Singing Colors

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“Why do two colors, put one next to the other, sing?
Can one really explain this?
No.
Just as one can never learn how to paint.”
(Pablo Picasso – Spanish painter and sculptor, 1881-1973)

 

No one can explain why colors sing nor why Varanasi (Benaras) like the rest of the country is an amazing auditorium to listen to those blissful symphonies…
This picture was shot in a workshop nearby Sarnath where magicians display colors on sarees using the art of block printing.
This place which gives birth to unlimited shades is a treat for the senses…

 

 

 

 

Songs of Joy

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“Sing the songs of joy to the Lord, serve the Name of the Lord, and become the servant of His servants.”
(Guru Nanak – founder of Sikhism and first of the ten Sikh Gurus, 1469-1539)
This musician was among a group of people playing music in front of the Harmandir Sahib, the Golden Temple in Amritsar, the holiest city in Sikhism located in the Indian state of Punjab.
It was a moment of bliss at Heaven’s gate…

A beautiful prayer sung by Satinder Sartaj:

The Winter of Our Discontent

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“Now is the winter of our discontent
Made glorious summer by this sun of York;
And all the clouds that low’r'd upon our house
In the deep bosom of the ocean buried.”
(From “Richard The Third” – Act I, scene I by William Shakespeare)

This man was resting, turning his back to the Ganges under a winter sun.
It was shot at Panchganga ghat in Varanasi (Benaras).
“Now is the winter of our discontent” are the opening words of Richard III and lay the groundwork for the portrait of Richard as a discontented man who is unhappy in a world that hates him.
For many days Shakespeare’s words kept on running in my mind and I thought that this picture could hold them back and allow me to move to something else…

 

Quietness Forever

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“And the effect of righteousness will be peace, and the result of righteousness, quietness and trust forever.”
(The Holy Bible – Isaiah 32:17)

This picture was shot at sunrise from a boat along river Ganga in Varanasi (Benares).
Those precious moments are very peacefull when the Eternal city is awakening.
Anyone finds a reason to come to the ghats, some come to worship, to wash, to enjoy dawn or to take pictures.
This young man was brushing his teeth, he seemed to have found that quietness and trust forever…

 

Dreaming by Moonlight

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“A dreamer is one who can only find his way by moonlight, and his punishment is that he sees the dawn before the rest of the world.”
(Oscar Wilde quotes – Irish Poet and Novelist, 1854-1900)

Following the birds which belongs to some kind of ethereal dreams, this is now the Asfi Masjid (mosque) which is one the largest places of worship in India.
It is in the Bara Imambara (also called the Asafi Imambara) complex in Lucknow, the city of Nawabs, built by Asaf-ud-daulah, Nawab of Lucknow, in 1784.
Bara means big, and an imambara is a shrine built by Shia Muslims for the purpose of Azadari.

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Dreaming the Past

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“I can only note that the past is beautiful because one never realises an emotion at the time.
It expands later, and thus we don’t have complete emotions about the present, only about the past.”
(Virginia Woolf – English writer, 1882-1941)

This is a view of the Chhota Imambara, also known as Hussainabad Imambara, which is located in the city of Lucknow, in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh.
Built by Muhammad Ali Shah, The third Nawab of Avadh in 1838, it was to serve as his own mausoleum.
It is also known as the Palace of Lights.
Thousands of labourers worked on the project to gain famine relief.

This picture was shot at the time of sunset, the monument was reflecting in the waters and there was a kind of magic all around the place, it was easy to feel how the past could have been beautiful in the City of Nawabs.

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A Tear Drop in the Face of Eternity

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Since many years I wanted to take a few pictures of the Taj Mahal from the other side of the Yamuna river and a few days ago I could at last do it while I was going by car from Delhi to Lucknow.
Rabindranath Tagore once said that this wonder of the world was “A tear drop in the face of eternity”, those words allow me to fly away with the birds and to open a new ethereal dream, under a mysterious moonlight…

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A Symbol of Ancestral Memories

“The horse is an archetypal symbol which will always find ways to stir up deep and moving ancestral memories in every human being.”
(Paul Mellon – American philanthropist, thoroughbred racehorse owner/breeder, 1907 – 1999)

Recently it was the wedding season in India, usually the groom comes to the ceremony riding a white mare while all the members of his family are dancing in the streets in front of him.
A few days ago I was walking in Sigra, a part of Varanasi (Benaras) and I saw this beautiful horse.

The Cloths Of Heaven

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“Had I the heavens’ embroidered cloths,
Enwrought with golden and silver light,
The blue and the dim and the dark cloths
Of night and light and the half-light,
I would spread the cloths under your feet:
But I, being poor, have only my dreams;
I have spread my dreams under your feet;
Tread softly because you tread on my dreams.”
(“He Wishes For The Cloths Of Heaven” by William Butler Yeats)

This throw made of wool and silk is woven with a Jamawar design on traditional handloom.
The lightness of the fabric allows to wear it like a scarf as well.
Abhijeet was modelling for the first time and he was very easy with the camera.
This picture was shot with natural light at the upper terrace which is on the top of our office in Varanasi (Benaras).
(Collection RED HALO – Throw style “NOOR” – Col. Blue Jean)

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A Feeling of Humanty

 

This picture was shot at Ahilyabai ghat along the Ganges in Varanasi (Benaras).
This man came to bath in the holy waters with two friends and I made a few shots while they were drying and putting their clothes on.
They were happy to be there together, there was something strong all over the place, something that I can’t really explain, I would say that it was a feeling of humanity.
I felt that there couldn’t be one without the other, that those men’s humanity was bound to mine and that we could be human only all together.
And this was enhanced by that amazing light provided by dusk which is a gift for any photographer who comes nearby the water at that time.
They told me that they were pleased to see what I captured when they saw the pictures.