Blessings for Every One

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“You are invited to the festival of this world and your life is blessed”
(Rabindranath Tagore – Indian Poet and writer, Nobel Prize for Literature in 1913, 1861-1941)

This was shot before sunset at the tomb of Mohammad Ghaus in Gwalior in the central Indian state of Madhya Pradesh as I was walking in the galleries surrounding the Sufi saint mazaar (tomb).
The building, built in the late 16th century in the typical Mughal style, is enclosed on all sides by delicately carved lattices over which rises a large dome.
This place is a pilgrimage centre for both the Hindus and the Muslims and this is why I selected this picture in order to celebrate the happy coincidence which makes today Eid-ul-fitr, Ganesh Chaturthi and Rosh Hashanah happen in the same time.
This place of devotion is a symbol of brotherhood to my eyes, this is where anyone can express his faith.

- Eid Mubarak, I wish you all a very happy and peaceful Eid. May Allah accept your good deeds, forgive your transgressions and ease the suffering of all peoples around the globe.
- Om Sri Ganeshaya Namah! I wish good luck and good fortune to every one on Ganesh Chaturthi.
- Shana Tova, wishing you all a New Year blessed with new biginnings, new hopes and joys…

The Passion Mysteries

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“And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the desert, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that those who believe in him may not perish, but may have life everlasting.” John 3:14
“And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all things to myself.” John 12:32

This is a close-up of Ligier Richier’s “Lamentation of Christ” which is in Church of St. Étienne located in Saint-Mihiel, in northeastern France.
Ligier Richier (c. 1500 – 1567) was a sixteenth-century French sculptor who might have been inspired by the Mystery plays which are among the earliest formally developed plays in medieval Europe.
Medieval mystery plays focused on the representation of Bible stories in churches as tableaux with accompanying antiphonal song.
They developed from the 10th to the 16th century, reaching the height of their popularity in the 15th century before being rendered obsolete by the rise of professional theatre.

Patience and Prayer

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“Seek assistance through patience and prayer, and most surely it is a hard thing except for the humble ones”.
(Quran – The Cow 2.45)

This was shot last Friday at the tomb of Mohammad Ghaus in Gwalior in the central Indian state of Madhya Pradesh.
A few people came to offer namaaz (prayer) in front of the Sufi saint mazaar (tomb).
It was quiet and peaceful, I was alone walking in the galleries inside this Mughal style building of the 16th century and I saw that bowl where was reflecting a carved lattice.
From the central dome a man was singing verses from the Quran, I stayed there till the begining of sunset enjoying this timeless moment.

Some Secrets of Life

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“Of all our games, love’s play is the only one which threatens to unsettle our soul, and is also the only one in which the player has to abandon himself to the body’s ecstasy.
…Nailed to the beloved body like a slave to a cross, I have learned some secrets of life which are now dimmed in my memory by the operation of that same law which ordained that the convalescent, once cured, ceases to understand the mysterious truths laid bare by illness, and that the prisoner, set free, forgets his torture, or the conqueror, his triumph passed, forgets his glory.”
(Quotes from “Memoirs of Hadrian” by French writer Marguerite Yourcenar)

Antinoüs (111–130) was a member of the entourage of the Roman Emperor Hadrian, to whom he was beloved.
Antinous was deified after his death.
This marble statue stands at Le Louvre museum it allowed me to try a Canon EOs 500D.

 

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Having New Eyes

“The real voyage of discovery consists not in seeking new landscapes but in having new eyes.”
(Marcel Proust – French Novelist and Author, 1871-1922)

Phileas Fogg’s balloon was now reaching the top of the Cathedral of Notre Dame in Paris.
Everyone was happy up there knowing that the real voyage was only starting, they didn’t know yet which amazing landscapes they would see nor who would join them onboard.
So far Phileas Fogg and Passepartout invited Jules Verne, Marcel Proust, Tulsidas and the great Kabir to join them among the ship of dreams and this was of great promise…

Infinity Made Imaginable

“The principle of the Gothic architecture is infinity made imaginable.”
(Samuel Taylor Coleridge – English lyrical Poet, Critic and Philosopher, 1772-1834)

This is a picture of Sampurnanand Sanskrit University which is an institution of higher learning in Sanskrit and other languages located in Varanasi (Benaras).
It is a quiet place nearby the house where I am living and I like to come there in order to daydream among this amazing Gothic style architecture which is quite unexepected in this city.

The Hunchback of Notre Dame

“But ’tis the devil who rings the Angelus!”
“(“The Hunchback of Notre Dame” by Victor Hugo)

For a change I felt like showing a view of Paris from Notre Dame which is matching the new series of pictures on which I am working.”

The Art of Seeing

“When a man understands the art of seeing, he can trace the spirit of an age and the features of a king even in the knocker on a door.”
(“The Hunchback of Notre-Dame”, a novel by Victor Hugo published in 1831)

In The Hunchback of Notre Dame, Victor Hugo makes frequent reference to the architecture of the Cathedral of Notre Dame in Paris.
The enormous popularity of the book in France spurred the nascent historical preservation movement in that country and strongly encouraged Gothic revival architecture.
Ultimately it led to major renovations at Notre-Dame in the 19th century led by Eugène Viollet-le-Duc.
Much of the cathedral’s present appearance is a result of this renovation.

I don’t show many images of Paris in my photostream however there is a connection with a series of pictures about Gothicism in Varanasi (Benaras) on which I am working actuallyand that I’ll be uploading soon.

Memories of a Thousand Years

“I have more memories than if I were a thousand years old.”
(Charles Baudelaire – French poet, 1821-1867)

This lady was at the door of her house in a small street which was leading to the Ganges in Kashi, the oldest part of Varanasi (Benaras).
No one else was there, she was standing like a phoenix who had memories of a thousand years.
I asked her if I could take a few pictures and she happily accepted to pose with two of my friends before posing alone.

A Mass of Dust

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“A mass of dust, world’s momentary slave, Is man, in state of our old Adam made, Soon born to die, soon flourishing to fade.”
(Barnabe Barne – English poet, 1569—1609)

This is a close-up of one of those four men who were emptying plaster bags from a truck in my street in Varanasi (Benaras).
It was very dusty, although they reminded me “butoh” dancers performing with white-body makeup.
This japanese contemporary dance came after the second world war and among several things the choreography is a remembrance of the suffering of Hiroshima’s atomic bomb.
It raises the question of how is it still possible to dance after such a thing and in some ways it is easy to compare this concept of art to those workers living in dust.