India: beyond the paths of tour guides!

Please move ahead for a fresh start of this thread. Thank you !

I like how the whites of their eyes pop out. Very attention getting.

Thank you Peter for commenting.

They were riding for me while I was shooting...

Hi

This is a shot I like very much!

Thank you Wolfgang. Much appreciated.

Little Rann of Kutch - Gujarat, India

Hi, Antonio,

Antonio Correia said:

Bicycle ride on sunset !

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Very nice shot.

Is that a CD/DVD stuck in the spokes of the front wheel? If so, do we know why?

Best regards,

Doug

Yes Doug it is a CD indeed.
Believe me or not - I know you will - I did not spot it until now, at home !
The reason for being there is just - perhaps - because it shines and presents nice colors.

As I pointed before this is a desert where people extract salt. It is a hard work for 8 month - or so - before the monsoon comes and washes everything away.
People live in a hut in the middle of nowhere where strand dogs and wolfs wander. And wild donkeys also.

The image is a bit dark perhaps...

Wow, Antonio, these kids are gorgeous and I like the images that complete the story, but I have to say, that first one, with the kids on the bike.. it's fabulous!

Thank you Maggie !

Antonio Correia said:

We had some tea with them.

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The sight of kids going "barefoot" evokes wonder, that their feet don't get sore and empathy for their misfortune.

We think of this as being only possible in "far off lands" but this was not uncommon in the U.K. in the time period of "Downtown Abbey" where Victorian England is celebrated in some fantasy of civility and consideration. Most kids in some urban neighborhoods went barefoot! Look at the fabulous new photography book of the period, here and even more pointedly, [url;=https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/gallery/2014/oct/25/spitalfields-nippers-londons-poorest-children-in-the-early-1900s-in-pictures]here[/url]!

BTW, notice how the large toe is at an angle to the rest of the toes to increase stability. This natural feature is lost in the enclosed shoe!

Asher

Antonio Correia said:

We had some tea with them.

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A wonderful set Antonio... This one particularly jumps out at me!

These people live in very poor conditions. They came to us with some tea. But not in cups but in saucers as they use so often about here.

Thank you for passing by and commenting.

I hope to be able to work on a few photographs and post them here in the next days.



Morning visit in Mumbai: Dhobi Ghat

"...Mumbai (/mʊmˈbaɪ/; also known as Bombay, the official name until 1995) is the capital city of the Indian state of Maharashtra. It is the most populous city in India and the ninth most populous agglomeration in the world, with an estimated city population of 18.4 million..."

More to come

Antonio Correia said:

Morning visit in Mumbai: Dhobi Ghat

"...Mumbai (/mʊmˈbaɪ/; also known as Bombay, the official name until 1995) is the capital city of the Indian state of Maharashtra. It is the most populous city in India and the ninth most populous agglomeration in the world, with an estimated city population of 18.4 million..."

More to come

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Awesome vantage points and great documentary work Antonio! Who cares about basic goods and services when there is such a huge "Fire Economy" (Finance, Insurance ,Real Estate)

Best, regards
James

More of the same place. Just a quick tour.

Antonio Correia said:

More of the same place. Just a quick tour.

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Antonio,

Unlike Tom's more cynical view of the world, I see beauty in all the disorder. Humans have an ability to make a simple sum.

Happiness is when the good one receives exceeds, (and the bad is less), than what one normally expects!​

So I appreciate and enjoy that smile!

Asher



This is superb, Antonio! I find that sleeping dog to be adorable!

Striking texture in an enticing composition, a window on the level of human physical labor in this society and so many others!


Asher

More to come... more to come...
Thank you Asher !

I will make now a jump of some days ahead.
While on visit I saw photographers shooting people. I came to them and I bought 15 of there images. Now, at home, I scanned and gave a little punch to them

Here is the result. I am keeping the originals done with a portable Canon printer. Poor quality of all pictures.


A detail of the Elephanta Caves, Maharashtra State of India


Antonio, I absolutely love what you have produced here. Your perspectives are wonderful, they unveil and portray a rich tapestry of life and it's living in these parts. Good stuff.

