The Wholeness Of The Self

“Remembering our past, carrying it around with us always, may be the necessary requirement for maintaining, as they say, the wholeness of the self.
To ensure that the self doesn’t shrink, to see that it holds on to its volume, memories have to be watered like potted flowers, and the watering calls for regular contact with the witnesses of the past, that is to say, with friends.
They are our mirror; our memory; we ask nothing of them but that they polish the mirror from time to time so we can look at ourselves in it.”
(From “Identity” by Milan Kundera)

This man was standing at the gate of the mausoleum of the third Mughal emperor, Akbar the Great, located in Sikandra in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh.
He was not young but he was not old either and his face carried emotional wounds with a moving melancholy…

Join the photographer at www.facebook.com/laurent.goldstein.photography

© 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.

Advertisement

The Desire to Fall

“Anyone whose goal is ‘something higher’ must expect someday to suffer vertigo.
What is vertigo?
Fear of falling?
No, Vertigo is something other than fear of falling.
It is the voice of the emptiness below us which tempts and lures us, it is the desire to fall, against which, terrified, we defend ourselves.”
(From ” The Unbearable Lightness of Being” by Milan Kundera)

Sometimes daydreaming along the Ganges provides a sensory disorder or a sensation of being off-balance and then a strong desire to fall.
To fall and forget everything, to confide in the holy waters like this young man diving at Scindia ghat in Varanasi (Benaras)…

Join the photographer at www.facebook.com/laurent.goldstein.photography

© 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

“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).

Join the photographer at www.facebook.com/laurent.goldstein.photography

© 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.

RED HALO – Throw style “Jaisalmer” – col Black

A deep contrast in black and white with our “Jaisalmer” design on a throw with an aari embroidery…
(Throw style “Jaisalmer” – col Black – 150×200 – 100% wool – Collection RED HALO)

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

Visit and join the RED HALO page on Facebook,https://www.facebook.com/redhalo.in

Join the photographer athttps://www.facebook.com/laurent.goldstein.photography

© 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.

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.

Join the photographer at www.facebook.com/laurent.goldstein.photography

© 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

“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…

Join the photographer at www.facebook.com/laurent.goldstein.photography

© 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.

From the Chaos of the World

© 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.

“Beauty is something wonderful and strange that the artist fashions out of the chaos of the world in the torment of his soul.”
(William Somerset Maugham – English Writer, 1874-1965)

Anand is wrapped in a silk scarf made with a hand embroidery.
This artcraft is done by ladies involved in several workshops that we have settled with GURIA, a Human Rights organisation fighting against the sexual exploitation of women and children, particularly those forced into prostitution and trafficking.
Each scarf is unique and made in sarees provided by many women in Benaras who take this opportunity to get rid of pieces that they brought in order to celebrate happy moments, festivals or parties.
Those accessories carry traces of happiness in their yarns…
Anand, our icon model, shows his body for the purpose of this brotherhood and happiness chain as this is a way to catch the attention on this fight for Human Rights and human dignity.
(Scarf style “Kingdom” – 100% silk – Collection RED HALO)

RED HALO is a collection of household linen based in Benaras (Varanasi – India) providing work to people who were living with difficulties and education to children.
“Like” the new RED HALO page on Facebook and join this amazing human adventure in Varanasi,www.facebook.com/redhalo.in

Join the photographer atwww.facebook.com/laurent.goldstein.photography

In a Grain of Sand

© All rights reserved.

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.

 

“To see a world in a grain of sand And heaven in a wild flower,
To hold Infinity in the palm of your hand,
And Eternity in an hour.”
(William Blake – English poet, painter, and printmaker, 1757 – 1827)

This boy was on a boat along the Ganges in Varanasi (Benaras).
I don’t know anything about him, I liked the colour shades provided by the early morning light of winter, there was something reminding me pictures from the 70’s.

 

A Longing of the Soul

“Prayer is not asking.
It is a longing of the soul.
It is daily admission of one’s weakness.
It is better in prayer to have a heart without words than words without a heart.”
(Mahatma Gandhi – 1869-1948)

This is a portrait of Indian designer, Piyush Suri shot in January 2010.

But my Soul

“For it was not into my ear you whispered, but into my heart.
It was not my lips you kissed, but my soul.”
(Judy Garland – American actress and singer, 1922–1969)

This is a portrait of Indian designer, Indu shot in January 2010.