Photography assignment…’photos that make me happy’

I gathered these random photos for Yvonne’s simple challenge of  ’photos that make you happy’.  Do click over to her blog to see her work.   The next topic is ‘shadows’ to be posted on November 8th.

I often revisit this overexposed photograph of children at the sea side …

I love the painted effect in this photo that I took…

and this message from the skies.

Photography Challenge…..’numbers’

It was almost impossible to make ‘numbers’ look good through a photograph, but last week I had some fodder for this challenge.  Do click over to Yvonne’s to see what she did with this challenge and also for next fortnight’s topic.

A ’9′th Birthday

with ’6′ dear friends over

for a  colourful, messy, sugary ‘ baking’ party.

Photography Challenge……..’Quiet’

There is no avoiding religion, religious symbols, festivals and such in India and it was the same this week.  My quest for a ‘quiet’ place took me to a beautiful old friary on Hosur Road and another chapel in the heart of the busy and crowded St. John’s hospital (thanks to very helpful friends.) Do check Yvonne’s blog for her interpretation of ‘Quiet’ and join in for the next theme ‘Numbers’ to be posted on Oct 11.

‘Quiet’ also reminded me of the serene Garud Tal (Garud Lake) in Uttaranchal that we visited this summer.  The most peaceful landscape I had ever been to with none of the eeriness that one feels in lonely landscapes

the path leading up from the waters edge

silly

I signed up couple of days back for seriously learning how to get silly or is it sillier? over at The Art of Silliness 2 which is an online class by Carla Sonheim.  It promises to be one month of drawing exercises, journaling prompts, a poem to illustrate, writing exercises, spelling words, drawing games, collage prompts, puzzles..in short a whole lot of fun.  Anyone can sign up any time upto October 15.

Today I actually won something (I think for the first time after school days).  Carla decided to refund two classes to two of us who signed up and I  am one of them.  Did I say that I am Rappy? which is really+ happy in Fleep.   Thank you, Squeen.

photography challenge ……’sparkle’

Yvonne and I decided to give each other (and all others who are looking for a challenge) a creative push by taking turns to come up with words for a photography challenge.  This time I chose the word ‘SPARKLE’.  I spent the whole week trying to convince myself that although the word sounded easy enough it was difficult to come up with something out of the box while sitting at my desk and trying to meet office deadlines, but the truth was that I was grappling with the knowledge of how little photography I really know and peeking at Yvonne’s blog and her light filled gorgeous photographs and wondering how I was going to match up to that.  Fortunately, the Ganesha festival was this week and I got a chance to step out and mingle with the neighbourhood at the pandal or marquee close by.  The venue was the local park and playground, beautifully lit with twinkling lights in all colours. I chose the  shadowy areas away from the crowds with its  dark, mysterious and romantic feel.  Check out Yvonne’s ideas of SPARKLE here

behind the stage

the perfect secret spot

a lit up path to nowhere

Exhibition at Max Mueller Bhavan

There is a Contemporary Picture Book Illustration currently on at the Max Mueller Bhavan, Bangalore, which is really worth visiting. The exhibition features the work of 13 German illustrators of children’s books, viewed from their individual perspectives.

I liked the illustrations and the medium used for ‘Slip-Slap-Sloth’ the best.  The artist is Karoline Kehr and she created the illustrations by painting in the characters directly onto photographs of three dimensional backdrops that she created.  The story is about our ‘inner sloth’…

Another book which I loved was that illustrated by Nikolaus Heidelbach named ‘The Thirteenth Fairy’. Beautiful artwork, kind of scary but the children were fascinated. The medium used is pen, indian ink and watercolours.

Check out the next collage/illustrations from a book called ‘New ABC book’.  The artist is Wolf Erlbruch.  The colours and the simplicity appealed to me as as an adult.

Don’t miss it! It ends on the 25^th of this month.

on my desk today..

Dastkar Crafts

‘Bangalore Nature Bazaar’ organised by Dastkar has been on from August 6th and goes on till the 15th at Palace Grounds.

Dastkar is a society for ‘Crafts and Craftspeople’ founded in 1981 by six women with the objective of creating self-reliant crafts groups and for empowering women through crafts, among others.   This year there are 110 craft groups from all over India and the stalls are a riot of colours.

