From The Soul

“When you do things from your soul, you feel a river moving in you, a joy.”
(Jalal ud-Din Rumi known as Rumi – Persian poet and theologian, 1207-1273)

Early in the morning, I met these two young men who were washing their garments in the holy waters of the Ganges at Lal ghat in Varanasi.

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Happy 2014

*** Have a beautiful 2014 ***
May this year be filled with Love, Peace & Happiness.
Keep on believing in your dreams…

Thank you for the sustained support you give to my work…You are amazing…

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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 Power Of Celebration

“People of our time are losing the power of celebration.
Instead of celebrating we seek to be amused or entertained.
Celebration is an active state, an act of expressing reverence or appreciation.
To be entertained is a passive state–it is to receive pleasure afforded by an amusing act or a spectacle….
Celebration is a confrontation, giving attention to the transcendent meaning of one’s actions.”
(From “The Wisdom of Heschel” by Abraham Joshua Heschel)

This was shot from the Ganges in Varanasi (Benaras) during the celebrations of Dev Diwali on the occasion of Kartik Poornima.
The festival of Lights is a mark of welcome to the Gods as it is believed that they descend on earth on that special day.
In the evening under the full moon reflecting in the holy waters each ghat is performing Ganga Aarti with vedic hymns chanted by priests in order to please and welcome the Gods.

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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.

Sacred Moments

“A ritual becomes the match that lights the kindred celebration candle of sacred moments long ago… tantalizing these entombed spirits to surface again.”
(Wes Adamson)

This was shot from a boat on the Ganges in Varanasi (Benaras) during the celebrations of Dev Diwali on the occasion of Kartik Poornima.
The festival of Lights is a mark of welcome to the Gods as it is believed that they descend on earth on that special day.
In the evening under the full moon reflecting in the holy waters each ghat is performing Ganga Aarti with vedic hymns chanted by priests in order to please and welcome the Gods.

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 Cosmic Journey

“We are travelers on a cosmic journey,stardust,swirling and dancing in the eddies and whirlpools of infinity.
Life is eternal.
We have stopped for a moment to encounter each other, to meet, to love, to share.
This is a precious moment.
It is a little parenthesis in eternity.”
(from “The Alchemist” by Paulo Coelho)

This picture was shot at Manikarnika Ghat along holy waters of the Ganges in Varanasi (Benaras) during the celebrations of Dev Diwali on the occasion of Kartik Poornima.
The festival of Lights is a mark of welcome to the Gods as it is believed that they descend on earth on that special day.
While all the banks of the sacred river are celebrating with hymns and fireworks, the burning ghat is still at work, the pyres carry on the eternal fire which has been burning continuously for more than three thousand years.

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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 Second’s Encounter With Eternity

“Tell your heart that the fear of suffering is worse than the suffering itself.
And that no heart has ever suffered when it goes in search of its dreams, because every second of the search is a second’s encounter with God and with eternity.”
(From “Alchemist” by Paulo Coelho)

This was shot from a boat on the Ganges in Varanasi (Benaras) during the celebrations of Dev Diwali on the occasion of Kartik Poornima.
The festival of Lights is a mark of welcome to the Gods as it is believed that they descend on earth on that special day.
In the evening under the full moon reflecting in the holy waters each ghat is performing Ganga Aarti with vedic hymns chanted by priests in order to please and welcome the Gods.

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.

The Humanity Of The Moment

“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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© 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 Fleeting Reality

“To photograph is to hold one’s breath, when all faculties converge to capture fleeting reality.
It’s at that precise moment that mastering an image becomes a great physical and intellectual joy.”
(From “The Mind’s Eye: Writings on Photography and Photographers” by Henri Cartier-Bresson)

This picture was shot in the evening at dusk, at Shitla Ghat along the Ganges in Varanasi (Benaras).
The light was fading and becoming dull with a lack of contrast suddenly two men came and without warning, started cleaning the place with high pressure water pipes.
People were running here and there in order to avoid to be wet.
The water spread around became an unexpected frame for intriguing reflections…

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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 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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© 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.

Life Itself

“And what can life be worth if the first rehearsal for life is life itself ?”
(From “The Unbearable Lightness of Being” by Milan Kundera)

This picture was shot at Scindia ghat in Varanasi (Benaras) where a few young men were enjoying the freshness of dawn in the holy waters of the Ganges.

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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.