Asher, I agree with you and likewise you can't have one thing without the other. Too much of one side is bad for the soul.

We crossed the sea on a boat like this one, while many others were at large...

Antonio Correia said:

A detail of the Elephanta Caves, Maharashtra State of India

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Antonio,

What sensuous thighs! I do hope I'm responding to a female with charters to hold up her stockings, LOL!

Asher

Making granite tiles for pavement in Elephanta Caves and leg, hand and jewellery from an Indian guide on our way back to Mumbai on the boat.

Antonio Correia said:

We had some tea with them.

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Elsewhere in this recent thread, (post #3), Paul made an argument for not removing background as one needs "context". So there is a push-pull "tug off war" contest between classic subject isolation and retaining the "truth" and hard reality of the situation by insisting on context, even if it takes away from perfect composition of some conjured up "beauty".

Here, Antonio, you have discovered an angle that isolates the three children, but in doing so you actually heightened the context as their barefoot stand on parched cracked sienna primal earth devoid of relief from the heat and sharp edges.

This is an excellent achievement and I didn't realize it until Paul raised the issue of "needing context" in a picture by Robert Watcher.

I appreciate so much learning from you guys.

Thanks!

Asher

Antonio Correia said:

Bicycle ride on sunset !

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I know that I am a bit late, but I wanted to say that I like that image, especially the colours.

Thank you Asher.
The photo of the boys does have ambitions of art - obviously, I know - but only to register them with the cups and the tea in context.
I have made this photograph on purpose. I moved them from one site to another so I could have a good background and the vanishing light from the end of the day.
-
Thank you Jerome.
I told them to ride while shooting. They looked at me spontaneously.

Antonio Correia said:

Bicycle ride on sunset !

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I just noticed the bright eyes! How could I have missed these jewsels!

Antonio, there are such riches in this series!

Asher

I was lucky ! They were posing for me and kept shooting...

Back to Elephanta caves for a glimpse inside

Antonio Correia said:

Back to Elephanta caves for a glimpse inside

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Imagine, that if we were totally analytical and logical, demanding proof, we'd have no treasures like these. Yes we'd have the kids, but not the fantasy.

From the Pharaohs to Hercules and modern religions, we have imagination and myth, truth and great timeless ideas, all woven into the fabric of what we are "certain about".

One reward is this cave!


Asher

Wonderful captures and stories Antonio.


--------

Ramkund, Nashik. In April and now, November 2016.

A wonderful collection of images, very skillful and very interesting steps off the bean paths.

Peter Dexter said:

A wonderful collection of images, very skillful and very interesting steps off the bean paths.

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Thank you Peter.
I will keep posting as I select and develop them.

I really do like this version !


Such wonderful photos Antonio, thanks for sharing these.

Thank you Cem !
I am making some in color and others in Soft-toned sepia as you have seen here.

I see that there are in my photos some technical skills which are not the best. The shallow of field is introduced in the computer for example, but I - at least now - am more interested in showing / creating feelings and emotions - I wonder if I succeed - instead of perfect technical "demonstrations".

Thank you for commenting Cem !

One more before 2017 !

Antonio Correia said:

Two pictures from a market. Bananas is a good fruit to eat when mornings are long and lunch is late.
It's a fruit you can eat without touching nothing but the bark. Does this remark/reason seems strange to you ?

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Bark? That is the hard wooden rough surface covering the trunk of a tree. The banana has a soft out let set of 4 sides of "skin" that can be peeled back. No washing is necessary of course!

I enjoy the patient, almost angelic "Buddha" poses of the women here. One must prepared to sit for a long time!

The choice of wide angle lens does give a distortion, but then that effect gives us a special passing "presence", as one flies by the stands like a bug!

Asher

Antonio Correia said:

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A great atmosphere of community and bridging, one person to another.

Asher

Fabulous set Antonio!

