The Photographic Fallacy

 

This is a fallacy of equivocation, I have been playing with this image, misleading your visual perception.

Here I am showing a close-up of a classical greek sculpture which is in Le Louvre museum in Paris.
It was fun to use colours in order to emphase this perfectly proportioned figure of the Hellenistic period.

This was the time when sculptors were using a combination of Contrapposto and “in the round” compositions (intended to be seen from multiple angles) creating more interesting and natural poses. 
The fundamental aim was to create fluidity within the pose by changing from the conventional parallels of the shoulders, hips and knees to sloping angles. 
These angles were much more comparable to the anatomy in real life, further emphasising naturalism and movement.

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“In the waiting line”

 

“Do you believe
In what you see
Motionless wheel
Nothing is real
Wasting my time
In the waiting line
Do you believe in
What you see”
(Lyrics from “In The Waiting Line” by Zero 7)

With this image I am still playing with the viewer’s perception, is this a close-up of a Greek sculpture from Le Louvre museum in Paris or is this a picture of a pehlwan (Indian wrestler) taken in Varanasi (Benaras)?

Zero 7 sings “In The Waiting Line”:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jj6yXxVc21Y

The Sensual World

 

When I started to work on this set of images reminding the lost Indo-Greek Kingdom I wanted to mix shots of humans with shots of sculptures in order to provide a fallacy of equivocation on what is human and what is not.

All those sculptures were waiting for me in Paris’ Louvre museum and those male models were the same Indian wrestlers (pehlwan) whom have been posing last January in Varanasi (Benaras).
But no woman accepted to pose in India saying that those pictures were showing a world of sensuality in which they didn’t want to be involved in case any relative could recognise a part of their body…

As I was walking along the ghats, I saw this young woman coming back from the holy waters of river Ganga, she didn’t realise that she was offering a bare breast.
This is the only picture I took as another lady saw me and came to ajust her sari.
But maybe I was dreaming and this is one more close-up of a sculpture of the Hellenistic period.
Who knows what is real as everything around me is “Stepping out, off the page, into the sensual world”. 

“The Sensual World” by Kate Bush :
www.youtube.com/watch?v=AJc64xncBt4

“Beyond is Arachosia”

 

“Beyond is Arachosia. 
And the Parthians call this White India; there are the city of Biyt and the city of Pharsana and the city of Chorochoad and the city of Demetrias; then Alexandropolis, the metropolis of Arachosia; it is Greek, and by it flows the river Arachotus. 
As far as this place the land is under the rule of the Parthians.”
(“Parthians stations”, 1st century CE)

Those words are from Isidorus of Charax who described during the 1st century CE, “Alexandropolis, the metropolis of Arachosia”, which he said was still Greek at such a late time.
Alexandria in Arachosia was a city in ancient times that is now called Kandahar or Qandahar (Pashto: کندھار, Persian: قندهار) in Afghanistan. 
It was founded by Alexander the Great and it is believed that Kandahar bears Alexander’s name from the Arabic and Persian rendering of “Alexander”, which derives from Iskandariya for Alexandria.
In Hindi Alexander is called Sikander (सिकन्दर) because at that time people were hearing “al-eks-an-der” or “the Ksander”.

After the departure of Alexander the city became part of the Mauryan Empire. 
The Mauryan emperor Ashoka erected a pillar there with a bilingual inscription in Greek and Aramaic.
The Greco-Bactrian Kingdom occupied Kandahar after the Mauryans, but then lost the city to the Indo-Greek Kingdom.

Here again this image is a close-up of a sculpture of the Hellenistic period which is in Le Louvre museum (Paris) and I have been using colours in order to provide a fallacy of equivocation on what is human and what is not…

The Eleusinian Mysteries

 

The Eleusinian Mysteries (Greek: Ἐλευσίνια Μυστήρια) were ceremonies held every year for the cult of Demeter and Persephone based at Eleusis in ancient Greece. 
They were religious practices characterized by initiation rites, cathartic and ecstatic practices, and a code of silence.
These myths and mysteries were the most famous and begun in the Mycenean period (c. 1700 BC) and lasting two thousand years, were a major festival during the Hellenic era, later spreading to Rome.
The rites, ceremonies, and beliefs were kept secret, as initiation was believed to unite the worshipper with the gods and included promises of divine power and rewards in the afterlife.
Since the Mysteries involved visions and conjuring of an afterlife, some scholars believe that the power and longevity of the Eleusinian Mysteries came from psychedelic agents.

Eleuseos means “the coming,” so the word Eleusinian refers to a spiritual advent. 
Mysterion means to close the mouth or eyes; its root mu imitates the sound made with the lips closed. 
Mysteria thus signified an event defined by closing the lips, closing the eyes, and entering into darkness. 
The journey of consciousness taken from that point onward was a mystery indeed, and yet we will explore these mysteries.

