Head of Hair

“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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Body & Soul

“Eros (or call it lust if you will), is like a beautiful, magnificent Afghan Hound!
A pure white Afghan Hound commanding respect and honor!
But if you take the Afghan Hound and lock it in a small cage, shun it and look upon it badly, treat it as a pestilence and wish that it would die; that same creature of beauty will become a vile, unrepentant, dark creature of the shadows!
Untrusting, hidden in the corner, aggressive… something that will harm others and yourself!
But is this the nature of the creature, is this the fault of the creature?
Or are YOU the one who has created the monster that it has become?
And this is my philosophy: that we are both corporeal and incorporeal beings, therefore, the same amount of good intent MUST be given to both our soul and our body!”
(C. JoyBell C. – Poet, Essayist, Novelist, Philosopher and Author)

This picture was shot a few days ago at the upper terrace of my office in Varanasi (Benaras) with natural light.

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Prayer With Incense

 

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“Let my prayer be set forth before thee as incense; and the lifting up of my hands as the evening sacrifice.”
(The Holy Bible – Psalms 141:2)

This picture was shot at Dasaswamedh ghat along the Ganges in Varanasi (Benaras) during the Ganga Aarti which is performed every evening by students from the Sanskrit University trained to become Hindu priests.

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A Song, A Dream, A Whisper

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“You are the answer to every prayer I’ve offered.
You are a song, a dream, a whisper, and I don’t know how I could have lived without you for as long as I have.”
(From “The Notebook” by Nicholas Sparks)

Early in the morning this lady lit up a diya (candle) at Dasaswamedh ghat and let the holy waters of the Ganges carry away her prayer as if it was a song, a dream, a whisper…

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The Open Hand

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“Architecture is the learned game, correct and magnificent, of forms assembled in the light.”
(Le Corbusier – French Architect and city planner (born in Switzerland), 1887-1965)

This is the largest of the many Open Hand sculptures that Le Corbusier created, it is a 28 meter high version and it stands in Chandigarh, the capital of the Indian state of Punjab.
A few years after the Indenpendance, Nehru commissioned the French architect and urban planner to design the city in order to reflect the new nation’s modern, progressive outlook.
The birth of this modern, youngest and vibrant city was an act of anguish and drama that took place at the time of partition of India and Pakistan.
Lahore, the historical capital of Punjab was ceded to Pakistan and Chandigarh was conceived to be a symbol of India’s freedom.
The Open Hand (La Main Ouverte) is a recurring motif in Le Corbusier’s architecture, a sign for him of “peace and reconciliation.
It is open to give and open to receive.

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The Beauty of the Flower

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“By plucking her petals, you do not gather the beauty of the flower.”
(Rabindranath Tagore – Indian Poet, Playwright and Essayist, Won the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1913, 1861-1941)

At sunrise many women spread their sarees along the Ganges after washing them.
They look huge petals of extraordinary flowers which bring life to the awaking ghats.
This festival of colours and patterns becomes a treat for the lense of a photographer and a tribute to femininity…

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In The Starlight

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“It is said that no star is a heroine to her makeup artist.”
(Richard Corliss – American journalist)

This is a backstage glimpse from a window into the makeup room before the show of a school in Bhadohi in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh at 45 KM from Varanasi (Benaras).
Several kids wearing gorgeous costums were waiting in line in front of the make-up artist who was changing their features in order to make them play specific characters.
This little girl was getting ready to perfom a traditional dance.
The light was provided by a single bulb from the ceiling in the room and allowed to have make a series of pictures with no editing.

Blessings of Love

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“A successful marriage is an edifice that must be rebuilt every day.”
(Andre Maurois – French author, 1885–1967)

This picture was shot along the holy waters of the Ganges in Varanasi (Benaras) where a new-married couple was getting the blessings from the groom’s mother.
This ceremony happens the day after the wedding, early in the morning when the couple is coming to seek blessings from the Goddess Ganga.

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A Human Adventure

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“The tricky part of the human journey is to transform ourselves continually as our life directions change.”
(Donna L. Friess – American teacher & author)

“LIKE” our new Facebook page for RED HALO and join this amazing human adventure in Varanasi.
You just have to follow this link, www.facebook.com/redhalo.in
Then you will see the collections but also what happens behind the scenes and meet some members of our team…

RED HALO is a collection of household linen based in Benaras (Varanasi – India) providing work to people living with difficulties and education to children.

On this picture Jai Prakar is doing a Aari embroidery on a linen throw with our “Lodhi” design, following the design transfered with the lime plaster application.
His hands are moving according his inspiration and brings a particular touch to each piece, making it unique…

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The Most Magnificent Cloth

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‎”…They declared that they could make the most magnificent cloth that one could imagine; cloth of most beautiful colours and elaborate patterns.
Not only was the material so beautiful, but the clothes made from it had the special power of being invisible to everyone who was stupid or not fit for his post.
“What a splendid idea,” thought the Emperor.
“What useful clothes to have.
If I had such a suit of clothes I could know at once which of my people is stupid or unfit for his post.”
So the Emperor gave the swindlers large sums of money and the two weavers set up their looms in the palace…”
(From “The Emperor’s New Clothes” by Hans Christian Anderson)

This was shot in a little workshop located near the chowk in Varanasi (Benaras) where traditional embroideries have been handed down from father to son since the time of the Mughals when that kind of work flourished.
Nowadays men wear that kind of sherwani mostly for weddings and engagement ceremonies.
Entering in such a workshop is like releasing a voluptuous fragrance from the past from an old bottle of perfume, it is like opening a door to a dream of magnificence, the splendor of the Great Mughals….
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“…Un jour, arrivèrent deux escrocs qui affirmèrent être tisserands et être capables de pouvoir tisser la plus belle étoffe que l’on pût imaginer.
Non seulement les couleurs et le motif seraint exceptionnellement beaux, mais les vêtements qui en seraient confectionnés posséderaient l’étonnante propriété d’être invisibles aux yeux de ceux qui ne convenaient pas à leurs fonctions ou qui étaient simplement idiots.
“Ce serait des vêtements précieux”, se dit l’empereur. “Si j’en avais de pareils, je pourrais découvrir qui, de mes sujets, ne sied pas à ses fonctions et départager les intelligents des imbéciles !
Je dois sur le champ me faire tisser cette étoffe!”
Il donna aux deux escrocs une avance sur leur travail et ceux-ci se mirent à l’ouvrage…”
(“Les Habits neufs de l’Empereur” de Hans Christian Andersen)

Cette photo a été prise dans un petit atelier se situant dans le chowk de Varanasi (Benares) où les broderies traditionnelles se sont transmises de père en fils depuis l’époque des Moghols lorsque cet artisanat prospérait.
De nos jours les hommes portent ces sherwani essentiellement pour les cérémonies de mariage et de fiançailles.
Entrer dans un atelier comme celui-ci revient à libérer une fragrance voluptueuse venant du passé d’une vieille bouteille de parfum, c’est comme ouvrir la porte à un rêve d’opulence, la splendeur des grands Monghols….

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