Thank you Asher for the clarification of the banana skin !
As I think I have told you before that I used the wide angle lens most of the time. I do like it.
But one has to go near the people, get very happy close.
Thank you James for your comment !
Later today, - I am not home - I hope to be able to post some more photographs from this travel !

Let's have a look at the caves...

Hi Antonio,

Keep them coming, these are just great. I am not sure about the post processing of the 3rd bus picture (with the driver behind the steering wheel) though. It looks like a faux-HDR to me. Mind you, I use HDR all the time, so I am not objecting to the use of it, just the look of the final result.

Antonio Correia said:

This time I just show you some photographs of the bus which took us to the Ellora Caves.

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Antonio,

I suspect that the last picture was taken by Luisa ?

So who else is on this bus, mostly local tourists or foreigners too? It does not seem very luxurious for a tour bus, LOL! The front window sign is definitely not For those who read English!

......as to Cem's comment on HDR, is that driver in the shadows and only revealed thus by opening up that darker area. To me, it looks just like that and not HDR, but I am no expert on HDR although I tame the highlights and open shadows regularly.

Asher

......and a big, "BTW": What about suitable bathrooms? ?

Antonio Correia said:

Let's have a look at the caves...

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Antonio,

This is magnificent art work and architecture that must represent an invaluable cultural heritage. Is decay and neglect a real issue here with a lot of these treasures. Do you see modern attempts to maintain and preserve them, or is it just a matter of supporting a tourist industry as they are made of stone and seem to manage as long as no fanatics actually bulldoze them or blow them up us "pagan"?

Asher

Cem_Usakligil said:

Hi Antonio,

Keep them coming, these are just great. I am not sure about the post processing of the 3rd bus picture (with the driver behind the steering wheel) though. It looks like a faux-HDR to me. Mind you, I use HDR all the time, so I am not objecting to the use of it, just the look of the final result.

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Yes Cem. You are right. The difference between the light outside and inside the cabin was so great, that I treated the photograph so one could appreciate better the hole scenario.
I have noticed the HDR effect but I did not mind, this time !
Thank you for commenting Cem !

Asher Kelman said:

Antonio,

I suspect that the last picture was taken by Luisa ?
So who else is on this bus, mostly local tourists or foreigners too? It does not seem very luxurious for a tour bus, LOL! The front window sign is definitely not For those who read English!
......as to Cem's comment on HDR, is that driver in the shadows and only revealed thus by opening up that darker area. To me, it looks just like that and not HDR, but I am no expert on HDR although I tame the highlights and open shadows regularly.
Asher ......and a big, "BTW": What about suitable bathrooms? ?

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In fact in here we were the only ones in the bus. On the way in. Because on the way out there was a lot of people.
UNESCO was involved in this monument and this is - I suppose - why there is a parking area and visitors have to be transported by buses.

The place is very nice and impressing !

I am sorry Asher but all these photographs are mine. What made you think so ?
About the big BTW: the best bathrooms are in the hotels (*******) and in the countryside !
However, we do have a story about this (several stories, in fact) which is very intriguing but that is a later matter.
Next photographs I will work on, have some bathrooms, rooms and a kitchen.
Just a bit patience please. Thank you !

"I am sorry Asher but all these photographs are mine. What made you think so ?"


The last one, through the large front window of the bus, has a figure on the left, whose appearance from that angle, reminded me of you, Antonio. So it seemed possible that Luisa, who I knowciscalso super-talented, might have taken that picture.

Asher

Asher Kelman said:

"I am sorry Asher but all these photographs are mine. What made you think so ?"
The last one, through the large front window of the bus, has a figure on the left, whose appearance from that angle, reminded me of you, Antonio. So it seemed possible that Luisa, who I knowciscalso super-talented, might have taken that picture. Asher

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No, no, I did the photograph as the bus was running. It's not me !

Asher Kelman said:

Antonio,
This is magnificent art work and architecture that must represent an invaluable cultural heritage. Is decay and neglect a real issue here with a lot of these treasures. Do you see modern attempts to maintain and preserve them, or is it just a matter of supporting a tourist industry as they are made of stone and seem to manage as long as no fanatics actually bulldoze them or blow them up us "pagan"?
Asher

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It looks like they care about the monument. There are guards and maintenance like cleaning...

