Archive for the ‘ Photo-walks ’ Category

Life at Platforms

The first railway on Indian sub-continent ran over a stretch of 21 miles from Bombay to Thane on 16 April 1853.In nearly 150 years it has grown over 114,500 kilometres which carry over 30 million passengers daily.Indian Railways (reporting mark IR) is an iconic Indian organisation, owned and operated by the Government of India through the Ministry of Railways. It has the world’s fourth largest railway network after those of the United States, Russia and China.

I have been documenting the platforms for a long time now. Till now it has not been specifically for photography, but now having a good amount of images on the subject I think I will research it more and make it more detailed.

You can see the complete set on flickr with all the photographs till now here

PEE :P

An interesting result of my first 14 KM photo-walk (there will be more 😛 ). The rainy season and lack of toilets helped me to be able to take so many of these photographs in straight 2 hours.

Convocation renovation at IITB

Well, the convocation hall of my institute (IITB) is undergoing renovation. Yay! I will receive my graduation degree in the new revamped convocation hall. I went in and around to cover it. As usual, I have tried to show it through people working there.

They called me to take their photograph

Can’t resist taking this kind of photographs

The workers- they seemed to be fighting over some work issue but posing nicely for camera

Preparing to return home after finishing the day’s work

Sunlight was coming from the side, giving an awesome natural rim light

used the halogen light

another one using the sunlight

Valedictory function (Valfi) at IITB

It is that time when all the 4th year students are molested in front of everyone. It starts with reading of a profile which is as more fictional than real. Most of the time it includes girlfriends and sex-life as they are the most interesting topics in an institute known for academics. After asking the very personal questions in the ‘Q&A’, the ‘senti’ comes which revolves around the memories during the 4 years in IIT .

Prithvi Theatre- Naali ke Kutte

Coverage of the play ‘naali ke kutte’ at the famous theatre of mumbai- Prithvi Theatre. The play is about two soldiers stationed on the border of India and Pakistan who became friends due to one thing in common- loneliness. This play received huge applause and I think at the time when a Pakistani Prime Minister is visiting India, he should watch this play.

The lead characters- the two soldiers

The scene in which the Indian soldier took his Pakistani friend on the trip to India on a imaginary bike

They nearly solved all the national problems with just this simple game of chess 🙂

The queue for the show

The cafeteria at Prithvi Theatre

Moon Light

This is the complete photo-shoot I did last night. I think I will try to do more of night photography from now on. I tried to use lights in different ways. Do tell how you like the photographs

The black gradient is completely natural

This photograph was black and white, I realized later that it will look good in color but I din’t shoot it in RAW format. Eventually I colored it in photoshop

I tried to include motion in my images by moving subjects and by moving camera

Dhobhi Ghat

After so many efforts finally its here- the photo-walk to Dhobhi Ghat. Dhobhi ghat is a well known open air laundromat in India. Approx. 1000 washermen work here every day. The washermen also live here in small, dark rooms. I went there at 6:30 in the morning, many of the washermen were taking their bath or sleeping. For better quality and complete album, go to my Flickr set 🙂

Swarsandhya’12- The Musical Evening

A long time since I covered any event at IIT. I think it has to be Swarsandhya 2012. Swarsandhya is Hindi musical evening being organised at IIT every year. It gives a nice platform for the students to show their talent and to learn from fellow musicians.

I experienced a complete different feeling while shooting that day. I started shooting normally trying various vantage points but after shooting some time I started feeling the lights. It all started making sense and I knew from where to click and how to click each subject. It was the first time I got so high on photography.

This is my one of the best event photography so far. Your feedback will be most appreciated :). See the complete album at: facebook…..

The Swarsandhya’12 team

Haji Ali Dargah

The Haji Ali Dargah (Urdu: حاجی علی درگاہ , Marathi: हाजी अली दर्गा, Hindi: हाजी अली दरगाह, Gujarati: હાજી અલી દરગાહ) is a mosque and dargah (tomb) located on an islet off the coast of Worli in the Southern part of Mumbai. Near the heart of the city proper, the dargah is one of the most recognisable landmarks of Mumbai.

As per the legends, surrounding his life, once the Saint saw a poor woman crying on the road, holding an empty vessel. He asked her what the problem was. She sobbed that her husband would thrash her since she had stumbled and accidentally spilled the oil she was carrying. He asked her to take him to the spot where she lost the oil. There, he jabbed a finger into the soil and the oil gushed out. The overjoyed woman filled up the vessel and went home.

Later, Pir Haji Ali Shah Bukhari (R.A.) had a recurring – and disturbing – dream that he had injured Earth by his act. Full of remorse, he soon fell ill and directed his followers to cast the coffin carrying his body into the Arabian Sea, once he died. Haji Ali left this world during his journey to Mecca and miraculously the casket carrying his body, floated back to these shores, getting stuck in the string of rocky islets just off the shore of Worli. Thus, the Dargah was constructed there.

The Dargah Sharief is built on a tiny islet located 500 meters from the coast, in the middle of Worli Bay, in the vicinity of Worli. The edifice is a brilliant specimen of the Indo-Islamic style of architecture. The islet is linked to the city precinct of Mahalakshmi by a narrow causeway, which is nearly a kilometre (0.62 mile) long.

On Thursdays and Fridays, the shrine is visited by at least 40,000 pilgrims. Irrespective of faith and religion, people visit the ‘dargah’ to get the blessings of the legendary saint. Sometimes, especially on Fridays, people may find various sufi musicians performing a form of devotional music called Qawwali at the Dargah.

Along the causeway one can find small shops selling toys, bags, bangles and items which are offered at the dargah. Also one can find beggars sitting along.

Holi

Holi (Hindi: होली), is a religious spring festival celebrated by Hindus. Holi is also known as festival of Colors. It is played with water, colors and everything else :P. I covered the celebration of Holi in and around IIT this year.

I din’t sleep last night as I was watching a documentary on Photographer Richard Avedon. I will write about him in some other post. Everyone in hostel was sleeping so I went to slums in the institute.

Mud-Holi at Hostel-9

Outside the main gate of the institute.

The hawker selling colors

Outside Hostel 10- the girls hostel

The professors celebrating