Archive for dignity

The Humanity Of The Moment

Posted in Timeless Black & White with tags , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on December 5, 2013 by designldg

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“Black and white are the colors of photography.
To me they symbolize the alternatives of hope and despair to which mankind is forever subjected.
Most of my photographs are of people; they are seen simply, as through the eyes of the man in the street.
There is one thing the photograph must contain, the humanity of the moment.
This kind of photography is realism.
But realism is not enough–there has to be vision, and the two together can make a good photograph.
It is difficult to describe this thin line where matter ends and mind begins.
(Robert Frank – American photographer and filmaker, b.1924)

This sadhu was walking at Scindia ghat along the Ganges in Varanasi (Benaras), it was after sunrise and he was holding a traditional tiffin-box containing a meal prepared by some generous soul…

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Please do not use any photographs without permission (even for private use).
The use of any work without consent of the artist is PROHIBITED and will lead automatically to consequences.

 

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Head of Hair

Posted in Timeless Black & White with tags , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on November 2, 2013 by designldg

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“O fleecy hair, falling in curls to the shoulders!
O black locks! O perfume laden with nonchalance!
Ecstasy! To people the dark alcove tonight
With memories sleeping in that thick head of hair.
I would like to shake it in the air like a scarf!

Sweltering Africa and languorous Asia,
A whole far-away world, absent, almost defunct,
Dwells in your depths, aromatic forest!
While other spirits glide on the wings of music,
Mine, O my love! floats upon your perfume…”

These words are the beginning of “La Chevelure” a poem by French poet Charles Baudelaire from “Les Fleurs du Mal (Flowers of Evil)” published in 1851.
This is a link to the original poem in French with several translations in English,
fleursdumal.org/poem/203

This picture was shot along the Ganges in Varanasi (Benaras).
After taking a bath in the holy waters, this lady was styling her long white hair under the sun.
She was old, beautiful, graceful and bearing the quintessence of femininity.
This is why Baudelaire’s words came to me quite naturally as he was the base of my educational journey when I was a teenager…

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© All photographs are copyrighted and all rights reserved.
Please do not use any photographs without permission (even for private use).
The use of any work without consent of the artist is PROHIBITED and will lead automatically to consequences.

Everlasting Beauty

Posted in Timeless Black & White with tags , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on November 2, 2013 by designldg

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“It`s not how old you are, it`s how you are old.”
(Jules Renard – French author, 1864–1910)

This lady came from South India in order to worship the Ganges in Varanasi (Benaras).
After taking a bath in the holy waters, she was styling her long white hair under the sun.
The quintessence of femininity was visible through her graceful gestures…she was beautiful…

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© All photographs are copyrighted and all rights reserved.
Please do not use any photographs without permission (even for private use).
The use of any work without consent of the artist is PROHIBITED and will lead automatically to consequences.

The Free Soul

Posted in Banarsi (Portraits) with tags , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on August 28, 2013 by designldg

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“The free soul is rare, but you know it when you see it – basically because you feel good, very good, when you are near or with them.”
(From “Tales of Ordinary Madness” by Charles Bukowski)

This man was among a group of homeless people staying nearby Jama Masjid in Old Delhi.
Their faces could easily show that life was not easy for them but they were carrying a kind of grace and deep happiness…
It was nice to spend a moment with them, I was feeling “good…very good”, certainly because like this man they were free souls…

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© All photographs are copyrighted and all rights reserved.
Please do not use any photographs without permission (even for private use).
The use of any work without consent of the artist is PROHIBITED and will lead automatically to consequences.

The Traceless

Posted in Banarsi (Portraits) with tags , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on August 28, 2013 by designldg

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“My place is the Placeless, my trace is the Traceless ;
‘Tis neither body nor soul, for I belong to the soul of the Beloved.
I have put duality away, I have seen that the two worlds are one;
One I seek, One I know, One I see, One I call. ”
(Jalāl ad-Dīn Muhammad Balkhī known as Rumi – Persian poet and Sufi mystic, 1207-1273)

I met this man nearby Jama Masjid in Old Delhi.
He was homeless and his life seemed to be tough however there was an amazing happiness in his eyes as if he had reached what he was seeking for since a long time…

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© All photographs are copyrighted and all rights reserved.
Please do not use any photographs without permission (even for private use).
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A Dash of Colours

Posted in The Oldest Living City in the World with tags , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on August 18, 2013 by designldg

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“All colors are the friends of their neighbors and the lovers of their opposites. ”
(Marc Chagall – Russian artist, 1887-1985)

As the heat became unbearable, those ladies came to find an illusion of freshness under the big umbrellas used by the priests staying at Shitla Ghat.
The colours of their sarees and bangles enthralled my camera…

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© All photographs are copyrighted and all rights reserved.
Please do not use any photographs without permission (even for private use).
The use of any work without consent of the artist is PROHIBITED and will lead automatically to consequences.

True Wisdom

Posted in The Oldest Living City in the World with tags , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on August 18, 2013 by designldg

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“I know what I have given you.
I do not know what you have received.”
(Antonio Porchia – Italian poet, 1886-1968)

This man is a worshipper of Shiva and stays in an ashram near Raj ghat along the Ganges in Varanasi (Benaras).
Since a few days it has been very hot in the city but last morning there was a gentle breeze which is a sign of a coming monsoon and this wise man seemed to be enjoying the weather from his balcony…

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© All photographs are copyrighted and all rights reserved.
Please do not use any photographs without permission (even for private use).
The use of any work without consent of the artist is PROHIBITED and will lead automatically to consequences.

Related To the whole world

Posted in The Oldest Living City in the World with tags , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on August 17, 2013 by designldg

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“As a woman I have no country.
As a woman I want no country.
As a woman, my country is the whole world.”
(Virginia Woolf – English writer, 1882–1941)

This lady was changing clothes after having a bath in the holy waters of the Ganges in Varanasi (Benaras).

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© All photographs are copyrighted and all rights reserved.
Please do not use any photographs without permission (even for private use).
The use of any work without consent of the artist is PROHIBITED and will lead automatically to consequences.

A Physical State

Posted in Pehlwans from Benaras with tags , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on July 4, 2013 by designldg

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“When an idea exclusively occupies the mind, it is transformed into an actual physical or mental state.”
(Swami Vivekananda – Indian Spiritual leader, 1863-1902)

This picture was shot inside the akhara facing the Ganges at Raj Ghat in Varanasi (Benaras) where this pehlwan follows a daily training at dawn.
The reflection in the mirror was providing a backlighting which I always enjoy to work with…

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© All photographs are copyrighted and all rights reserved.
Please do not use any photographs without permission (even for private use).
The use of any work without consent of the artist is PROHIBITED and will lead automatically to consequences.

Physical Wisdom

Posted in Pehlwans from Benaras with tags , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on July 4, 2013 by designldg

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“Our own physical body possesses a wisdom which we who inhabit the body lack.
We give it orders which make no sense.”
(Henry Miller – American Author and Writer, 1891-1980)

An inward moment with a pehlwan who was following his daily training inside the akhara facing the Ganges at Raj Ghat in Varanasi (Benaras).

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© All photographs are copyrighted and all rights reserved.
Please do not use any photographs without permission (even for private use).
The use of any work without consent of the artist is PROHIBITED and will lead automatically to consequences.