This is a picture that I took a few days ago on the upper terrace in Varanasi (Benaras) for our new catalogue.
The poses, the light and of course the fact that we mostly had throws to drape were easily reminding me sculptures of the Hellenistic period.
Now I am playing with those images and others that I took in Le Louvre museum, making a fallacy of equivocation and misleading the viewer’s perception.

A parching fever

 

“And O the pity of it! in a moment I looked and was lost, lost and smit i’ the heart; the colour went from my cheek; of that brave pageant I bethought me no more. 
How I got me home I know not; but this I know, a parching fever laid me waste and I was ten days and ten nights abed.”
(from IDYLLS 1 – 4 by THEOCRITUS)

THEOCRITUS was a Greek bucolic poet who flourished in Syracuse, Cos and Alexandria in the C3rd BC. His surviving work can mostly be found within an old compendium of 30 poems known as the “Idylls of Theocritus.

This image is a close-up of a classical greek sculpture of the Hellenistic period which is in Le Louvre museum in Paris.
I have been using colours in order to emphase the naturalism and movement and to provide a fallacy of equivocation.

Take my Hand

 

“Touch my skin,and tell me what you’re thinking
Take my hand and show me where we’re going
Lie down next to me, look into my eyes and tell me, oh tell me what you’re seeing
So sit on top of the world and tell me how you’re feeling
What you feel now is what I feel for you
Take my hand and if I’m lying to you
I’ll always be alone
If I’m lying to you…”
(Lyrics from “Take my hand” by Dido)

This is one more image concerning the lost Indo-Greek Kingdom and as it is becoming a kind of game, I’ll let you wonder if this a close-up of a Greek sculpture from Le Louvre museum in Paris or a picture of a pehlwan (Indian wrestler) taken in Varanasi (Benaras)…

Dido sings “Take my hand”:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=qpVM_az0Zjw

When shadows seduce

 

There is a lady I know who lives in Paris since a long time.
She is always trying to seduce anyone who comes nearby, she is not doing much, just trying to unbutton her dress and she is doing this since a very long time.

When I met her I was too young to understand but I could already feel her heart beating when I was visiting the palace where she stays.

Recently I decided to spend some time with her and I was talking to her while she was playing with shadows in which she kept wrapping herself, maybe she wanted to hide a little thinking that I would dislike the embrace of time on her body.

She forgot that she is ageless, people even think that she is the concept of beauty as she stands for ever in the greek sculpture room of the Hellenistic period which is in Le Louvre museum in Paris.

I have been using colours in order to emphase the naturalism and movement and to provide a fallacy of equivocation.

“Does that make me crazy?”

“My heroes had the heart to Lose their lives out on a limb
And all I remember is thinking, I want to be like them
Ever since I was little, ever since I was little it looked like fun
And it’s no coincidence I’ve come
And I can die when I’m done”
(Crazy – Lyrics by Gnarls Barkley)

This is a portait of Anand the majhi (hindi word for boatman), who oftenly poses for me. 
It was shot a few weeks ago on the upper terrace of the house in Varanasi (Benaras).
As I am working on a topic reminding the lost Indo-Greek kingdom, I mixed it with another picture of a bust of the Hellenistic period which I took in Le Louvre museum (Paris) in order to play with the viewer’s perception.

And suddenly this statue smiles, 
it’s alive…
“Maybe I’m crazy
Maybe you’re crazy
Maybe we’re crazy
Possibly”

GNARLS BARKLEY sings CRAZY:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=AlVkJJVc-uM&feature=related
Nelly Furtado sings CRAZY:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=_ZFHszG1Xvs

“When you were here before”

 

“When you were here before, 
Couldn’t look you in the eye
You’re just like an angel, 
Your skin makes me cry

You float like a feather
In a beautiful world
I wish I was special
You’re so very special

But I’m a creep, 
I’m a weirdo
What the hell am I doin’ here?
I don’t belong here

I don’t care if it hurts, 
I wanna have control
I want a perfect body 
I want a perfect soul

I want you to notice 
when I’m not around
You’re so very special
I wish I was special…”

(Creep by Readiohead)

This picture of Vinod was shot at sunrise at the Akhara which is near scindia ghat in Vanarasi (Benaras).
He is a pehlwan (Indian wrestler) and he often pauses for me.
The sunshine was reflecting into the holy waters of river Ganga and the place was turning into shafts of heat, we understood that soon we’ll have to leave and come back even earlier in the coming days in order to finish our photocession.
The editing here was done in order to keep this image in the lost Indo-Greek Kingdom set.

Creep by Readiohead:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=nxpblnsJEWM&feature=related