There are traditional paintings (madhubani, pattachitra, worli ); clothes made out of  cotton using energy-efficient techniques, local weavers and non toxic, organic dyes;  jewellery handmade from wood, silver and old coins;  earthenware and stoneware from different corners of India, like Assam, Manipur and Kerala;  handmade, hand dyed puppets and kites; quilts; patchwork bags and beautiful saris and stoles.

I think that the event is not publicized enough (the comments book at the cash counter also reflected this) and that this is one event which should bring in many more people, after all the cause is to help preserve our traditional arts and crafts and help local artisans.

It can also be a fun, family outing because the venue is a large enough space for enjoying the traditional dances and puppet shows, trying your hand at the craft workshops for puppet making, clay modelling, madhubani painting and doll making, and tasting food from other parts of India at the food stalls.

Here is a look at some of the things I brought home

An earthenware jar or bharani for storing pickles and such, made by the Kumbhara (potters) tribe of Kerala.  The stall had more useful pots and pans all apparently microwaveable.

An unusual shaped teapot made by north- eastern craftspeople.

a Rajasthani patchwork rucksack,

beautifully, over bright cushions from ‘Dastkar Ranthambore’

and some simple, inexpensive jewellery

An ode to Mumbai

a ‘common man’ at Marine Drive, Mumbai

Can you completely fall in love with a city in just three days?  I think when it is Bombay you really can.  I believe every cliché about Bombay now- that it gets into your system,  that if you live in Bombay you never want to live anywhere else.  If you are leading too comfortable a life then you must head to Bombay for a strong dose of adrenaline.  I was on such a buzz the entire trip, all my time spent outdoors drinking in the crazy air and walking in the rain, not really conducive to photography but perfect for soaking in the atmosphere of the city.

I loved that Bombay is always awake- I went for a walk on the beach very early in the morning and also late in the night and  felt completely safe. I loved that the taxi and rickshaw drivers were friendly and helpful, that the taxis were old Premier Padmini’s, and that the ones I travelled in though rusted and falling apart, were upholstered in bright colours inside. I loved the beach sides, marine drive and bandstand and such others eating masala corn, vada pav, and peanuts and watching the rough monsoon sea.

I loved that it looked liked the whole of Bombay was free to be out and were out on the beaches, romancing couples, groups of teenagers, young working girls, old married couples, boisterous young men, joggers, walkers, posh people in posh cars, women in shorts and women in burkhas, lonely single men and women, power couples jogging in tandem– showing you a microcosm of India.  I loved the older parts of the city with its beautiful but run down bungalows, churches and quaint shops and the buzzing railway stations, where if  you stop and observe for a moment scenes change like in a kaleidoscope.

I loved that I went against popular opinion that Bombay shouldn’t be visited in the rains.  It was the best season to visit Bombay, wet and cold, and in any case everybody just goes about doing whatever they want to do with an umbrella and rubber chappals and you get into the same spirit.  I know now that everything that you read about the city is true.  Strangely you don’t feel like an outsider -you can get to the city and instantly step into the bustle and become a part of it.

You can’t go to Bombay and not see the unbearable disparity in the city the super rich alongside the really, really poor.  Although it is everywhere I got a firsthand tiny dark glimpse into the hellish lives that some lead when I walked down a subway crossing, an unimaginable number of people including mothers with tiny babies, old people and whole families crammed into a small space eating, sleeping, fighting in unbelievable filth and poverty.

You also can’t go to Bombay and not see the filthy roads and the squalor that people have to contend with, the water-logged streets and the manic traffic jams but inspite of all this you leave the city regretfully, missing the freespirit that is Bombay.

live and learn

I feel as if I spent all of the last two weeks hurtling in rickshaws from one end of this slushy, rainy, city to the other with a sense of urgency to do something or a lot of things; cram in a new class, take on new work responsibilities, follow my numerous interests.  Now all of a sudden I have way more than I can handle and have to backtrack to where I started from, learning to take things slowly, be less impulsive and less driven by external pressures, and most importantly savouring each moment. Tomorrow, I pick up my camera (after a whole month of neglect) and go on a three day trip with a friend to the bustling city of Bombay. See you all soon.