Street Stories
During my photography trip, I came across this woman. This is one of my favorite photos so far. She was a woman who sold balloons for a living and in the course of waiting for customers, she fell asleep where she was sitting, selling her goods. Witnessing her predicament filled me with sympathy. As I clicked this photo, I realized that the scene looks like the masks which she is selling are laughing on her distressed situation in a sadistic manner. This photo made me think about her day to day struggles and how she must face them inevitably. Nobody spared their attention towards this poor woman and I could not bring myself to click another picture of her visage because of her condition. Wistfully thinking about the woman, I continued to walk amidst the crowd
Man's and God's best friend
This photo has been captured during Somavati festival at Jejuri (Maharashtra,India), at a golden place of lord Shiva called Malhar. Somvati Amavasya is the no moon day in a Hindu calendar. Somvati Utsav is celebrated on Somvati amavasya (no moon day that falls on Monday) at Jejuri temple when the Shepherd God-Khandoba comes out of the temple to bathe in the Karar river. The Palkhi procession is taken through temples in Jejuri and Khandoba is brought back to his temple before the end of Amavasya. In Jejuri, a dog has a lot of importance. The devotees pray not only gods but also the dogs which are present in the village. They believe that a dog is the most loved animal of their god and so there can be seen lots of statues of dogs in and around the temples. I came across such a lifeless dog and a real dog and without wasting a single moment, managed to click a photo of the same.
Power of devotion
This photo was captured during the Palkhi festival in Maharashtra, India. The devotees perform their chantings, dancing and singing out of devotion to their lord, Mauli in the holy town of Pandharpur where lakhs of devotees attend. As a photographer, attending this festival meant a lot for me than just attending an event with devotion or for clicking photos, for that matter. I underwent a lot of catharsis and felt various thoughts which I usually do not think about. The fact that this event takes place on such a large scale and yet everything goes according to order was something that surprised to a huge extent. During this trail of thoughts I realized that maybe there is a godly power controlling all this. I felt that God himself takes care of those who show such devotion towards Him. These were the range of emotions I felt while clicking this picture.
Daily 42km: Invisible subject
Daily 42km is my street photography subject. It is my consistent commute from my office to home and vice versa on my bike. During my commute I keep my camera with me and capture a photo whenever I see an admirable view. I obviously cannot use my camera by using the viewfinder so I take a photo from judgment. I always take an effort to include any of my motorcycle’s part in the frame. Bike is a common subject in my composition. During the day I took this photo, I passed a bridge and I saw a few people conducting their traditional program, and I saw a boy sitting pillion the opposite way on a bike and shooting from his mobile phone. I really liked this moment and so I clicked in that general direction approximately and passed them. When I checked the photos at night, it came to my attention that what the boy was shooting was actually visible in my rear view mirror and the beauty in this was that it was purely coincidental and absolutely unplanned.
Colors of Work
On my trip to the Pushkar Fair in Rajasthan I came across this unique combination of lights midst the hustle bustle of the night. On one side was a barber waiting for more customers and on the other was the carpenter who was still working. People usually focus where the activity prevails , even I initially was capturing the carpenter working moment. Then when I lifted my camera and focused it using my wide angle lens it dawned on me that the picture holistically represents two people working in different lights. then I merge their worlds into one image.