot even see her face in any of these pics....but each picture is loaded with emotions and feelings.....
(Click on the photos to enlarge and see the hands talk)

GINGU'S EXPRESSIVE EYES

I brought her home in a shoe box. She was 15 days old. I named her ginger. My mother was appalled. `How can you even come up with something like that -it is something that grows underground, it is no name for a child of this house....."she said. I forgot, she was the same mom who refused to name my earlier pet Jimmy because it was a "dog's name" . But it's also the name of an ex-American President, I said. She gave me a look that translated into "Why was he named after a dog?"

This time around I stood my ground, `Ginger she will be" I said. I forgot that my mom's a mallu and like all good malayalees she too suffixes a `uuu' and `dhe' to all pronouns. So Ginger became Gingu and I could do nothing about it.

Gingu is my seven year old German Shephard. She has the most beautiful eyes -it can be mischeivous, arrogant, stubborn, angry and downright wicked. Most of the time she just tolerates me....and she thinks, no she believes, that she is the daughter of the house and that I am her pet-dog. Believe me, she treats me very badly! But she also has me wrapped around her big paw.

The butter-won't-melt-in-my-mouth-look

Okay now-I'm-getting-really-pissed-off-with-you- look

Okay I'm-bored-with-you-and-you-need-a-brain transplant-while-I-need-a-nap look

You-are-still-here, now-I-AM- pissed- off- with- you- look

MORE CLOUDS

Today, I struck gold. It was a dance of clouds and a play of light...my day's made!
(And it is as natural as it can get with no digital manipulation!)

DUSKY SKY

This picture evokes in me a myriad of emotions -love, loss, melancholy, mystery, danger, eons gone by.....-but all these emotions come tinged with a sliver of beauty.

A BYGONE CHILDHOOD

In the evenings kids come out to play in the little play area in my apartment. Most of these kids are accompanied by their `ayahs' or baby-sitters. There was something about this particular lady. When I look at the photograph below I wonder what is this lady thinking? A childhood of yore? A wonderful happy childhood where she dreamt beautiful dreams? And now, after all these years has she discovered that those dreams have remained just dreams and will remain so forever? I don't know, but the picture she portrayed was haunting.

EYES AND SOUL

If eyes are the messengers of the soul then what message are these eyes carrying?