The Fugitive Moment

“Composition must be one of our constant preoccupations, but at the moment of shooting it can stem only from our intuition, for we are out to capture the fugitive moment, and all the interrelationships involved are on the move.”
(Henri Cartier-Bresson – French photographer, 1908–2004)

This picture was shot at Munshi Ghat along the Ganges in Varanasi (Benaras).
After taking a bath in the holy waters this man was drying under the early summer sun just after dawn.

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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)…

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With Gold At Both Ends

“Dare to love yourself
as if you were a rainbow
with gold at both ends.”
(From “The River of Winged Dreams” by Aberjhani)

This young man was diving in the river of golden dreams at Scindia ghat in Varanasi (Benaras)…

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Bathing in the Fountain of Youth

“The only true voyage, the only bath in the Fountain of Youth, would be not to visit strange lands but to possess other eyes, to see the universe through the eyes of another, of a hundred others, to see the hundred universes that each of them sees, that each of them is; and this we do [with great artists]; with artists like these we do really fly from star to star. ”
(From “The Prisoner and The Fugitive : In search of lost time, vol. 5” by Marcel Proust)

This young man was climbing a pillar which is usually underwater in the Ganges at Scindia ghat.
This architectural element is what is left from the massive palace which used to stand there until the end of the 19th century before the whole structure fell in the holy river.
This picture belongs to a series revolving around my “search of lost time” and of the lost splendour of Varanasi (Benaras)…

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I Put A Spell On You

“I put a spell on you.
Lord! Lord! Lord!
….’Cause you’re mine, yeah.
I can’t stand the things that you do
When you’re foolin’ around…”
(from “I Put A Spell On You”, Lyrics By Jay Hawkins)

I often meet this young man nearby Nepali ghat along the Ganges in Varanasi (Benaras) whenever he comes to bath a herd of water buffalos in the end of the afternoon…

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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…

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Physical Wisdom

“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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Omnia Vanitas (All is Vanity)

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“Vanity is so secure in the heart of man that everyone wants to be admired: even I who write this, and you who read this.”
(Blaise Pascal – French Mathematician, Philosopher and Physicist, 1623-1662)

This image was shot at Scindia Ghat along river Ganga in Varanasi (Benaras).
This young man was striking several poses in order to catch my attention so I could take a few snaps of him but I was pretending not to see him as I am mostly working on natural poses.
It was a Sunday afternoon before sunset and he came there to wash his laundry, his attitude was amazing, full of narcissism, each of his gesture was carrying vanity and pride…
After a while I couldn’t help laughing and I took a few pictures, in fact he knew that I was leaving the akhara nearby where I often take pictures of the pehlwani (wrestlers).

The pillar on the left belongs to the remains of a massive palace which used to stand on Scindhia ghat.
The entire structure has sunk several feet into the earth since its erection and is still gradually and slowly sinking.
Sometimes in the winter when the holy waters of the Ganges come very low it is possible to see it otherwise most of the time it stays underwater.

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The Road Toward Freedom

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“I am interested in anything about revolt, disorder, chaos-especially activity that seems to have no meaning.
It seems to me to be the road toward freedom…
Rather than starting inside, I start outside and reach the mental through the physical.”
(Jim Morrison – American singer & poet, 1943-1971)

This man was bathing before sunset in the holy waters of the Ganges at Shivala ghat in Varanasi (Benaras).
He smiled and laughed at my joke regarding his untied langot…

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A Certain Instinct

“There is in the human body a certain instinct for what is beneficial to us, as there is in the heart for what is our moral duty, an instinct which no authorisation by a doctor of medecine or divinity can replace.
We know that cold baths are bad for us, but we like them: we can always find a doctor to recommend them, not to prevent them from doing us harm.”
(from “The Captive” by Marcel Proust – French novelist, 1871-1922)

This man was stepping into the cold holy waters of the Ganges at Lal ghat in Varanasi (Benaras)…
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“Il y a dans notre corps un certain instinct de ce qui nous est salutaire, comme dans le cœur de ce qui est le devoir moral, et qu’aucune autorisation du docteur en médecine ou en théologie ne peut suppléer.
Nous savons que les bains froids nous font mal, nous les aimons, nous trouverons toujours un médecin pour nous les conseiller, non pour empêcher qu’ils ne nous fassent mal.”
(“La Prisonnière” de Marcel Proust – Ecrivain français 1871-1922)

Cet homme pénétrait dans les eaux glacées et sacrées du Ganges en bas de Lal ghat à Benares…
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