Thank you for these, Antonio! They are all masterful.

Jarmo Juntunen said:

Thank you for these, Antonio! They are all masterful.

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Oh no Jarmo. Just simple photographs.
Thank you for commenting and viewing !

Trying to glimpse if more photographs will be shown tomorrow.

Hi Antonio

what a overwhleming series ... great!

Like a report but without text !

Tell us the story about the polished shoes. Is that a service, or one leaves them outside when one enters the house.

Those long pant legs or leggings on the young woman. Is that just fashion/ cultural for sense of "modesty"?

Asher

Antonio Correia said:

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Antonio,
Somehow I am unable to see the pictures in your earlier posts, but your portrayal of the Ellora caves bolts me down. The way you present them, the clarity, the details and the ambience, gives me the same awe that I felt when I was actually there over a decade ago. The sheer grandeur of the caves combined with the knowledge that they are a thousand years old - before the days of structural engineering equations and pneumatic rock drillers - is amazing. Your pictures seem to bring out the true aura of the place.

This is magnificent art work and architecture that must represent an invaluable cultural heritage. Is decay and neglect a real issue here with a lot of these treasures. Do you see modern attempts to maintain and preserve them, or is it just a matter of supporting a tourist industry as they are made of stone and seem to manage as long as no fanatics actually bulldoze them or blow them up us "pagan"?

Asher

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Asher,
This is a very real concern in India with its truly invaluable collection of cultural and historical heritage sites, and governments that are either unable to do much for protecting them or are too much bogged down by politics that these seem insignificant issues. We only hope that an unscrupulous realtor doesn't reach there with his bulldozers.

Reginald

Reginald Johnson said:

Antonio,
Somehow I am unable to see the pictures in your earlier posts, but your portrayal of the Ellora caves bolts me down. The way you present them, the clarity, the details and the ambience, gives me the same awe that I felt when I was actually there over a decade ago. The sheer grandeur of the caves combined with the knowledge that they are a thousand years old - before the days of structural engineering equations and pneumatic rock drillers - is amazing. Your pictures seem to bring out the true aura of the place.




Asher,
This is a very real concern in India with its truly invaluable collection of cultural and historical heritage sites, and governments that are either unable to do much for protecting them or are too much bogged down by politics that these seem insignificant issues. We only hope that an unscrupulous realtor doesn't reach there with his bulldozers.

Reginald

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Reginald,

Your concern is too valid! UNESCO cannot keep up with the needs and priorities it has already taken responsibility for. Are these sites on their protected lists do you know?

Then look at what the Taliban did in Afghanistan and ISIL in Syria and Iraq.

Even a so-called "modern" or "enlightened" Western nation, such as Italy, doesn't protect its treasures. The Coliseum in Rome is eaten away by acid traffic and factory pollution gases and the city architecture, (above the luxury multi million dollar income) stores in Venice are crumbling one story above the polished steel and marble facades, and below, the unsupported rotting foundations and wooden stilts are sinking into the water of the putrid canals!

Asher

Thank you Reginald for your kind words.

I have been away for some time due to health problems and I have - non voluntarily - erased a folder where the images were and was not able to recover it.

The day is ending here and I promise - I really wish to keep this promise - to recover all the images from this thread.

Thank you for your patience !

Antonio, I just re-found this thread and I was going to tell you how much I appreciated that it was back up as I had lost following it. So interesting to look at the images, (although the ones at the beginning don't seem to be showing up). Now I read that you have accidentally erased a folder. I hope you can get it back... it would be truly sad to lose such fabulous memories.. and also, I had no idea that you were ill. I hope you are better now.
((hugs)) Maggie

Thank you Maggie for your kind concern.
I am recovering now and getting the same enthusiasm as before.
I will try to recover the missing images with the help of Asher.
However, if that is not possible, I will post them all from scratch and... some more !
Thank you again !